Wannabe Bike Girl

The second week of the Olympics was the first time that I saw Mountain Biking and I have to say it was pretty exciting. More exciting than I expected. Now, I know next to nothing about it (except that I once owned a mountain bike — it was stolen from my dorm the summer after my freshman year), but the woman who won the gold was pretty amazing.

Gunn-Rita Dahle of Norway won after having a lot of problems, not to mention almost unbearable heat. I watched (a taped-delay 15 minute broadcast on NBC) her struggled with her chain, then her bike wouldn’t really work right, and then she fell. But, in spite of all of that, she won the gold. And she won it by almost a minute (59 seconds). I have to admit that I was cheering her on (I didn’t know she’d won). It was exciting, especially because she had to overcome so much.

Then men’s race? It started out exciting, what with the crash at the end. But we got an even shorter version than the women’s. I’d taped it the night before (it was on at 12:30 am EST on NBC) and watched it. Again, it was interesting, though not as hot. The boy who won, Julien Absalon of France, impressed me. It was fun to see him taking what Paul called ‘lots of chances.’ I kept thinking (as I did during the women’s race) that he was going to fall. Of course he didn’t, after all, they are professionals.

I wish I could watch the Vuelta, but even if I got OLN (and even with standard cable, we won’t) they’re not showing it. Oh well, online is best. Unless, of course, I’m working somewhere that doesn’t have it. At least I’ll get the US Open, right?

Music: Jason Mraz – No Stopping Us (live version)

I’ve been getting my cycling fix via NBC this week. It’s a mild fix and only lasts for a max of maybe (if I’m lucky) a half hour. And, really? There’s only been two races I’ve been able to see. Since the move, the only channel I get that covers the Olympics is on NBC. And thus I am at their mercy. Which I suppose works okay if I don’t want to watch tennis or live women’s cycling. I don’t even have the chance to watching live men’s cycling since they’re not showing it.

So mostly I’ve been watching whatever’s on in the evening. I did see the 25-minute (commercial/other sport interrupted) coverage of the men’s road race (I did follow it live online at cyclingnews). It was unimpressive. And today I watched the women’s time trial (which I didn’t even know NBC was going to cover). That was less than exciting as well. Okay, let me restate. The races themselves were quite exciting (so was the men’s tt, but that won’t be shown until tonight — between swimming and men’s gymnastics), but the NBC coverage was not. In fact, it was pretty disappointing, but I guess that’s what I get for living in the states.

I have discovered, though, that I like swimming a lot. I never remember to watch when it’s on during the four years between Olympics, but I haven’t missed any of the finals yet. And I don’t really plan to (I’m happy that it’s shown during NBC’s primetime). And the men’s gymnastics is interesting, especially because April really likes it and her enthusiasm is contagious.

But, back to cycling. I need to spend some quality time with NBCOlympics.com in order to figure out which stations are covering track cycling. I might need to have my parents (who get all the channels except for Telemundo) do some taping.

Anyway, men’s road race. Paolo Bettini (who happens to be the cyclist pictured for the month of August in my cycling calendar) was very impressive, but even moreso was the man from Portugal, Sergio Paulinho. He stuck with Bettini through his long break. The reason it worked, unlike Bettini’s attempted breaks in the tour, was the fact that he finally had someone with him who was working. Paulinho not only could keep up with Bettini, but he was able to do his share of the work. Of course, Bettini was the stronger rider, able to pull out the win from somewhere deep inside. And, after reading a few quotes from Paulinho, he was just as shocked as Bettini was. He didn’t even expect to medal, unlike Bettini who says he went to bed the night before determined to win.

I have to say that I was pretty happy that Axel was third. Although I’d hoped maybe one of the Americans, French or Aussies would have won a medal. I was rooting for Sylvain Chavanel, of course, but that went nowhere when the weather took out just under half the riders. 144 riders started and, after 17 laps, only 75 finished. The weather was tragic, hot and dusty. I was shocked (as were others I’ve talked to) that they raced in mid-day. The women’s race was a few degrees cooler, but they had to fight nasty winds.

