What a sight it was
The day Jens Voigt stood upon the podium again at Stage 5 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California was a wonderful day to be present as a fan. It was May 17th, and 40-year old Jens Voigt seemed to savor every moment. More than any other rider I observed at ATOC, the fans in California went crazy over Jens Voigt. The word of this legend has spread. It makes sense that fans would favor a hard working modest fun-loving family man who really likes his job.
Read about the race from Jensie's perspective: Adventures Out West part of the Hardly Serious by Jens Voigt series for Bicycling.com, May 30, 2012 ..."In 10 years people might not remember me as a bike rider but as the
person who invented the “Shut up, legs” phrase! And that’s fine with me.
As my parents told me—it’s about making footprints on the path of life.
If you only follow others, you’ll never create your own footprints." ~Jens Voigt
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| Jensie - on the podium Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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| A very happy Jens Voigt Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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| Tejay and Jens Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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Tejay van Garderen (BMC), David Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda), Jens Voigt (RSNT)
Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
2012 Stage 5 Results - 18.4 miles ITT
| Pos. |
No. |
UCI Code |
Rider |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
|
|---|
| 1. | 18 | USA19790112 | ZABRISKIE, David | GRM | 00:35:59.210 | 00:00:00 |
| 2. | 8 | GER19710917 | VOIGT, Jens | RNT | 00:36:22 | 00:00:23 |
| 3. | 31 | USA19880812 | VAN GARDEREN, Tejay | BMC | 00:36:33 | 00:00:34 |
This was Jens earlier in the day as he arrived before the race and greeted the fans. One man told me, that morning, as we stood nearby the RadioShack Nissan Trek team bus - "I have waited ten years to see Jens Voigt." "Oh, well there he is right there," I said pointing to the arriving team car. "What really, it's really him," he asked. That fan later had me snap 3 pictures of he and Jens, just in case. I joked as I snapped the photos, "okay that is 30 years worth now, that should do ya."
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Jens Voigt arrives ... did he know he was about to do an excellent individual time trial?
Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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| Jens arriving for work Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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| Jens signing autographs for a long-time fan Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
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| The one, the only - Jens Voigt Photo © PedalDancer.com/Karen |
Related Pedal Dancer posts: Fan Frenzy: Jens Voigt - Stage 16 and all the PD posts relating to Jens Voigt over the years
Jens Voigt. My favorite Jens Voigt quote - "If you go (with a break), you can either win or not win. If you don't go for it, you definitely won't win." ~ Jens Voigt
Trek made Jens a special bike (Trek Madone 6.9 SSL) for Amgen Tour of California, a modest Jens said, "mostly I was flattered to find out that Trek thought I was worth a bike
of my own, and that I had the chance to be part of the design."
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| Photo by Will Matthews for Bicycling.com |
