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"Managed to grab hold of crashed rider who was about to fall from a 40 foot cliff The topic of sportsmanship and the consideration rightly or wrongly given to one's rivals in a race was brought starkly to the fore on the Port de Bales in Stage 15 of the recently completed Tour de France. Andy Schleck's already legendary dropped chain will be talked about forever, but this past week back in Blacksburg, Virginia, professional racer, Isaac Howe, of the Mountain Khakis fueled by Jittery Joe's team, acted in a way that will never result in a single shred of controversy, but should be remembered for just as long as the Schleck's chain and Contador's reaction.
The young rider from New Hampshire took the win in the criterium, 4th in the time trial, but missed the crucial break in the road race to finish 3rd overall.
On the final lap of the road race, as the crucial move was getting ready to wrest free of the fading field, two riders collided, throwing an unfortunate third off the left side of the road, which had no shoulder, and only a 40-50 foot straight drop into a dry creek bed as the likely destination for the seemingly doomed racer.
Howe, however, saw the incident, and saw the rider go down. He stopped immediately and managed to grab the ankle of the rider as he was about to plummet over the edge. Howe, who currently sits in 2nd overall in the yearlong USA Crits series, waited with the fallen rider for motorcycle officials to arrive. When they did, Howe set off in pursuit of the field, which he quickly rejoined, but at that point, the winning break was long gone.
At the time, few knew what the 24 year old had done, but it soon became clear that Howe had in fact saved the rider's life.
It's hard to remember sometimes that we are fans of and take part in an immensely dangerous sport. Winning is great, but consideration for our our fellow competitors means more than anything. Howe's actions in Blacksburg were a refreshing reminder of what we as cyclists are capable of." |
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