Fully Loaded

If you're a fanboy [girl] of cycling, you have to be feeling a little bit manic these days. The present state of cycling is a series of ebbs and tides; with the ebbs leaving you wondering if you're in a desert and the tides beckoning you like the song of a siren.

On the other end of the doping controversies, the vanishing sponsorships, and the proclamations of the death of cycling, is the news of Slipstream/Chipotle loading up the Argyle Armada for an assault on the Pro Tour.

Argyle On A Roll?

Although Slipstream's Director, Jonathan Vaughters, has been advised to wait until 2009 to buy into the Pro Tour, he has positioned his team well with the recent signings of David Millar (one of the worst kept secrets), Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie (why do I feel like Van de Velde's and Zabriskie's signings were somehow done Elwood and Jake style, "Boys, we're putting the band back together!") and a yet unnamed former Paris -- Roubaix winner (Could it be Magnus Backstedt, Stuart O'Grady, Fabian Cancellara, PVP, or heaven forbid, Tommeke???)

Some other stuff happening today:
-- Jemele Hill of ESPN's Page 2: Americans can be hypocrites in the perfomance-enhancers debate
-- San Diego Union Tribune: Landis spins wheels in court test
-- IHT: German rider refuses 2nd drug test

Missed It By That Much

I can't recall the last time two individuals from the same team were on the final podium of the Tour de France [the making of great trivia question, oui?], but as this year's Tour wraps up we'll be privy to something historic as Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) will be standing shoulder to shoulder on the Champs Ellysees.

It would have been even more historic if Levi was on Contador's right than on his left on the final podium. After a more than valiant effort in today's final ITT, Leipheimer ended up 8 seconds shy from displacing Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) for second place.

Or is he really 2 seconds ahead of Evans?

I think one of the most disappointing things in sports is when the outcome of an event is decided not by the players on the field, but by the officials. Because of the inability of some riders', to so speak "keep it in their pants," [or not cheat], and the Tour officials sending them packing, that's exactly how the outcome of this Tour was decided, by the officials.

In Levi's case, both his aspirations for the overall victory and for making the final podium were due to judgement calls by the officials. With Michael Rasmussen dismissed, Levi secured a spot on the podium. But on the other hand, if it weren't for a 10 second penalty he incurred on that crash filled Stage 8, Levi (Photo: Graham Watson) would now be second [being 2 seconds ahead of Evans], and therefore still would have made the podium even with Rasmussen present.

The Tour officials giveth and the Tour officials taketh away!

On Tap...

Still the Tour, Baby?!
For those of you who are still interested in the outcome of this year's Tour de France, Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) may be the reluctant Maillot Jaune on the road, but he may not make it to Paris with it on his shoulders. When Michael Rasmussen was still participating, the talk centered around how much time the climber needed to put on his closest competitors before the final ITT. Well that ITT is here, and the climber may be different, but Contador hasn't had much, if any, of an opportunity to put time into Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) or his teammate Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), who sit at 1.53 and 2.49 in arrears, respectively.

Saturday's 55.5km ITT from Cognac to Angoulême, is relatively flat and fast. This course will certainly favor Evans [who finished second to an allegedly doped up Vinokourov] and Leipheimer [who has won 3 ITT this year], but with the way Kid Contador has been battling, he's sure to go down swinging.

However, the greatest battle all the riders now face may not be with each other or with the parcours of the final "race of truth," but with their willingness and ability to focus after the drama and series of expulsions over the past few days. If Contador feels as undeserving of the Maillot Jaune as he did yesterday after Stage 17, then he's already been knocked out.

The doping controversy, we all hope, is gone from this year's Tour, and the drama shifted back to the road where Discovery Channel Director Sportif, Johan Bruyneel, is certainly a candidate for its focal point. With Rasmussen gone, and with all of Bruyneel's focus on Contador's chances to win the overall, how will he deal with the very real possibility [though slim in probability] of Levi Leipheimer winning the Tour? And we haven't even mentioned the drama of securing a sponsor for next year, even with two of his riders on the podium and his team winning the team competition.

On The Road
For those who lost all hope in professional cycling some time ago, or who may have just undergone the pain of seeing this beautiful sport's most chaotic race to date, then its time to go and mash on the pedals yourself. As usual, below is a list of races in specific areas of the country.

Our featured race this weekend is the Dave Babcock Memorial Weekend in Omaha, NE. Its a stage race that has something for everyone. It kicks off with the Douglas County Road Race on Saturday morning, followed by an afternoon time trial in Elkhorn, and a crit in downtown Omaha on Sunday.

As the Omaha area was my former stomping ground during my formative collegiate years, I am all too familiar with the routes. If you're in the area make sure to go out and support the racers, and if you're racing make sure to razz the chief referee, our friend of the blog, Sean Weide (Director of Communications for Toyota-United) if you have a [legitimate] disagreement with being pulled or with one of his calls.

To find results and photos of most of the races, check out Truesports.com


07/27/2007
13th Delaware Classic
Delaware, OH
Madison of the Americas
Trexlertown, PA

07/28/2007
Prudential Integity One, REALTORS Grand Prix
Granville, OH
Diamond Valley Road Race
Woodfords, CA
Porcupine Chalk Creek Road Race
Coalville, UT
Chris Meerman Memorial Downtown Allentown Criterium
Allentown, PA
Dave Babcook Memorial Weekend
Omaha, NE
Great Grandview Heights Criterium
Lancaster, PA

07/29/2007
The International Tour de 'Toona - Points Race
Altoona, PA
Peter Teeuwen Memorial Time Trials
Chesapeake, VA
Rum Village Criterium
South Bend, IN
The Buckeye Criterium
Columbus, OH
JBN Bicycle Race
Easton, PA
Velo Allegro Deluge Criterium
Long Beach, CA
Southbay Wheelmen Baxter Time Trial
Palos Verdes, CA

For those who have been utterly enraptured by the good and bad of the Tour, you most likely didn't realize that there's another tour race still going on in the US, the Tour de 'Toona.

