Awesome Danish Guys: Brian Holm

Or as Bob Roll keeps calling him Bri-ann Holm?! I have three reasons right off the top of my head as to why Bri-ann Holm is a badass.

The first is he offered to cut off Dan Martin’s ears if he didn’t finish in the top ten of this year’s Tour de France. Martin finished 9th, ears intact, just. When I first saw the remark I thought Holm was saying he would cut his own ears off if something or other didn’t happen, which I liked even more. I admire a man ready to take a confident stand. But it was Dan Martin’s ears and Brian wanted him to really perform, obviously. He is an old school directeur sportif at Quick-Step and this relates to reason number two. In a Rouler article he said if one of his young riders crashes he will sometime send him to the front to work, to take his mind off the crash. In passing he said you can only hurt in one place at a time, maybe meaning get to the front and work and it might take your mind of the terrible crash you were just in.

This would normally be the kind of bold statement I would write off as nonsense but it fits my own long held theory exactly. I refer to the “resident evil” that floats around in my body that can only be in one place at a time. Warming up, the evil nestles into my left knee, eventually it floats somewhere else but never two locations at a time. It’s exactly what Bre-ann said.

Lastly, Mr Holm is awesome and an unwitting Velominatus (even though Brett hates him but Brett hates most things) because he gets IT. Please read this interview and discuss.

 

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33 Replies to “Awesome Danish Guys: Brian Holm”

  1. Everything he says! Except long socks, I hate long socks. I hate too short socks too! 3 1/2″ – 4″ above the ankle bone, end.

    Just curious, shouldn’t your last sentence read…

    Lastly, Mr Holm is an awesome and an unwitting Velominatus (even though Brett hates him but Brett hates most things because he gets IT).

  2. What does his arm warmer say upside down? Upwarters? Bottom dollar sponsor, I’m guessing.

    I am loving that position. Riders do not appreciate a long position like that anymore. Up until we got to the “Ahead” set, we went long to get our hips into the right position. Now with lower stems, we just drop the fuck out of that shit to get the length we used to get out of the top tube.

    I’m actually pretty sure the lower bars are better than the long position because it gets the center of mass lower for bigger riders like me, but I love the look of those steel frames with the long top tube and long-ass stem.

    Take, as example, Fignon’s Bianchi. One of the most beautiful bikes ever.

    Fact is, his position was so spectacular in general.

  3. @Rob

    Everything he says! Except long socks, I hate long socks. I hate too short socks too! 3 1/2″ – 4″ above the ankle bone, end.

    Just curious, shouldn’t your last sentence read…

    Lastly, Mr Holm is an awesome and an unwitting Velominatus (even though Brett hates him but Brett hates most things because he gets IT).

    You scared me, jaysus, Rob is correcting my blather now?

    Hey brother, nice to hear from you.

  4. For some reason the lead picture makes me want to go for a ride with my helmet off.

  5. In passing he said you can only hurt in one place at a time” there is apparently much conjecture about this and little scientific fact.  The slight;y worrying part is that the inference is that there is a “pain priority” that is set by attending to the greatest pain first – the problem here that it’s an ever escalating process – kinda where a scrape to your knee ends up with you sawing off your leg with a blunt saw and no anaesthetic……….

  6. Being a follicularly challenged rider necessitates unique solutions to unique cycling problems. In the summer I sport an Il Pirata bandana under my helmet. This serves the purpose of keeping the sun off of my head and neck. This is preferable to having a helmet vent tan or perspiration delivering sunscreen into my eyes, which burns!

    My wintertime kit includes a cycling hat under my helmet, which also serves a function. My preference is for a balaclava to keep the cold wind off of my neck and out of my jersey.The problem that I encountered with this type of garment was that my head got cold as cold air wafted through the vents of my giro. Enter the cycling cap,worn over the balaclava with the brim flipped up,to divert air flow away from the vents.

    My head stays warmer and in this case form will continue to follow function. The cap stays under the helmet in cold weather regardless of the fashion police opinions.

  7. Nice one, Gianni! For this Dutch expat and Dane-in-the-making, there’s a lot to like about the article – and about that lead photo. Danish cycling icon on iconic Dutch bicycle. Excellent.