Four years from now I hope that I’ll be able to watch the Olympic road race in full. For now, though, I’ll settle for whatever NBC hands me. And, of course, rely heavily on cyclingnews to keep me up-to-date.

Music: men’s gymnastics on nbc

Sylvain Chavanel (photo (c) gettyimages) 

The other day, L’’Equipe announced that Chavanel had chosen Cofidis from a list of many teams, including — but not limited to — USPS/Discover, Phonak, and QSD. Last week, I mentioned that a friend of mine and I had gotten into an argument over this whole situation. One of the things I’d mentioned in the course of the fight was that I didn’t want Sylvain to go to Cofidis (for obvious reasons). Well, I was wrong and that’s okay. It was more a personal choice than logical one. This isn’t really about being right or wrong, this is about how interesting it is that I was able to figure out part of why he was going to leave BLB, but not which team he’d choose.

My reasoning was simple, Sylvain’s a good cyclist and probably felt overshadowed by Thomas after the tour. He’d want to move to a team where he could be a co-leader, if not the team leader. I also believed he wouldn’t go to USPS/Discovery because he wouldn’t want to work for Lance. In the end, I picked either Phonak (co-leader for some races) or Quickstep (groomed to be a replacement for Virenque). I should have picked Cofidis for the obvious reasons, one of them being that they lost their team leader in Millar. The other is that they’re a French team.

But, in the end, I didn’t. Though, surprisingly, I was still partially correct in my assessment. Sylvain has the makings of a team leader. He’s raced in four tours, completing three of them and he’s never been below 40th (36th, 37th, and 30th). He’s won several stage races, including the 2004 Four Days of Dunkerque. He’s at the right age (25) and has the experience of working for an unexpected team leader (Voeckler) and himself (stage 15 of last year’s tour: Bagnères-de-Bigorre – Luz-Ardiden). So, I picked two teams and he went to the third (actually there were a lot of teams interested in him).

Why did Sylvain choose Cofidis? According to procycling, he picked Cofidis for a variety of different reasons.

“The foreign teams were offering me a salary well below what I get in France. And what would have my role been? Someone’s flunkey? US Postal made me an offer, but with Lance Armstrong as leader, I couldn’t have expected much.”

He went on to talk about how he thought about FDJeux.com, but didn’t want to compete with Sandy Casar. He mentioned that contracts weren’t strong enough to compete, and some teams didn’t call him back. I find it all fascinating, not just because he’s a favorite of mine, but because of how system for changing teams works. How many factors went into his decision and why, ultimately, he chose Cofidis over other (better) teams.

As for who the rumored riders to go with him will be? My guess is his brother, Sebastien. Why? Because they’ve raced together for most of their lives. It might not be the right move for his career, but I think he’d make it anyway.

Update on the David Millar story.

According to Procycling, he hasn’t been stripped of the world champion jersey — yet. That’s only something the UCI can do. Also, they printed the “full statement from British Cycling,” which includes the following list of sanctions.

* A two-year suspension from competition from 5 August 2004 until 4 August 2006

* A fine of 2,000 Swiss francs.

* Disqualification from the 2003 World Elite Time Trial Championship

* Disqualification from the 2003 Dauphine Libéré Stage Race

* Disqualification from the 2001 Tour of Spain.

And, “David Millar has no right of appeal to British Cycling, but may appeal to the Court for Arbitration in Sport.”

It’s not just two years, it’s two years plus a bunch of stuff.

Music: Tennis on ESPN2

Does David Millar deserve more than two years? Should he have been banned from cycling forever? Or maybe just for a few months? After all, Virenque lied and everyone knew he was lying, yet he was only banned for eight months.

Millar’s case, along with that of Cofidis, are perhaps the most high-profile in recent years. There was a fear that because Millar was so well-known and well-liked by other cyclists, he would be used to set an example. The British Cycling Federation, among others, obviously felt that two years would suffice. We will probably never know the exact details, but maybe they decided that his confession, along with the stripping of his world title and firing from Cofidis were punishment enough. Or maybe the subsequent interviews (see links below) where he finally told his story to the public, gave him a softer side.

