Old Salt

Here's one of those cycling pictures only Graham Watson would think to shoot: Benoit Joachim's shorts display the salt stains of a day's hard work during the fifth stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Danilo Di Luca won the stage to La Covatilla and is the overall leader.

I Bet Erik Zabel Doesn't Dope

German sprinter Erik Zabel won the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Espana in Caceres Tuesday, just ahead of Norway's Thor Hushovd, who retained the overall lead.

“It's a special day after a long time of not having won anything,” said Zabel, 36, of his three-year absence from the podium. Zabel has won about 200 stages in his professional career, including 10 in the Tour de France and six in the Vuelta.

Here's a story from Crankset friend Sal Ruibal of USA TODAY:
-- Danielson's reign in Spain could be Tour answer for Discovery team

Erik Zabel of the Team Milram celebrates on the podium.
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Basso Watch

Giro d'Italia cycling champion Ivan Basso, who was excluded from the Tour de France after being implicated in the Spanish doping investigation, denied using banned substances in his first appearance before Italian anti-doping authorities in Rome on Tuesday.

The hearing was adjourned to Sept. 12, when a decision on whether to refer the case to the Italian Cycling Federation is expected, said Massimo Martelli, Basso's lawyer.

Tooth is waiting with baited breath ...

More World Cup Adventures to Come....

Stay tuned for the Cat 5 slips and slides and...




the World Cup Year in Review!


(well, let's just say it didn't go to the dogs)


-Sleepy 53rd Signing Off

You Can Eat THAT on a Bike in the Middle of a Major Stage Race (Don't Tell Jan)?

Paolo Bettini has found himself a tasty bocadillo, but he'd probably prefer a tomato and mozzarella panini instead during Stage 4 of the Vuelta (photo and cutline by Graham Watson).

ZIP-ity DO DAH!

8.26.06 - PA Junior State Championships - Trexlertown, PA

Okay, admit it. We've all had the fantasy. No I'm not speaking of Elizabeth Hurley, scantily clad, seeking your every desire. Wait, maybe that's just mine. Anywho...

The fantasy I speak of is the one when you were a teenager. Daydreaming of being the sporting envy of not only your peers but the entire STATE. That's right, 1 of the 50. A place so big that, well, you simply now call your kingdom. Forget Penns Woods. It's Zips Woods now. Senator, I propose we rename this Commonwealth...Zippsylvania!

Why this rant you ask? How could I not? How could not gush a wee bit about my 15 year old teammate, who with great humility, poise and grace cruised into his first win of the year. Not any win mind you! The win that COUNTS! The win that crowned OUR BOY ZIP...
Junior (15-16 men) PA State Champion!!!

Dare I remind you that this win was not a walk in the park Kasinski. It required all the usual skills of a winner such as smart race tactics, cat like reflexes to fend off frequent attacks and of course my personal favorite, POWER. Oh was there POWER. Zip, who proclaims he's not a sprinter happened to overtake his arch rival from the Red Rose Rockets in a, you guessed it, sprint.

One full bike length and category separated these two. Did I forget to mention that number 2 was a Cat 3 and Junior?? Zip not only took the prize but took it from a full cat above him. Ouch. All that's left is the girl.....(sorry bike mom, we won't go there)

Proud Parents of "the boy" - Mike and Shelley Putt

Not having witnessed too many finer finshes in my day, I couldn't be happier for a kid more deserving. Congratulations to Zach and an incredible first year of racing! Just remember one ting about Zip...you heard about him here, first!

-All 53 Teeth reporting

The Poop on the Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain is getting more attention this year, and for good reason.

First, the peleton will include Belgians Tom Boonen and Nick Nuyens, from Quickstep, and T-Mobile's Andreas Kloden of Germany and Michael Rogers of Australia.

Second, the London finale incorporates sections of the 2007 Tour de France route and the 2012 Olympic road-racing course.

Third, the stages look interesting, especially the key stage on Thursday from Bradford to Sheffield which traverses the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District and includes several steep climbs.

And fourth, cycling has the mountain of credibility to climb, writes Jeremy Whittle of the Times of London:

"The British race may not yet have the cachet of the Tour de France, but with the established European scene in crisis after a traumatic summer of doping scandals, the Tour of Britain is one of several shorter and less commercialised events that may prove to be more ethically sustainable than its gladiatorial cousins."