After Stage 3 the Women's GC has Kori Seehafer (TEAm Lipton) holding on to a slim lead over Felicia Gomez (Aaron's).

Standings:
1 Kori Seehafer (TEAm Lipton)
2 Felicia Gomez (Aaron's)
3 Alison Powers (Colavita/Sutter Home)
4 Christine Thorburn (Webcor Builders)
5 Katheryn Curi (Webcor Builders)

The Men's standings haven't really changed much since the TTT, with Health Net presented by Maxxis and Toyota - United dominating the top.

Standings:
1 Karl Menzies (Health Net - Maxxis)
2 Rory Sutherland (Health Net - Maxxis)
3 Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United)
4 Caleb Manion (Toyota-United)
5 Chris Wherry (Toyota-United)

Real and Spectacular

If you've ever raced, whether it be organized or just out on the street with some buddies, you quickly realize how important and how valuable it can be to have some teammates around you. In a pack they can provide some shelter by blocking wind, they can shepard you to the line with a great lead-out, or they can simply instill some confidence by cheering you on or calming you down.

So when you see someone on the [start] line with a non-descript jersey or that lone team jersey in a large group partitioned by similar colors and markings, its not hard to find some measure of respect for that person. Now when you see that lone individual actually spring forth from that pack and win, well, then you know you've got something special.

Such is the current plight of our friend, Liz Hatch (Vanderkitten). She's a season away from leading Team Vanderkitten on the road, but that hasn't stopped her from showing the women's domestic circuit what a lone Vanderkitten can do [taking to heart the grassroots clothing company's motto; for women "who kick ass!"], and what they might need to worry about in the future.

In the past two weeks, Liz has lined up for the Lafayette and Albany Criteriums. In the women's Cat 1/2/3 races, she finished 7th and 1st, respectively. And according to Liz, she seems to be "finally getting the hang of this crit thing."

At the Lafayette Criterium, Liz stated that she "left my sprint for too late and there was no way I could pass the girls who were ahead of me."

Liz [second wheel] Tracking A Move

But at Albany, she was able to rectify that mistake and "attacked with 2 corners left and won by about 4 bike lengths!"

Another Victory Salute

The folks from Vanderkitten have recently set her up with her own blog, so now you can follow along with Liz's musings during her racing season and beyond. But, we'll be sure to have updates and reports for our readers of our favorite Vanderkitten.

Oh, and Liz's reaction to the Vinokourov news yesterday...an excerpt from her blog:

"I'm gutted.

I'm insulted, hurt and fucking irate.

Cycling is life to me and I treat it with respect. Hours of training, living healthy and sacrifice and nothing more. No pills, no shots, no transfusions. Nothing that would soil my accomplishments or steal from a competitor.

Apparently some have lost sight of the reason cycling is such a beautiful sport.

Apparently nothing matters besides the almighty dollar..."

Yup, she's real and she's spectacular.

More From Millar

" We've given benefit of the doubt ... that benefit is over."

From the man who has been on the other side and succumbed to the pressure to dope, an infuriated David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) reacts further to the latest doping news (CLICK on the image):

NOTE: For those easily offended by strong language, Millar's reaction is extremely genuine and guttural.

Some Good News...

Just received the email confirmation, the Triple Crankset is going to Interbike 2007, as credentialed media. So to our friend of the blog, Liz Hatch (Vanderkitten), get ready for that hand shake...er, hug!

And in the realm of "Too Funny [or in this case Ironic] Not to Post," how about this story (how did I miss this on Saturday, oh yeah my head was being twisted around by that pseudo-phenomenal Vinokourov ITT)...

Instead of Tour coverage a Swiss newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, published the obituary of the sport of cycling. Roughly translated from French:

"The writer imagines a tomb engraved of the dates of birth and of death (1790-2007) and [a] wheel of [a] bicycle. The flagstone is surmounted by a funeral [bike] pump…, of course. The text indicates: “Become little by little a discipline brewing of the million francs and monopolizing the media of the whole world, in particular through the mythical Tour de France, cycling died out little by little, gangrené by the cheating and doping”.

The newspaper chose to publish the obit in anger over all the news of doping [we can all empathize with that sentiment]. Although the newspaper maintains its "passion for a clean, true, educational and popular sport,” the article ends with “Today, professional cycling is clinically dead."

Ah, Not So Good...

To say I'm shocked or to say this news hasn't rocked the Tour would be a bit of an understatement. No, make that a huge understatement! But the currently labelled patron of the peloton, Alexandre Vinokourov, has tested positive for homologous blood transfusion from blood taken after his ITT win in Albi.

(Photo: Cyclingnews)

The lab that analyzed the blood, none other than the infamous Châtenay-Malabry laboratory that processed Floyd Landis' blood.

Which brings me to a point that I've been wanting to address since the beginning of this Tour, but never found the appropriate venue, at least until now. With the delay in the announcement of Landis' arbitration hearing, what would be the effect of a positive verdict for Floyd? A positive verdict would mean that the processes of the Châtenay-Malabry lab would have been found to be inadequate and some of their staff relatively incompetent, correct?

So by delaying the verdict in the case as to not disrupt the spectacle of the Tour, [if you recall from earlier this week, the current Tour Director, Christian Prudhomme, questioned the timing of the release of information by the Danish Cycling federation regarding Michael Rasmussen's "administrative errors."] then any findings from the lab could be reasonably called into question.

Either the directors of the Tour have essentially given any rider in this year's Tour who would choose to dope evidence to combat their positive finding in their arbitration hearing [last week Italian Marco Fertonani attempted to blame the same lab for his testosterone positive]; they are attempting to lend credence to the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory by allowing them to be the main lab for the Tour [something the officials of the French Open didn't feel confident in doing as they switched all their athletes' testing to the WADA lab in Montreal], or they know the verdict of Landis' hearing [which isn't good for Floyd].