    I have a strong feeling that yet another Dutch expat (now living in Switzerland) will chime in at some point, to express his joy about a Koga Miyata, finally, adorning the start page of Velominati. This calls for a celebration, @KogaLover. Mine will be a pint of some Danish artisan brew or other, to be imbibed later today. Cheers.

  8. @frank

    Not to prematurely close this conversation on the Maximum Possible Awesome, but…

     

     

    One photo that will end the ” caps not hats” discussion FOREVER……..

     

  9. @Teocalli

    “In passing he said you can only hurt in one place at a time” there is apparently much conjecture about this and little scientific fact. The slight;y worrying part is that the inference is that there is a “pain priority” that is set by attending to the greatest pain first – the problem here that it’s an ever escalating process – kinda where a scrape to your knee ends up with you sawing off your leg with a blunt saw and no anaesthetic……….

    Sounds suspiciously like these guy’s brand of anesthesia

  10. @fignons barber

    @frank

    Not to prematurely close this conversation on the Maximum Possible Awesome, but…

    One photo that will end the ” caps not hats” discussion FOREVER……..

    Being a ‘speccy’ I have thoughts of getting glasses like that and say pick up an appropriate old Raleigh but I don’t think I could quite pull it off;would pass on that cap though.

  11. @frank

    What does his arm warmer say upside down? Upwarters? Bottom dollar sponsor, I’m guessing.

    I am loving that position. Riders do not appreciate a long position like that anymore. Up until we got to the “Ahead” set, we went long to get our hips into the right position. Now with lower stems, we just drop the fuck out of that shit to get the length we used to get out of the top tube.

    I’m actually pretty sure the lower bars are better than the long position because it gets the center of mass lower for bigger riders like me, but I love the look of those steel frames with the long top tube and long-ass stem.

    Take, as example, Fignon’s Bianchi. One of the most beautiful bikes ever.

    Fact is, his position was so spectacular in general.

    Errr . . . you’re in IT stuff aren’t you? It says “omputers.” The “c” is covered up!

  12. Tragic news from the Paralympics Road Race.  RIP Bahman Golbarnezhad.  May the breeze be always behind you.

  13. @frank

    What does his arm warmer say upside down? Upwarters? Bottom dollar sponsor, I’m guessing.

    I am loving that position. Riders do not appreciate a long position like that anymore. Up until we got to the “Ahead” set, we went long to get our hips into the right position. Now with lower stems, we just drop the fuck out of that shit to get the length we used to get out of the top tube.

    I’m actually pretty sure the lower bars are better than the long position because it gets the center of mass lower for bigger riders like me, but I love the look of those steel frames with the long top tube and long-ass stem.

    Take, as example, Fignon’s Bianchi. One of the most beautiful bikes ever.

    Fact is, his position was so spectacular in general.

    one thing i have found over the years, as far as position is concerned, is that achieving the proper stretch/ weight distribution is at least as important as saddle height.  i ride a lugged steel, traditional double diamond frame, which came with a short (to me ) 100mm ahead stem.  i loved the ride of the bike, but i found the handling twitchy and unforgiving until i put a 120mm stem on it.  now it’s perfect.  the bike goes in the precise direction i look, with no drama or hesitation.  the telling factor for me with positioning is when the front hub is hidden from view by the handlebars whether i’m on the hoods, tops, or drops.

    could not agree more about Fignon.  it’s a tossup between he and Bugno for the most stylish rider of my generation, imo.

  14. And the guy riding with Fignon, the Subaru Montgomery guy is on a Merlin extralight?! I never knew Merlin made it into the pro peloton, unless this is the Tour de Trump and poor Laurent had to come over to the USA and ride it. We like Gatoraid.

  15. @Gianni

    That’s actually Marc Madiot, and Subaru-Montgomery did indeed race in Europe and the US in the 1992 equivalent of Pro Continental – second tier races, I guess.

  16. @Rick

    Being a follicularly challenged rider necessitates unique solutions to unique cycling problems. In the summer I sport an Il Pirata bandana under my helmet. This serves the purpose of keeping the sun off of my head and neck. This is preferable to having a helmet vent tan or perspiration delivering sunscreen into my eyes, which burns!

