Bole means pain
Many riders have surnames that are also nouns. I apologise if this ruins your TV viewing, those once exotic Euro names can actually prove a bit dull but here are some more of the peloton’s names translated from their home language into English.
Lars Bak – Lars Rear
Edvald Boasson Hagen – Edvald Boasson Garden
Grega Bole – Grega Pain
Koen De Kort – Koen The Short
Marcel Kittel – Marcel Labcoat
Adriano Malori – Adriano Illnesses
Grégory Rast – Grégory Rest
What’s in a name – Part I
What’s in a name – Part II
What’s in a name – Part III
What’s in a name – Part IV
What’s in a name – Part V
What’s in a name – Part VI
What’s in a name – Part VII
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Lars Bak equals Lars Reverse or Lars Back rather than rear. Rear is “bag” in danish
I find the names interesting too. I like crosswords and therefore anagrams, and was able to have a bit of fun with good ol’ Lance; http://www.theweeklycycle.com/2011/05/whats-in-name.html
And here’s my take on the best names in cycling; http://www.theweeklycycle.com/2011/04/best-names-in-cycling.html
You can also read “Gregory Rast” as “Gregory Speeding” (from “Rasen” – “Speeding”, i.e. riding too fast)
You can take things too literally eg “Martijn Maaskant = Martijn Sidenetting”.
More likely that “Maas” refers to the river that runs along the French/Belgian border (aka the Meuse in French). If he was English and called Martin Thameside or Martin Merseyside, no one would think it odd.
latinism:
rick flens = rick crying.
Jakob Fuglsang = Jakob Birdsong
Tiago Machado= Tiago Ax
Rui Costa= Rui Cost
Bruno Pires =Bruno litleplate
Thanks, I’ve got some of these already in previous editions. Flens for example is also “flange”, part of a bike hub. And yes, Birillo, these are literal.
I think it all started because Contador’s name means “accountant” and Cipollini is Italian for “small onions” or “shallots”. Albert Accountant and Mark Shallot just don’t have the same ring to them.
Here’s another nice one, as there’s actually 2 riders who can be connected this way:
Alejandro Valverde – green valley
In the good old days, there was the Dutch field crosser Reinier Groenendaal. Groenendaal is Dutch for green valley.
Przemysław Niemiec – Przemysław German
Bartosz Huzarski – Bartosz Hussar (Dragon)
Sorry, but Bole doesn’t mean pain. ‘Bol’ or ‘Bolečina’ would mean it, but ‘Bole’ doesn’t mean anything in our language.
Tim: thanks. Boom and Groenendall would go together well. So long as Tom Stamsnijder isn’t near?
Walen: yes Niemec is on the list for next time. Isn’t “smok” the dragon?
Borut: thanks.
The Inner Ring: Huzarski is this kind of a dragon/hussar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hussar_by_Alexander_Orlowski.jpg – cavalry
Ruslan Pidgorny (Ukrainian on the Vacansoleil team) = Ruslan Undermountain
RMS: thanks, I’d spotted that today from the Vuelta startlist, another one for the next list. It’s under mountains, plural, no?
You should talke a historical perspective on these names – there’s a treasure trove just in the Italians: Gianni Bugno, Guido Bontempi, etc.