In regard to Vinkourov, my only question would be why? After a year in which he wasn't allowed to participate [due to Liberty Seguros' involvement in Operacion Puerto] and with the suspension of Tyler Hamilton, who allegedly doped in the same fashion, why do it? Maybe that moniker of "Crazy Kazakh" doesn't really refer to his mad-capped attacking attempts but rather to something more clinical.

MORE:
--Velonews: A doctor explains blood doping

Coming to America

Perhaps the greatest spectacle in professional cycling is the team time trial (TTT). Don't get me wrong, as I still believe that nothing can really touch the drama of riders battling in the high mountains. But for sheer exhilaration, teamwork, and speed, a TTT is something to behold.

Over the years, we've seen powerhouses like US Postal Service or ONCE in single or double paceline formation or even in a mini echelon cruising down the roadways in a Grand Tour. [Is it any wonder where US Postal got the nickname the "Big Blue Train," or why the US Postal/Discovery Channel URL for their site is thepaceline.com?] But lately, this type of team competition has been absent from the biggest races, instead finding a niche as a specialized race such as the Eindhoven Team Time Trial.

Well, the often seen discipline in Europe was offered up yesterday during the first stage of the Tour de 'Toona in Altoona, PA.

Our friends over at Toyota-United looked spectacular as they came in second to Health-Net presented by Maxxis over the 10.6 mile course.

Photos: Kurt Jambretz

From Sean Weide (Toyota-United's Communication Director):

"Health Net averaged 29.7 mph to finish in 21 minutes and 25 seconds. Toyota-United was 11 seconds slower while the Navigators Insurance Cycling Team finished third, 18 seconds behind the winner. Of the top 10 teams, only Toyota-United and the BMC Professional Cycling Team came to the finish line with
their entire squads intact...

Nathan O’Neil (Health Net) holds down the overall lead, followed by four of his teammates. Toyota-United was led across the line by Chris Baldwin, who sits in sixth place overall. Teammates Heath Blackgrove, Bobby Lea, Justin England, Chris Wherry, Burke Swindlehurst, Ivan Dominguez and Caleb Manion hold down seventh through 13th place overall, respectively."

I, for one, hope we see more TTT incorporated into tour road races in the US.

I Could've Been a Conta-ten-dor

It only seemed appropriate, with the road tilting upward in the Pyrenees, to have a Spaniard grace the top of the blog. In the 1990's no one had ever seen a force as indomitable as Miguel Indurain. "Big Mig" won five consecutive Tours from 1991 to 1995, being dethrowned in 1996 by 'Mr. 60%," Bjarne Riis.

Since that time, cycling mad Spain has been searching for his replacement. Many, like Iban Mayo, Alejandro Valverde, Haimar Zubledia, Juan Miguel Mercado, Jose Marie Jimenez, and Juan Manuel Garate, have all been tabbed as "next," but none has ever been a real contender in France.

Photo: AFP

Enter the precocious talents of 24 year old Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel). After today's victory at Plateau de Beille, Contador sits in second place on the GC with a more than realistic opportunity to win the Tour. With the full strength of Discovery Channel, and with two cards [in Contador and Levi Leipheimer, who currently sits in 4th overall] for Johan Bruyneel to play, we will all see how strong Michael Rasmussen truly is over the next 5 days of true racing [rest day on Tuesday and Sunday is more-or-less celebratory].

Astan-afia

Perhaps we should have all seen this coming, or rather maybe we have already. You know, this is the episode where Tony, recovering from a gunshot wound, orders Silvio, Paulie, and Christopher to hold down the fort until he's fully recovered. And once he's well, they go and whack everybody.

Insert the latest patron of the peloton, in Alexandre Vinokourov, for Tony, and any one of team Astana, like Serguei Ivanov, Andrej Kashechkin, Antonio Colom or Andreas Kloden, for the crew and you have all the makings of a Godfather-like crescendo of revenge killings in the final week of the Tour de France.

Photo: Tim de Waele

First they took care of France's hope for a podium, Christophe Moreau, when they splintered the peloton with a savage attack on Stage 11. Then they followed up that performance with the boss himself turning the screws on the favorites. Today, Vinokourov dominated the Stage 13 54km ITT in Albi, and rode himself back into podium contention. Apparently the rest of the peloton never got the memo because some guys you should just never let off the mat.

Heras, Heras, Heras
Its been said that like Red Bull, the Maillot Jaune, gives people wings. The current Maillot Jaune wearer, Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), definitely engendered those sentiments today as he rode a powerful ITT, even catching his 3 minute man in Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Espagne).

The one prevailing comment I heard after the fact was the lack of recollection of a climbing specialist ever riding such a spirited ITT. How soon we forget?

As I watched Rasmussen finish just outside the top 10, the one thing I kept thinking about was Roberto Heras' (Photo: Graham Watson) effort in the final ITT during the 2005 Vuelta a Espana. The climbing specialist, then with Liberty Seguros, finished in second on that day to preserve what would have been his 4th Vuelta crown. However, test later turned up positive for EPO use.

Perhaps, the jadedness, skepticism, and cynicism have finally settled in [and who could blame me with Rasmussen doping speculation saturating the news media these days]. Ironically, the individual who was most affected by Heras' actions during that grand tour was Denis Menchov, Michael Rasmussen's current team leader.

Silver Streaks

Well, this isn't really news, as its been widely speculated and talked about since last December, but the old silver mining town of Leadville, CO may experience another "rush" of people come August 11th as Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong plan to dance in the dirt in the Leadville 100.

Who Needs the Pyrenees?

The Race Across the Sky is an appropriate name for this contest which starts out a 10,200 feet, with 12,068 feet of elevation gained (and loss) during the race.

So who you got?