Here's some other stories on this interesting race that will challenge the ongoing Vuelta a Espana for attention (but not Tooth's) this week:
-- Tough test can bring the best out of a tarnished sport
-- British tour hopes to blow away cloud of controversy
-- Boonen and chums have the pedigree
-- Tour of Britain stage guide
-- Cycling: Tour ace backs Cooke award

Departing Malaga

The Vuelta makes a tranquil exit from Malaga at the start of the second stage of the Vuelta a Espana Sunday (photo by Graham Watson).

Sunday Wheelings and Dealings

As I follow the first stage of the Vuelta a Espana on VeloNews' live race blog, let me share some thoughts on the prologue and a couple other stories that have passed this way.
Assuming that at least some cyclists like Carlos Sastre rides clean, I shared in Team CSC's satisfaction with his crossing the finishing line first in the unusual team-time trail prologue Saturday in Malaga on Spain's Costa del Sol (just the names make you wish you were there!).

This is Sastre's third major tour of the year. Sastre's unselfish work in the mountains helped the currently disgraced Ivan Basso win the Giro de Italia in the Spring. A poor time trail, however, cost Sastre a shot at the podium (he finished fourth) in the Tour de France last month.

It is unusual to ride (and perform well) in all three major tours, but there was Sastre again. According to the VeloNews, "Team CSC had already decided it was going to put Sastre first across the line and roared over the flat 7.3km course."

Said Team CSC sport director Bjarne Riis (photo by Graham Watson): "We made the decision to let Carlos finish first. If anyone deserves it, it's him. He works harder than anyone and he makes more sacrifices. We won't defend the jersey now, but I believe Carlos can win this Vuelta."

A nice story.

In some other stories:
-- If you're following the Vuelta on the VeloNews blog, you picked up this little nugget:
"Jan Ullrich has apparently accepted his dismissal by T-Mobile following doping accusations prior to this year's Tour de France and will not seek financial compensation from the German team, according to a report in Der Spiegel magazine."

-- Interesting commentary in the Times of London by Matt Cooper about the ballyhoo in advance of special events (like the upcoming Ryder Cup in Ireland, the start of the '98 Tour de France in Ireland and, no doubt, the start of the '07 Tour in London) instead of directing resources in more lasting sports infrastructure. Cooper writes:

"Yet our complaints [about the Tour] were well founded. Those with only a passing interest in the sport probably had some inkling that illegal drug use had pushed the performances of some cyclists beyond credible limits in the preceding years. We felt this was a corrupt sport, with widespread cheating; one that should be condemned and discarded, not feted."
Obviously, the fallout from continued drug scandals in cycling continues. And rightly so.

-- The Tour of Britain sets off from Glasgow on Tuesday. Despite overlapping the Vuelta, it features some outstanding riders: Tom Boonen, Andreas Kloden and Michael Rogers. But no cycling event takes place now without the spectre of doping and implied guilt by association.

"It pisses you off more than anything else," says 25-year-old Evan Oliphant. "People think all cyclists are on it, so it doesn't do any of us any good. But you just have to get on with it; it's not really something you think about while you're racing. I reckon [doping] will always be a problem -- you won't be able to stop it completely -- but I definitely think there should be life bans. Even for first offences - a life ban."

Won't be able to stop cheating completely? I guess that would be naive. But that is cycling's challenge. So far, sadly, it has not been up to it.

-- If you really want to watch the Tour of Britain, there will be daily highlights on Cycling.tv starting Tuesday. A viewer has been inserted on the Tour of Britain website. There will be highlights of the start and finish of every stage, and interviews with the daily stage winner and race leader shortly after each stage.

-- Testosterone is good. Cycling is bad. Find out why in this Boston Globe story.
-- And it appears that Paolo Bettini has won a sprint finish in Cardoba to take the first stage of the Veulta. The new overall leader: Thor Hushovd.