    I always wear something for those reasons, either a thin, summer weight skull cap or a thin head band. Trouble with the latter is when you take the helmet off; a headband on bald head looks ultra knobbish, but I hate sweat in my eyes.

    @Rick

    My preference is for a balaclava to keep the cold wind off of my neck and out of my jersey.The problem that I encountered with this type of garment was that my head got cold as cold air wafted through the vents of my giro.

    I only tried a balaclava once and I found that it diverted my hot breath upwards meaning that my Rudies were continually steamed up. The garment was abandoned inside the first 2 kilometres.

  17. Brian Holm’s career sums up the dichotomy of being a pro in the nineties (or perhaps, more accurately, the trichotomy). He says that he “dabbled” in doping, but with hindsight wished he’d either never doped or had gone the whole hog and doped to the gills. In his in-between world he sort of under achieved without the moral high ground of knowing he was clean.

  18. @Steve Trice

    @Rick

    Being a follicularly challenged rider necessitates unique solutions to unique cycling problems. In the summer I sport an Il Pirata bandana under my helmet. This serves the purpose of keeping the sun off of my head and neck. This is preferable to having a helmet vent tan or perspiration delivering sunscreen into my eyes, which burns!

    I always wear something for those reasons, either a thin, summer weight skull cap or a thin head band. Trouble with the latter is when you take the helmet off; a headband on bald head looks ultra knobbish, but I hate sweat in my eyes.

    @Rick

    My preference is for a balaclava to keep the cold wind off of my neck and out of my jersey.The problem that I encountered with this type of garment was that my head got cold as cold air wafted through the vents of my giro.

    I only tried a balaclava once and I found that it diverted my hot breath upwards meaning that my Rudies were continually steamed up. The garment was abandoned inside the first 2 kilometres.

    I wear the balaclava below my chin for that reason. It keeps my head warm and the wind out of my jersey. I like the full neck coverage that the garment offers.

  19. @erikdr

    Bit late to the Koga-party but was chuffed to see this icon of Dutch cycling. Then I saw @teocalli‘s note on the death of a paralympic rider so decided to temper the celebration a bit and lay low with fruits of the grapevine or a malted pilsner. Was in Croatia today trying to find Pinchy but did not see him.

    @frank Tulip was a Dutch computer brand and since the Dutch are known to be frugal, I guess that’s why it was a bottom dollar sponsor.

  20. @Steve Trice

    Brian Holm’s career sums up the dichotomy of being a pro in the nineties (or perhaps, more accurately, the trichotomy). He says that he “dabbled” in doping, but with hindsight wished he’d either never doped or had gone the whole hog and doped to the gills. In his in-between world he sort of under achieved without the moral high ground of knowing he was clean.

    That says it all, yes. It was a fucked time to be a professional. Very few were guided properly and that would result in leaving the sport, a no win situation.

  21. @Steve Trice

    Brian Holm’s career sums up the dichotomy of being a pro in the nineties (or perhaps, more accurately, the trichotomy). He says that he “dabbled” in doping, but with hindsight wished he’d either never doped or had gone the whole hog and doped to the gills. In his in-between world he sort of under achieved without the moral high ground of knowing he was clean.

    i respect this dilemma, and surely he wasn’t the only rider thusly compromised.  at least Holm didn’t pack it in and whine about it in the press for the next decade.

  22. @frank

    I love the look of those steel frames with the long top tube and long-ass stem.

    It’s carbon.

  23. Captions did not come through.

    Photo 1: From Koga 1993 brochure: another example of Rule #82 non-adherence.

    Photo 2: From Koga 1992 brochure.

  24. @KogaLover

    Great stuff! You live up to your Velominame, good sir. Well played.

    Must admit that I thought for a second that the third word on the top tube was ‘Composite’ – but you’ve refreshed my memory. Carbolite, of course. Wonderful bike.

  25. @frank

     

    Take, as example, Fignon’s Bianchi. One of the most beautiful bikes ever.

     

     

     

    If my memory is correct, This bike of Fignon is actually a lugged carbon frame (TvT ?) painted to look like the sponsor’s oria steel version.

  26. That Syncros stem is hurting my eyes. Ugh, my first road bike, picked up used, had a similar one with that awful wide ovalized shape. Eck!

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