Jolly Green Giant

Photo: AFP

It was supposed to be a day for another breakaway to succeed, the profile lended to that assumption. But with the first true test coming in the form of the individual time trial tomorrow, only two placed a serious bid into a successful attack. With those odds, the day was left to the sprinters.

At the line of Stage 12, were the top three competitors for the Maillot Vert: Tom Boonen (Quick Step - Innergetic), Robbie Hunter (Barloworld), and Erik Zabel (Milram). The imposing green figure of Boonen won the day, with Zabel nipping Hunter for second and moving 1 point behind Hunter in the quest for the points competition. At the end of the day, the three are separated by only 21 points.

Although he was unable to take today's sprint, Zabel had to be pleased with his result given the fact that he was one of those caught napping when the peloton fractured yesterday. Beside that loss in concentration by Zabel and a minor crash by Boonen in the final corner [both on Stage 11], the three have been remarkably consistent in the sprint. The focus may be on the Maillot Jaune for the next few days, but with the GC usually decided after Stage 19, we may still be in for some major fireworks on the Champs Ellysees. Remember the Tour of 2003 when Aussies Baden Cooke and Robbie McEwen battled to the very end?

On Tap...

Welcome to another installment of what's "On Tap..." for this weekend. Since I'm writing from the Midwest, let's start off with the races for the International Cycling Classic Superweek Pro Tour or simply Superweek.

Fri, July 20
Green Lake Criterium* New Race!
Green Lake, WI
Sat, July 21
Carl Zach Cycling Classic presented by Couri Insurance Agency*
Waukesha, WI
Sun, July 22
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling* New Race!
Evanston, IL

If you're still not sure about participating, and perhaps need a little goading, check out the article from Chicago Tribune Staff Writer and my former xXx Racing-Athletico teammate, Luke Seemann. Luke also recently started up a site, Chicago Bike Racing [link also on our right navigation bar], that is based off a similar resource for racers in Minnesota. Both the article and the site provide the perfect snapshot of what racing is on the ground level; for every day people who have a passion for cycling but don't necessary make a living from it. And if you want an in-depth race report from the ENH Grand Prix, you probably won't find one finer than at CBR.

If you can't make it to Wisconsin or the Chicagoland area this weekend, here are some races for you in certain select regions of the country.

07/20/2007
3rd Friday Marysville Grand Prix
Marysville, OH
The Bicycling & Womens Health Magazine Int Womens
Trexlertown, PA
French Broad Cycling Classic -2007
Marshall, Henderson County, and Asheville, NC
NAS-Track #5
Mike Walden Velodrome
Rochester Hills, MI

07/21/2007
VA Age Graded Road Race Championship
Richmond, VA
Watsonville Criterium
Watsonville, CA
Nicole Reinhart Memorial Tour de FCCC
Maxatawny/Trexlertown, PA
2007 YLNI Pancake Race
Woodburn, IN
SCNCA Masters Track Cycling Championships
Encino, CA
Troy Classic on the Square
Troy, OH
Maillot Jaune Road Race
Fenton, MI
Robert Fulton Road Race
Peach Bottom, PA

07/22/2007
Ontario GP-9th Annual
Ontario, CA
Team Time Trial Presented by Volkswagen
Richmond, VA
Albany Criterium
Albany, CA
Tour d'Burg
Miamisburg, OH

07/23/2007
The International Tour de 'Toona
Altoona, PA

Support for these races and these riders is always greatly appreciated, so go and check out the action...you may just see the "next" great thing in cycling in one of these races.

For results and photos from most of the races, go to Truesport.com

Across the Pond
If you're somehow stuck to the sofa this weekend, Le Tour promises to live up to its hype this weekend [and through Monday] as three crucial stages should help sort out the contenders from the pretenders for the GC crown.

The most interesting shake outs will come from Discovery Channel and Rabobank. Both teams have their leaders [Leipheimer and Menchov] and their up-starts [Contador and Rasmussen] high on the GC standings. Depending on how the weekend plays out, we could see a complete role reversal in the third week with Leipheimer and Menchov out on the attack or even perhaps blocking some wind for their teammates.

Locally
There's always NAS-Track tonight...but the main attractions in "A" deux are the Ann Arbor Art Fairs [plus the opening of a new bike shop]. I can already feel the heat burning that proverbial hole in my pocket. I'll be one of the many randoms wearing a Red Sawx (lot of East Coast kids at UM) cap cruising the scene.

Robbie, Robbie, Robbie

Stage 11 of the Tour de France wasn't supposed to be one for the books, but it ended up being one of those stages where throwing out Phil Liggett's phrase, "What is this Tour de France?" would only be fitting. Although not as significant to the overall picture as last year's Stage 13, today's stage saw the fracturing of the peloton, the resurgence of a GC contender [in Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), who worked through his kinks and even attempted a solo 3km from the line], the fall of another [as Christophe Moreau (Ag2R) along with several noted sprinters were caught napping when Astana put down the hammer], and a first for South Africa [as Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) became the first South African to win a stage in the Tour de France].

Wasn't this just supposed to be a transitional stage?

Next:
Continuing our preview of the stages which may ultimately decide the General Classification, let's take a look at Sunday's Stage 14 - Mazamet to Plateau de Beille (197km).

There really isn't much to say about this stage except two Hors Categorie climbs with the second being the mountain top finish on Plateau de Beille. There will be no GC contenders crossing the finish line in a bunch as we saw in the Alps. These climbs promise to leave riders strung out from base to peak.

Too Funny Not to Post...

Photo: Charles Herskowitz

Every once in a while someone captures the perfect candid. This one was sent to us by another friend of the Triple Crankset, Toyota-United's Communication Director, Sean Weide.

I'm not quite sure what Ivan Stevic (Toyota-United) is attempting to describe, but the only dialogue I could imagine between he and Rashaan Bahati (Rock Racing) is:

Bahati: "Ivan, the race is over. We're on the [CSC Invitational] podium now."
Stevic: "Yeah, but all I needed to do was this or this, and I would've won."
Bahati: "Ivan, it's over already."