Tour of Spain Itinerary

Here's the itinerary for the Tour of Spain which starts in Malaga on Saturday (* denotes mountain finish):

Saturday, Aug. 26: first stage, Malaga - Malaga (7.3 km) - team time trial
Sunday, Aug. 27: second stage, Malaga - Cordoba (176 km)
Monday, Aug. 28: third stage, Cordoba - Almendralejo (219 km)
Tuesday, Aug. 29: fourth stage, Almendralejo - Caceres (135 km)
Wednesday, Aug. 30: fifth stage, Plasencia - La Covatilla* (178 km)
Thursday, Aug. 31: sixth stage, Zamora - Leon (177 km)
Friday, Sept. 1: seventh stage, Leon - Alto de Morredero* (154.2 km)
Saturday, Sept. 2: eighth stage, Ponferrada - Lugo (181.6 km)
Sunday, Sept. 3: ninth stage, A Fonsagrada - Alto de la Cobertoria* (207.4 km)
Monday, Sept. 4: rest day
Tuesday, Sept. 5: 10th stage, Aviles - Museo de Altamira (199.3 km)
Wednesday, Sept. 6: 11th stage, Torrelavega - Burgos (173.6 km)
Thursday, Sept. 7: 12th stage, Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara (169.3 km)
Friday, Sept. 8: 13th stage, Guadalajara - Cuenca (180 km)
Saturday, Sept. 9: 14th stage, Cuenca - Cuenca (33.2 km) - individual time trial,
Sunday, Sept. 10: 15th stage, Motilla del Palancar - Almussafes (182 km)
Monday, Sept. 11: rest day
Tuesday, Sept. 12: 16th stage, Almeria - Calar Alto* (145 km)
Wednesday, Sept. 13: 17th stage, Adra - Granada (166.7 km)
Thursday, Sept. 14: 18th stage, Granada - Sierra de la Pandera* (153.1 km)
Friday, Sept. 15: 19th stage, Jaen - Ciudad Real (205.3 km)
Saturday, Sept. 16: 20th stage, Rivas Vaciamadrid - Rivas Vaciamadrid (27.5 km) - individual time trial
Sunday, Sept. 17: 21st stage, Madrid - Madrid (142.2 km)

Total distance: 3,213 km

Also:
La Vuelta's Colorful History
Spanish rider Gil excluded from Tour of Spain
Leading Tour of Spain contenders

Lance Armstrong Really a Space Alien

I'm not even going to try to explain this one.
Figure it out for yourself ... if you can.

'Dark Days'? I'll Say!

In the upcoming issue of VeloNews:

A QUESTION OF TESTOSTERONE

SHADOWLANDS: Doping positive casts Landis's Tour win into doubt

A DARK LEGACY: Phonak's doping track record

THE CHEMICAL OF MAN: Testosterone 101

A HISTORY OF CHEATING: Banned Tour winners and testosterone positives are nothing new

Beating Basso Like a Drum

We haven't heard much about or from Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso (at left/photo by Graham Watson) since his CSC team dropped him from their Tour de France lineup.
Now, even if his name is cleared in the Spanish doping investigation, team manager Bjarne Riis says he could be dropped from the team altogether.

"Not everything is about the law," Riis told Danish daily Politiken on Tuesday.

"Basso must not only prove his innocence in court, he must also prove it to us. I find it difficult to believe Basso has a future with CSC -- unless he is totally cleared."

Basso was one of nine competitors withdrawn before this year's Tour De France after being implicated in the scandal which surfaced in May after the Spanish Civil Guard found anabolic steroids, laboratory equipment and frozen blood in several raids.
"It's not so crucial what I think but it is crucial that the evidence he is up against is very incriminating," Riis said.

"The way I see it, even if Basso has just been in contact with Fuentes, he has lied to me and betrayed the team and our values. Then he's finished with us," Riis said.

Jake is Lance, Matthew is Not

Our Boy Lance has confirmed speculation that Jake Gyllenhaal (pictured) will portray him in a biopic (that's movie-speak for a film bio). Matthew McConaughey had been up to play the part (and Matt Damon before him) but lost out to Gyllenhaal.

"He said that's why he has been spending so much time with them both this summer," said some unidentified source who probably also talks with Tooth. There are plenty of stories about this silliness if you care. The Daily Blabber (the name says it all, eh?) did have this interesting pespective:

"This begs the question: Does anyone really want to see a Lance Armstrong biopic at this point? Maybe back when he fresh off winning seven Tour de France titles. Or when he was married to his ex, Kristin, and they appeared to be the perfect little family with their towhead little kiddies. But in the last eight months since he dumped Sheryl Crow he's gone from heroic to horndog, hitting the Playboy mansion and trolling for chicks with Matthew. As a longtime fan, I really think he's lost his appeal."

Frankly, I think Greg Lemond should play Lance!
So, would you go to see the movie?