Two years is a long time. He’ll miss (including this year) a total of three world championship races, three tours, three Vueltas, and the Olympics. But maybe his banning will have a positive effect. Even though it’s two years, he can still change the way young riders think about doping. Because he is so well-known, people will listen to him.

“I made mistakes and am ready to learn. I’d like to explain the dangers to young riders.” (bbc)

Then again, two years isn’t so long. He’s a fit rider, and just because he’s not racing doesn’t mean he can’t ride his bike. If he’s lucky, someone (perhaps even the team that offered him a contract already) will still be willing to take him. He’ll train and show the world that he can come back. Two years from now, he’ll be back racing. And then, perhaps four years from now, he’ll be preparing for the Olympics again.

Maybe what cycling needs is proof that punishment works. Millar’s been fired from his team, had his title stripped, and lost his chance for gold. He’s been to the bottom, he’s there now. And he’s telling the world what it’s like. Maybe this time people will finally pay attention.

> The wrong gear (Guardian Unlimited)

> Millar’s tale of woe is made all the sadder by his natural talent (Guardian Unlimited)

Music: John Digweed – MMII (RaveTrax.com)

I try hard to be objective. I try to keep my personal bias tucked away — at least, I like to think I do. And then I find myself getting all worked up about one of my favorites (Sylvain Chavanel and his potential transfer to QSD, Phonak or Discovery) and wonder whatever happened to my desire to be unbiased. I get into an argument with a friend over why Sylvain shouldn’t go to Discovery and then I start to wonder. Am I really thinking about why Sylvain shouldn’t go or my own desire for him not to go?

It’s a distinction that I find hard to make sometimes. I have always, and will always, have favorites. Cyclists (golfers, tennis players, baseball players, football players — American) that I like more than the rest. To me, they deserve better. They should win more races/stages; their teams should work for them and not the other way around. I don’t necessarily realize that I’m feeling instead of actually coming up with anything intelligent to say.

Probably the biggest example (aside from the Sylvain situation) relates to T-Mobile, back when they were Telekom. Quite soon after the ‘03 tour, Jan Ullrich announced he was going back to Telekom. I was incensed. How dare he invade Vino’s team, take the captain duties from Zabel, and so on. It was only later that I formed other opinions, based on facts and not on emotions. I was pissed off because I like Alexandre Vinokourov and Erik Zabel, I didn’t want Ullrich ruining their tour chances. About a year later, I still believe that Ullrich shouldn’t have returned to T-Mobile, but my reasons are different. He left his former team, Bianchi, in ruins. A lot of money was spent on Ullrich, yet he didn’t give T-Mobile what they wanted — a tour win or a second place on the podium. The team, as I’d predicted, was top heavy. Of course, neither Vino nor Zabel were the cause.

The point, though, is that I am prone to think with my heart. I always look to see where my boys are placed and only after, who won the race. I’m trying to change, but it’s harder than I expected. Why? Because I care. Not that other people who write about cycling don’t care, it’s just that the way I care is so much deeper than just a superficial love.

There are some sports where it’s okay for me to care deeply, because I have no need to be objective. Golf is probably the most obvious example. I adore certain golfers (Freddy Jacobson, Aaron Baddeley, and Bill Haas for example) and when they don’t do well, I don’t necessarily pay close attention to the rest of the tournaments. But with cycling, I cannot afford that luxury. If I want to write about cycling, I need to be objective. I need to see beyond my favorites. I need to be able to separate myself from the people and concentrate on the sport.

Unless someone knows how I can incorporate my bias into my writing and make it work for me.

Until then, I’ll fume to myself about my specific trade rumors and transfers. There are, after all, other riders besides Sylvain Chavanel.

Music: Niklas Harding pres. NH Sessions Live (Trancesphere Radio)