Written by Equipe 44 at 02:01 20/10-2010
~~~~This time he's fighting for his life.~~~~
Starring...
Salim Wajeeh as himself
Toni as himself
Moritz Spatz as himself
Sin Kiat Safiq Rahim as hims...(eh, you know right? the same applies for Jean de Noviant, Tyr Lindbjerg and Nagy László)
And so it goes....
Salim Wajeeh, a young and promising amateur cyclist, was trying to fight his way into professional cycling. He had fled his country, who lacked the infrastructures needed for him to develop as a cyclist and was roaming Europe, participating in some races here and there. He was spotted by charismatic team manager Toni who ran a small team based in Monaco. The team had some financial troubles and was stuck in Division 6 for some time. Still, it was the best Wajeeh could get (life ain't perfect, right?). And so his journey in the wondeful world of professional cycling began.
However, there were no pink bycicles flying in the skies nor Eddy Merckx-faced fairies wandering around. The team lacked results and progressed slowly through the ranks. Some riders on the team also had some personal problems: Falk Caldwell saw his name involved in a result fixing scandal and Tao Yang's great-grandmother had been arrested in China for undisclosed reasons. Team manager Toni could still keep things cool for a while and after Caldwell was ilibated and Yang's great-grandmother released, Wajeeh could finally start his training. The team had some money thanks to some good results and Toni believed that the Syrian kid had something special to offer.
And so Salim began training his sprinting abilities. His technique followed(although he was quite limited in this point), then his flat road ability. Things however became a big mix of joy, pride, and desperation. After watching Wajeeh's training results, Toni sent him to a specialized doctor where the diagnosis was quite clear: Salim had a very rare condition called Over Delayed Maxiculation (the opposite of Premature Maxiculation). This brought to the team a great sense of joy among the riders, while Salim had pride in having such potential. Toni had a heart attack as he's the one who paid Wajeeh's training. Salim was then employed as a paying rider: he only had training if he had results. The team then moved to San Marino in the hope of saving some money as the team usually trained in Italy. The best was yet to come though.
The "paying rider" option proved to be a fantastic way for the team to climb up the ranks. Salim's first season was capped with his first win and next season he became well known in the cycling world with 4 wins and other 4 top-3 results, being nominated for two awards in the Season Ending Awards. Toni finally stopped having heart attacks (the last one was when he learned that Salim didn't win any award) and the team established itself as a solid Zyte Division outfit. Plus, Wajeeh is now the record holder (shared with Matthias Drejbo) of the highest AV ever. In this current season he has finished every race he entered in 5th place or above.
Finally, after 2 seasons of training and racing, Salim's goal has arrived: his first tour, the Volta ao Porto. What will he do? How will he perform? Will he cope with the expectations created around him? Well know the answer in a few days.
But the once obscure boy who joined a small team, after seasons of hard training, has become a man of his own name! He is Salim Wajeeh, the Beast from the Middle East, and will at last prove his value in a tour. Not only his pride is at stake, but also his life.
Stay tuned.
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Comments
Wajeeh 4th! Well done!
Thanks guys. And probably Wajeeh will go for the GC. There are too many riders who are better sprinters than him.
'Beast of the Middle East'. That's a quality nickname. Will be using that in the front page articles from now on.
Very nice article, Toni, and best of luck in the Volta. GC or SC? Or both?
I'm pretty sure Wajeeh will be a great tour rider! Good luck with him!
About Tao Yang, he's still fighting for freedom and he was delighted to see his cousin (7th degree...), Liu Xiaobo, get the Nobel Peace Prize! Yang's doing well with his new team but he still cheers for Wajeeh when he's watching him on TV!
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