Vuelta Preview

Yeah, Tooth, the Vuelta begins on Saturday with a 7.3km team time trial in Malaga and finishes in Madrid on Sept. 17.

You remember the Vuelta, Tooth. That's the race that Russian Denis Menchov won when Roberto Heras was stripped of the title following a positive test for the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO).

And cycling has been just a joy from there with one doping scandal after another.

"I'd love to win the race, but the Vuelta is a secondary objective this year after the Tour (de France) and I don't feel as fresh this time," Menchov was quoted as saying in the Spanish sports daily Marca.

Menchov (pictured above by Graham Watson winning Stage 11 of the Tour) finished sixth in this year's Tour de France behind Floyd Landis. Of course, that could be fifth, too, if Landis is stripped of his title following his positive test for excessive levels of the hormone testosterone.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Other riders to watch: Alejandro Valverde, Carlos Sastre, Alexander Vinokourov and and maybe even Iban Mayo.

There are some tough mountain stages in the early part of the Vuelta this year, so the likely contenders could be revealed in the first week of the race.

"The mountains will be the key. There are a lot at the start, not many in the middle and a lot at the end. The time trials are short and I don't think they will be decisive," Menchov said.

It All Started on the W&OD Trail

On your left ... on your left. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/Washington Post)

Just another day on Northern Virginia's W&OD Trail?

OK, well maybe it's not quite that bad, but the 45-mile paved trail that Mike Armellino and I usually ride weekends is picking up increased traffic, according to a front-page story in last Friday's Washington Post.

Three cyclists have been killed on the trail in the last year, and that is the kind of thing that tends to attract media attention.

Mike and I usually start out in Reston, at about the 17-mile mark, and head west to Leesburg. The roundtrip to Leesburg is about 34 miles; through Leesburg about 41 miles; and to Purcelville and back 56 miles. There's less traffic going west than east, and fewer road crossings as well. The roundtrip ride east from Reston, or Vienna, to Alexandria (home of Mike's restaurant, Bilbo Baggins), ranges from about 48 to 60 miles, and takes you along the Potomac River, with the famous Washington D.C. monuments just across the river. Very pretty, but it's dangerous to exceed about 15 mph along the river, where the trail passes Reagan National Airport and gets fairly congested with riders, runners, rollerbladers and walkers. Going west, a good speed for me is about 17 mph; Mike could easily do 20 by himself.

I have my own W&OD story, of course. Nearly four years ago, on Nov. 20, I was struck by a van in a crosswalk across Belmont Ridge Road. The driver clipped my rear wheel and send me flying like ET on that bike ride with the moon as a backdrop. It was seven months before our big Trek Travel trip, and I wasn't recovered enough to resume training until the end of March. So the climbs in the Pyrenees were something of a triumph for me. I suffered some cracked ribs and a small crack in my pelvis, and as Mike knows, I worked hard to get in reasonable shape for the wonderful week of riding with Granny, Tooth and Mike.

There was more to the triumph, of course. Cyclists are always at fault in Virginia, and an unsympathetic Loudoun County policeman issued me a ticket for failure to yield (the way I flew through the air, I'd say I yielded plenty!). To this day, I still don't know how that van got that close to me, especially if it was doing the speed limit, but I know I didn't bolt into the road, as the officer assumed -- certainly not onto a road on which the speed limit is 45 and cars and trucks often approach 60 mph.

I took the case to court, and for about $2,200 (I could have paid the $50 ticket and been done with it), my superb attorney, Fred Greco, got the charges dismissed when the driver admitted for the first time in court that he was "blinded by sun" and never saw me. Who knows what he saw or how fast he was going; the officer never questioned that. The judge was not amused with the driver or the officer and scolded them both. And I won the first court case involving a cyclist in Virginia state history.

But that is all behind me now. I thought a lot about Our Boy Lance during my recovery, and I've never been as strong on a bike as I was that summer. I was never happier on a bike than I was during those wonderful rides in the Pyrenees, Bordeaux and the great finale on the streets of Paris. And I never enjoyed a group of riders more than our Trek Travel group.

I returned to Belgium and France for the first week of the 2004 Tour; got to ride with Jonathan Vaughters and Eddie Mercxx. But there will never be a week quite like we all enjoyed in '03.

So this weekend, I'll be back on the W&OD. Maybe you'll all join Mike and me one of these weekends.

On your left ...