We know we have our group of creative types out there, so gives us you're best caption ...

From Bands to Booty

You don't have to look hard to find a bicycle ride affiliated with a charity these days. The market, you could say, is over saturated with rides used to raise funds and/or awareness for everything from IT Aid in Africa to Multiple Sclerosis (MS). For me, it just further substantiates what all of us cyclists already know, there's power in our pedals.

Unfortunately, there seems to be one foundation [and cause] out there that dominates all others, The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). I say unfortunate, because cancer is a disease which has impacted all of our lives to some degree, from our Trek Travel mate and cancer survivor, Chris, to T-o-03 losing his good friend, Paul Regan. And depending upon whose statistics you look at, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the number one killer of people.

The lovely lady on this post is my friend Pip. For our readers across the pond, she is an ex-patriate who currently resides stateside. When not racing in time trials, Pip teaches yoga and co-owns of one of the best bicycle shops around, Black Sheep Cycles.

On July 27, 2007 she will participate in the 24 Hours of Booty, an LAF national and local fundraiser. At last year's event, she rode 210 miles on a fixie. [Isn't that the shite!]

To find out more about her [how she got her nickname or how she got her hair to look that way], the event, and to contribute, CLICK HERE.

As no one truly enjoys the act of soliciting funds, nor do most people enjoy being solicited, consider this more of a challenge. A challenge not necessarily to open your pocket books, but to open your mind and your heart to the very real possibility of one day riding these charity rides as a memorial and not as a means to raise funds.

Contribute today...

Transitions

The Versus channel has dubbed last year's Tour as the "Tour of Chaos." Therefore, it only seems appropriate to think of this Tour as the "Tour of Transitions." And transition was never more evident than at the halfway point (as the race's final day is usually one of ceremony and for sprinter's bragging rights) of this year's Tour.

The stage itself, Stage 10, was a true transition stage. It, like the two days to follow, will serve as a bridge from the Alps to the Pyrennes. The route contained mostly flat sections, but had enough bumps along the way to remind the riders' legs of their days of going up hill.

The stage was won by Cedric Vasseur (Quick-Step - Innergetic) who is himself experencing a transition, as this will be the 36 year old's final Tour and season. The win added to Quick-Step's overall tally, and served as the perfect cap to the career of the Frenchman who has ridden for the likes of US Postal and Cofidis.

Photo: Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net

On a grander scale, the cycling fan is being treated, or rather subjected, to the pangs of transitioning from a sport infested with performance enhancements to one that is attempting to be clean. Unfortunately for Bob Stapleton and his T-Mobile squad, they have been volunteered as the petri dish experiment for this turnover. We've seen the victory by a precocious Linus Gerdemann, who is representative of the new world of a cleaner sport, juxtaposed with the positive A-sample from the previously earmarked German wunderkid, Patrik Sinkewitz, who represents the old [and seemingly still pervasive] culture of doping.

For those who are fans of the professional ranks, we can only hope that the transitions is swift, but it certainly won't be painless. And as we've already seen, this transition will not be without casualties, both fans and riders alike.

Next:
Rather than preview the next two transition days' stages, let's take a leap forward to this weekend, where this Tour will be like a community martini, both shaken and stirred.

Saturday's ITT, an out and back in the town of Albi, will be just like a golf tournment's Saturday, "moving day." The GC will be an ever changing tote board 54km of sinuous rolling terrain as its sponsor. Will it be a big day for the strong GC time trialist, or will they ride somewhere under "red" knowing that an uphill finish awaits them the following day in the Pyrennes? Will Michael Rasmussen tax himself attempting to stay in yellow and leave himself vulnerable to attacks in the mountains or will he just try to limit his losses and attack again on his beloved terrain?

Pulling the Plug

In light of the recent doping positive of Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile), German broadcasting stations have decided to pull the plug on cycling. From Cyclingnews:

"The German public channels initially said they would not boycott cycling, but said during the Tour they would stop broadcasting if more doping are cases surfacing. They came through with their promise after the most recent doping case and have decided to not broadcast today's tenth stage on neither ARD nor ZDF.

Today it would have been the turn of ARD in their alternating schedule, but instead of the stage, there was a special edition sports report that featured interviews and background on doping."

Are you ready to pull the plug...or have you already? Could the "death" of cycling be far behind?

Argyle Armada Set to Sail?

Ever so quietly, CEO Director Sportif, Jonathan Vaughters seems to be positioning his team, Slipstream/Chipotle, to become the next big American Pro Tour team. Here’s this tidbit from Pezcyclingnews’ Italian correspondent, Matt Conn:

“David Millar is reported to have signed with the American Slipstream squad for 2008. Also linked with Slipstream? George Hincapie. Hincapie is apparently “talking” and has not signed with the hoping-to-soon-be Tour de France squad.There should be a plethora of big name signings over the rest of the summer and fall for Slipstream. It will be interesting to see exactly who, as some whopper names have been bandied about already.”

Among those big names that have been bandied about is Floyd Landis. Vaughters had previously stated that they would be a serious player for Floyd’s service should he be cleared of doping allegations. And where there is Floyd, could Dave be far behind. In an interview with Gregor Brown of Cyclingnews, Dave Zabriskie would neither confirm nor deny his future intentions.

"A decision on Zabriskie's future team is likely to come soon. When questioned about the different possibilities based on current rumours he became tight-lipped. "Right now I cannot say," stated Zabriskie in a polite but firm manner."

Let the speculation begin!

MORE:
-- Mark Zalewski (Cyclingnews): An Interview with Jonathan Vaughters

Number 9

Who's to know?
Who was to know?

People ride, people ride
Ride, Ride, Ride, Ride, Ride

Number 9, Number 9, Number 9, Number 9
Ride! Ride!

