I am ‘Burnt Cream’

Je m’appelle Crème Brûlée.
“I am Burnt Cream.”

I used to announce the Men’s A races –- now I race them.  It’s bittersweet I’d have to say.  From time to time, I still protest to Joe that he give me the wireless mic so I can report from the peloton in the 5-10 seconds it takes to roll past the receiver at the Start/Finish.  Needless to say, it hasn’t happened yet.  So Joe’s been left alone with the microphone this season.  It’s not a bad thing, by any means, and I’m sure he’s doing a great job.  I say “I’m sure” only because it’s sometimes difficult to hear what’s going on with a high heart rate and the Doppler Effect.

The other weekend, at Princeton/Stevens I was out to do a lot of work.  Needless to say, it got noticed/Joe likes to call me out every once in a while.  I was told after the race that there were calls and comments on the PA referring to “Crème Brûlée.”  I suppose my Race-Name was born.

This got me thinking about other nicknames/race-names.  For starters, let’s differentiate between nickname and race name.  Nicknames are used en lieu of one’s real name and can be used in place of the individual’s name when calling them.  Race-Names are a type of nicknames, but are only used in media references to an individual and is never used to call the person. Neither can be given to you by yourself.  Most of the names that we hear in the media are “race-names".”

Examples of Nicknames (things one would answer to)
Mark Cavendish –- Cavo
Mario Cippolini -– Cippo
Alexandre Vinokourov -– Vino

Examples of Race-Names
Tom Boonan –- Tornado Tom
Fabian Cancellara -– Spartacus, the Swiss Bear
David Zabriskie –- Captain America
Mark Cavendish –- The Manx Missile
Mario Cippolini –- Super Mario, The Lion King
Damiano Cunego –- Le Petite Prince (“the little prince”)
Paolo Salvodelli –- Il Falco
Marco Pantani –- Il Pirate (slight exception should be considered, as Pantani did name himself this)
Eddy Merckx –- The Cannibal
Jan Ulrich –- Der Kaiser
Alberto Contador -- El Pistolero
Thor Hushovd -– The God of Thunder
Lance Armstrong –- The Boss






Up next: The Chronicles of Tim