Sponsorships At Risk III

The Tour de Georgia is looking for a new title sponsor.
Even before the summer's drug scandals surrounding the Tour de France, the Ford Dealers Advertising Association of Georgia told organizers it was dropping sponsorship of the 2007 stage race, according to the Macon Telegraph.

The Tyler Diaries...'Everybody Cheats'

It is stories like these that leave me thinking and feeling like Tooth ...
I can't think of anyone who has been more adament about his innocence on testing positive for doping than Tyler Hamilton.
Not even Bad Boy Floyd.
I can remember back in '03 while riding along the Tour de France with Trek Travel with Tooth and Granny just how proud we were of Hamilton's effort and stage win despite a broken collarbone suffered early in the race.
Hamilton, like Landis, is the kind of guy you want to believe -- and believe in.
And then I read this from Deutsche Presse-Agentur:

Spanish authorities have uncovered a diary that reveals that U.S. rider Tyler Hamilton, gold medallist at the 2004 Olympics, actively used EPO, growth hormones, testosterone and insulin on 114 of 200 days during the 2003 season, according to the Danish newspaper Politiken.
The report said the programme of doping described in the diary was so extensive that an entire team of helpers must have been involved.
Hamilton finished fourth in the Tour de France in 2003 when riding for the Danish team CSC, and took gold at the Olympics in Athens a year later.
He tested positive for the stamina-enhancing drug EPO in September 2004 and received a two year ban from the sport.
The doping diary has been uncovered by Spanish police investigating a sports doping ring allegedly run by Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes and said to involve several leading riders.
Team CSC director and former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis meanwhile denied any knowledge of Hamilton's use of banned substances.
'I'd like to remind people that we were living in hotels and not in prison. When a stage is over, the riders have free time. Then, everyone looks after himself," he said.

A couple comments:
-- Riis's comments are disingenuous at best and insulting at worse. Everyone looks after himself? Indeed.
-- You know what? These guys are guilty until proven innocent.

I paraphrase a little story, compliments of my friend Sal Ruibal, the cycling writer from USA TODAY:

Remember Dave Stoller (Dennis Christopher) from the 1979 movie, "Breaking Away"? Dave is wrapped up in a fantasy world where he's an Italian bike racer. He has an opportunity to race against an Italian cycling team visiting Bloomington, Ind., that he has worshiped from afar. But when he shows that he can keep up with them, naively believing they will admire the purity of his effort, they throw him into a ditch and his fantasy world comes crashing down. "Everybody cheats," he says resignedly.

If you still want to believe, than check out James Raia's open letter to Floyd Landis.
If you want some excellent perspective, then read the New York Times' Harvey Araton's column, "Another Positive Test, Another Test of Faith."

You Go, Robin!

Our Boy Lance demonstrated his support for his biking buddy, Robin Williams, by visiting him in rehab in New York this week.
Lance told People magazine that no one event set Williams off and Williams "was not spiraling down fast." He says he asked Williams what he needed to do as a friend to support him, and Williams said, "I just need to be more mellow [is that possible?]."

Armstrong says that means Williams has to curb his "natural need to do everything times 10." Armstrong says he asked Williams if he should not drink in front of him, and Williams said, "No, not at all. This is a job for the individual with the problem."

Up Next: The Vuelta Aug. 26-Sept. 17

The Vuelta, or Tour of Spain, is next.
(Sorry, Tooth: I care.)

Spain's Oscar Pereiro, the No. 2 finisher in the Tour de France who could be No. 1 without pedaling another mile, won't be sneaking up on anyone in a breakaway in the Vuelta, he admits in a story I found on Reuters.

"We have a fantastic team for the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) but in my case I will no longer have the benefit of the element of surprise," the Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears rider says. "When the others see me a minute or two in front the alarm bells will start ringing and I don't like that as I prefer to try and catch people off guard."

Pereiro, who is just 29, bolted into the Tour leadership when the peleton chose not to chase him down and granted him a 30-minute breakaway. Without it, Andreas Kloden or Carlos Sastre might be the champion-in-waiting.

"We were delighted with second place because it was an important triumph for the team but right now we can't celebrate second or first place," Pereiro said. "We are ready to savour the triumph but our celebrations are being put on hold by what is happening. It shouldn't take much for everything to be confirmed and for victory to be ours."

Pereiro is likely to have to share team leadership in the Vuelta with Alejandro Valverde, who was forced to quit the French race after breaking his collarbone in a crash.