Strangely enough those lyrics from Lennon and McCartney kept running through my head today. And they couldn't have been more appropriate for what happened today on Stage Number 9, Number 9, Number 9 of the Tour.

Photo: Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net

Who was to know...that a young Columbian, Mauricio Soler, from the last team to be invited to the Tour, Barloworld, would win today's stage in such a spectacular fashion; having chased down an early break and then soloing to victory, in the Alps no less.

People ride, people ride...as in the favorites. The final Alpine stage saw all the favorites ride and ride and ride their teammates and each other into the ground. All the heavies revealed themselves in one form or another. On one end of the spectrum we saw Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) come to fore as a more than realistic contender (or Conta-ten-dor as it were) for not only the podium but for the Tour crown.

While on the other, Alexandre Vinokourov's (Astana) injuries finally were revealed under extreme pressure. The odds on favorite to win this year's Tour was reduced to tears by the knowledge that the golden goose has flown. With the time gaps that a healthy Vinokourov would have great difficulty to overcome, it definitely spells the end for an injured one. A year's worth of frustration, from having been excluded from last year's event, has cruely been compiled with all the frustrations of this year's Tour.

Results
1 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
5 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir
6 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
7 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
8 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
10 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC
11 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance

Bovine Revenge

Photo: CorVos/Pezcyclingnews

Its amazing what some folks will do to express their Tour de France fandom. If this was the cow that took a chuck of fabric from the "Tour Devil," then I've got to side with the cow in that case.

Devil of a Time

This certainly ranks in the category of "Too Funny Not to Post." Who knew that the Devil had such a hard gig?

From Susan Westemeyer (Cyclingnews):

"The Tour de France can be dangerous, and not just for the riders, as the "Tour Devil", Didi Senf of Germany (inset with T-o-03 in London), found out in the Alps. Senf, who appears on the mountain stages in his devil's costume to urge the riders on, apparently found a cow who doesn't approve of his act.

The cow attacked him, and tore a sleeve of his costume, the German agency "sid" has reported."

Taste Just Like...

Pardon moi monsieur, va comment le Maillot Jaune aujourd' hui?
Excellent, le goût aiment juste le poulet!
Parfait, je voudrais un côté des pommes frites avec la mayo aussi bien.

Roughly translated:
Forgive me sir, how is the Yellow Jersey today?
Excellent, it taste just like chicken!
Perfect, I would like a side of french fries with mayo as well.

Stage 8, with three Cat. 1 climbs and the first up hill finish of this year's Tour, was the perfect lure to goad the Chicken [across] up the road. And it didn't take long for Michael "Chicken" Rasmussen (Rabobank) to spring to it, as he went up the road on the first of the three monstrous Alpine climbs.

Not far behind was the side of mayo the Basque country has been waiting to appear since they first saw it was [realistically] on the Tour de France menu back in 2003. It wasn't his greatest effort up an incline, but if you asked Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) about his second place today, I'm sure you'd elicit a smile.

For Mayo, its been a sterling season to date (earlier he won Stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia), and one of great redemption. But even with these recent successes, he remains cautiously optimistic about his chances given his Tour history. From the Saunier Duval website:

"After having been through such a bad patch in the last editions of the Tour, being here, safe and sound, feels like victory to me. My only clear goal is grabbing a stage-win, as I said before I came here. Of course, the GC is tempting; stepping onto the final podium would be very nice. But the Tour is a very difficult race, so we should take it easy, step by step. The important thing is to keep this feeling; the sensations I felt today. And then, if a stage-win or even something bigger comes, we´ll all be very happy.”

Rasmussen on the other hand, is as ambitious as he is thin [his fighting height and weight, 5'9" and 130 lbs.]. The Rabobank rider seems to have been given free reign again by management, as he certainly doesn't need any help in the mountains. It'll be interesting to see how Rasumussen's ambitions run up against team leader, Denis Menchov's throughout the remainder of this Tour and beyond.

If Chicken (and no although it may seem reasonable to assume he received his nickname from his slender lower build, he did not) continues his high wire act in the Pyrennes, the only thing stopping him from winning or getting on the podium will be his time trialing skills. Its still quite painful to even think of what transpired during the final time trial in 2005; one which saw Jan Ullrich displace Rasumussen on the final podium, after his horrific day.

Musings:
-- As Phil and Paul kept speculating after the stage today, it would have been interesting to see how far up the classification Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) would have ridden to if not for his mechanical.

--Favorites not yet ready to fire. I know T-o-03 feels that perhaps a cleaner sport has something to do with the lack of favorites at the forefront. And although I echo his sentiments, I think the lack of favorites firing is more a by-product of having to train cleanly (and therefore race differently).

For a three week Tour, its still a crap shoot as to when a rider's peak form will come around, even for the most seasoned professional. And once that peak appears, it only hangs around for a short time. Last year, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) was spot on for the Dauphine Libere, but faded in the last week of the Tour. I think all the favorites are following Der Kaiser's [Jan Ullrich] plan of riding into peak form for the final week. None really looked fantastic in any of the pre-Tour build up races, with each showing flashes of brilliance, but not dominance.

There's still a lot of riding to be done, and the steeper Pyrennian climbs, which favor a more explosive climber, will be the true tipping point; that and about 100km in time trialing. They don't call it the "race of truth" for nothing.

MORE:
-- Carmichael Sez (Pezcyclingnews): Patience The Virtue
-- Bonnie DeSimone (ESPN): Discovery's Leipheimer still in the Tour game

Photo: Getty Images

Bu, Bu, Bu, BOOONNNEN!

Alright, so the written version doesn't even come close to Detroit Pistons PA announcer, John Mason's, unique style. No disrespect to Phil and Paul, but it would have been great to hear Mason call the sprint today.

The Tornado, Tom Boonen (Quick-Step - Innergetic), finally got it right today, following the mix up...er, gift...er, plan during Stage 2's lead out by teammate Gert Steegmans. The victory, placed Boonen back in the Maillot Vert, which was being temporarily looked after by Erik Zabel (Milram), more on Zabel later.

I couldn't tell if it was the stress from not having won a stage yet, the tiredness from such a long sprint, the knowledge that he'll be cruising the autobus during the mountain stages, or the fact that he'd won so many races before, but Boonen certainly looked more relieved than elated as he crossed the line today (Photo: CorVos/Pezcyclingnews). If I didn't know any better, I'd say that his look bordered on being disinterested, bored, or even indifferent. Perhaps I'm reaching for something that isn't there, as Boonen was all smiles on the podium. But having seen that signature two handed salute in full elation before, you'd swear that he was a superhero preparing to take flight. Today, um...not so much.


Green With Hypocrisy?
This from Velonews' Ben Delaney:

"Germany's veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (Milram) had not one but two Tour de France green jerseys taken from him Friday before stage 6 even finished.

He lost the first - his overall best sprinter title from 1996 - when Tour de France authorities announced they were revoking it because of Zabel's admission this May to use of the banned blood-booster EPO that year. He lost the second - the current green jersey of the 2007 Tour de France sprint competition - on the road today after Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) scored points at two intermediate sprints and the final to overtake him in the competition."

I'm all for justice and righting a wrong, but I can't help but feel like Lance Armstrong did before the start of the Tour when he called out Tour Director, Christian Prudhomme.

"Seven-time Tour de France winner criticized Tour Director Christian Prudhomme for his actions regarding Bjarne Riis. The Texan referred to the Frenchman as a "hypocrite" for wanting to take away Riis 1996 Tour jersey following the Dane's confession to doping during the same year.

"The hypocrisy of certain directors irritates me," Armstrong said, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "After the confession of Riis, Prudhomme asked for the return of the yellow jersey. Why did he never ask Virenque for his polka-dot jerseys? To Thévenet for his two yellow jerseys? The family of Anquetil for his five yellow jerseys?""

Many may say that Armstrong's sentiments are nothing more than "the pot calling the kettle black," but he's absolutely right in his statements. If you're only going to punish the few, why do it at all? Didn't 5-time Tour champion, Jacques Anquetil, freely admit that he took amphetamines, all the while arguing that it was part of the cycling culture at that time.

Isn't that what's going on now?

I'd think Raymond Poulidor, a man who was certainly more loved by the French than Anquetil, and who will be forever known as the "Eternal Second," would certainly appreciate just one of those 5 jerseys, let alone the three he lost to him.

Mr. Prudhomme, you have some more jerseys to collect [and more history to re-write], or do the rules only pertain to non-French riders.

On Tap...

And so it begins...the International Cycling Classic Superweek Pro Tour or simply Superweek. In recent years, its become a huge misnomer as racing goes until the end of this month. Here's the tentative schedule:

Fri, July 13
Beverly Hills Cycling Classic presented by The McTigue Financial Group
Chicago, IL
Sat, July 14
St. Francis Hospital Blue Island ProAm* New Race!
Blue Island, IL
Sun, July 15
Ray Basso Bensenville Criterium* Old Course Is Back!
Bensenville, IL
Mon, July 16
Point Beer Tour of Alpine Valley Road Race*
East Troy, WI
Tue, July 17
Saturn Whitnall Park Road Race*
Hales Corners, WI
Wed, July 18
Hammer Nutrition MGA Proving Grounds Road Race*
Lyons, WI
Thu, July 19
Midwest Airlines Humboldt Park Criterium*
Milwaukee, WI
Tim Hart DDS/Rainbow Jersey Shorewood Criterium*
Shorewood, WI
Fri, July 20
Green Lake Criterium* New Race!
Green Lake, WI
Sat, July 21
Carl Zach Cycling Classic presented by Couri Insurance Agency*
Waukesha, WI
Sun, July 22
Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Grand Prix of Cycling* New Race!
Evanston, IL
Mon, July 23
Pharma Pacific Tour of Holy Hill*
Hartford, WI
Tue, July 24
WDSC Cedarburg Cycling Classic presented by Time Warner Cable*
Cedarburg, WI
Wed, July 25
Bellin Health Village of Howard Cycling Classic
Green Bay, WI
Thu, July 26
PCW Cycling Heritage Square Criterium
Sheboygan, WI
Fri, July 27
Chase Food Folks & Spokes
Kenosha, WI
Sat, July 28
Wheel & Sprocket Brewers Hill Criterium
Milwaukee, WI
The Columbia St. Mary's Great Downer Avenue Bike Race presented by Saturn & Point Beer
Milwaukee, WI
Time Warner Cable Whitefish Bay Classic
Whitefish Bay, WI

For those not in and around the Illinois/Wisconsin area here are some local races and fun rides in some specified areas.

07/13/2007

'07 Summer Slam
Trexlertown, PA

07/14/2007
Tour de Sugar Grove

Surgar Grove, OH
Madison Regatta
Madison, IN
Millport Road Race (TM)
Lancaster, PA
Illinois State Velodrome Masters Track Championship
Northbrook, IL
Chantilly Criterium for Davis Phinney Foundation
Chantilly, VA
Tour De Port
Portsmouth, VA
Beautiful Woodlawn/7 Hills Racing Criterium
Woodlawn, OH
Diablo Hill Climb
Mt Diablo State Park, CA
NCNCA Masters State Track Championships
San Jose, CA
Road/Track/Cross
International Cycling Classic
Milwaukee, WI

07/15/2007

Lafayette Criterium Kids Event
Lafayette, CA

Team Dayton Criterium Classic
Harveysburg, OH
Koehlingers- IN State Time Trial Challenge
New Haven, IN
San Marcos Circuit Race
San Marcos, CA
Tour 'De Peake
Chesapeake, VA
Lafayette Criterium
Lafayette, CA
Sportsfest Irving Park Criterium
Allentown, PA
Common Crit
Lansing, MI

For results and photos of any of the races, go to Truesport.com


Le Tour
This weekend the fun begins and the contenders for the overall should be revealed as the peloton hits the Alps. With the first Rest Day coming on Monday, it'll be interesting to see which leader and which team will come out on top.

Down Goes Vino...

Stage 5 of the Tour de France from Chablis to Autun was to be one of those non-dramatic transition stages that helps to prepare the peloton for the upcoming mountain stages. But it ended up being anything but uninteresting.

Who knew at the beginning of the Tour that Astana was not only the name of one of the top Pro Tour cycling teams and that of the capital of Kazakhstan, but also loosely translates into English as "pavement."

On three separate occasions on today's stage, two of Astana's triumvirate of leaders put skin to pavement, with the odds on favorite to win the overall classification, Alexandre Vinokourov, receiving the brunt of the damage.

Although Andreas Kloden accounted for the other two Astana crashes, they occurred early enough during the stage enabling him to keep pace with the peloton. Vino, however, wasn't as fortunate. He lost a little over 1:20 at the line. And if you were wondering who the "real" patron of Astana is, management left the other two leaders, Klodi and Andrej Kashechkin, alone upfront and burned out the remainder of the team helping Vino to futilely pace back up.

At the end of the day, his injuries may look much worse than what they are, but he'll certainly be stiff and sore going into tomorrow's stage. If you ever wondered why cyclists shave their legs, you need only look at Vino's road rash and envision the process of having to pull the hair out of those strawberries [to aid healing] if they didn't. OUCH! (Photo: CorVos/Pezcyclingnews)

There's been much debate already as to how this will affect Vino's chance to win the Tour. As Lance Armstrong once said, "every second counts."

To those who see his chances having gone down the tube, I offer up this sentiment. It may be the best thing to happen to him. There was some concern at the beginning of the Tour as to how his leadership role would affect his attacking style. Although anyone would agree that its easier to attack while out in front, Vino's put himself into a position to do nothing but attack. The odds on favorite giant may just have awoke, and I'll bet he'll be fairly angry.

Riding to Rid
Did the peloton raise the pace when the favorite went down? I've read where CSC angrily resented the implication, while others claimed ignorance of Vino's predicament as they were already involved in positioning for the finale.

Although Vino's been tabbed to win, the only time that type of etiquette seems to be appropriate is for the wearer of the Maillot Jaune. Did the other team favorites intentionally attempt to distance themselves; possible but not probable.

As far as not knowing, no one in the modern peloton can ever claim ignorance. So much has been made recently of the way radios and other technologies have perhaps dulled the racing instincts of the cyclists, making them too dependent on their Directors to feed them race information.

Everybody knew he went down, some Directors probably saw it live on a portable [tele] in the team car. But in their defense, there was a race going on and there's a reason leaders have teams made up of domestiques.

Calling His Shot
Not to be lost in all this drama is the fact that someone won a stage of the Tour today. That someone was Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas). Strangely enough, Pippo ended up being the third person in this year's Tour to actually predict his fate on the upcoming stage. The other two are Fabian Cancellara (CSC) before the prologue, and Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) before Stage 1. Forget about prophetic, let's talk about self-awareness as each rode to victory on parcours that were suited to their strengths.

Other Stage 5 Tidbits
Although he has yet to win a stage this year, Erik Zabel (Milram) claimed the Maillot Vert. Has there ever been an overall Maillot Vert winner who didn't win a stage?

The speed of the sprint today...how about an astonishing 49mph. WOW!

Next: Stage 6 -Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse, 199.5km
A look at the profile should tell you that this one if for the sprinters.

Thunderstruck Again

Another day, another breakaway attempt swarmed over by the sprinters' teams. C'est la vie dans Le Tour.

Either the sprinter's have finally gotten their lead outs coordinated or they're all beginning to hear the echoes from the fast approaching Alpine stages, as the 5 man break was brought back with 3 miles still to spare.

Now that's how you celebrate. One massive Norwegian barbaric YALP!
(Photo: AFP)

The main recipient of the peloton's efforts today was Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), who for a split moment thought he had celebrated prematurely when South Africa's Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) threw for the line.

The biggest surprise to date for me has been the consistency of former Maillot Vert winner and newly confessed doper, Erik Zabel (Milram). Besides the crash he caused on Stage 2 (where he finished 7th), he's been in the running for the money on each day. Perhaps what they say about "the truth" is correct; it'll set you free every time.

Results
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
3 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
5 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre - Fondital
6 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
7 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
8 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic
9 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux
10 Mark Cavendish (GBr) T-Mobile Team

Up Next: Stage 5 - Chablis - Autun, 182.5km. The route looks to be perfect for a break to actually stay away as there are 8 categorized climbs (albeit mostly Cat 4) along the way.

Speed Kills

It's been the ascertion by many that the "true" effect of having a clean Tour would be a decrease in the average speed of the peloton. Below is this tidbit from Cyclingnews.

"At 35.81 km/h the stage was one of the slowest ones in modern cycling...The slow speeds meant the peloton arrived after six o'clock in the evening for the first time since 1998. Of course back then they were on strike and sat on the roadway for an extended period of time on two occasions before riding a non-competitive stage as a protest to the police raids that were initiated due to the Festina affair."
[MORE]

On the other hand, Versus' commentators Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen offered that the prior days' events (the Tour kick-off), the mini-transfer to the continent, and the headwinds were all to blame for the peloton's lack of speed and disinterest in going all out.

I really enjoy Phil and Paul's commentary, their colloquialisms, their passion for the sport, and their knowledge. I even appreciate their understated and reserving judgement attitude toward doping.

And although their explanations above may be true, I can't help but feel that they do the sport a disservice by not raising the possibility that what they're selling may not be as romantic as we'd all like it to be.