Wannabe Bike Girl

Sven didn’t win the second Superprestige of 2005, but he did come in second to Bart Wellens.

More SP news: Wellens primus in tweede SP-wedstrijd (cyclingnews.be) and Wellens afianza su dominio del Superprestigio ganando la segunda puntuable (todociclismo).

Some nice pictures: World Cup ‘Cross: A Graham Watson Gallery (velonews)

An article about Valverde’s knee, the ACP, and a few other Spanish cyclists: Campeonato de la ACP: Valverde se impone a Sastre e Ivan Gutierrez (todociclismo).

Interviews:
Marcus Burghardt – Interview Oktober 2005 (cycling4fans)
Gerdemann: “Bei T-Mobile Offnen sich Turen fur mich” (radsportnews)
An interview with Maurilo Fischer: Cycling’s Samba King (cyclingnews)

Transfer news:
Paolo Bossoni ha firmato per la Tenax Nobili Rubinetterie (tuttobiciweb). Paolo Bossoni of Fassa has a contract with Tenax.

A brief discussion of Cofidis results this season: Un bilan plus que satisfaisant pour COFIDIS (velo-club).

And a few articles about Armstrong’s reaction:
Armstrong pobelt gegen Tourchef Leblanc (radsport-aktiv)
Armstrong attaque Leblanc (l’quipe)

I did not read the last two articles because I’m tired of this whole thing. If you want to read a good explanation, check out this post by Euroguy.

Music: Interpol – PDA

Cyclo-Cross World Cup #2: Tabor, Czech Republic, October 29, 2005
1 Sven Nys (Bel) Rabobank
2 Petr Dlask (Cze)
3 Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) Budweiser
4 Bart Wellens (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
5 Gerben De Knegt (Ned) AA Drink-Bejan
6 Martin Zlamalik (Cze)
7 Erwin Vervecken (Bel) Fidea Cycling Team
8 Sven Vanthourenhout (Bel) Rabobank
9 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Fidea Cycling Team
10 Zdenek Mlynar (Cze)

Francis didn’t race and Tom was 30th. More race coverage from Cyclingnews.be: Nys is Tsjechen te slim af in Tabor. In more race news, Erik Zabel and Ralf Aldag are still leading at the 64th Dortmund Six Day, here’s coverage from Radsport Aktiv.

From Radsport Aktiv, Wiesenhof-Akud holt sich Erfahrung ins Team – Torsten Schmidt and Tomas Konecny have joined the team Wiesenhof-Akud.

Interesting in L’Etape du Tour 2006? Find out everything at the official site.

And, last, Armstong has responded to his “snub” at the tour presentation. This is from his official site:

from Mark Higgins, CSE:

Lance Armstrong’s response to Tour announcement statement:

“Once again Jean-Marie LeBlanc has taken an unsolicited shot at me and continues to ignore the truth. And while he may want to erase the last seven years I have nothing but great memories of participating in the greatest sports event in the world.

Jean-Marie claims the Tour deserves a better fate, I believe it deserves a better leader.”

- Lance Armstrong

This all seems a bit childish to me. I mean, shame on them for leaving him out. But how is it a surprise? It’s not like we didn’t know LeBlanc, et al. liked Armstrong. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why this could be a big deal and why people are upset. But I’m not. It’s not worth my time to be upset because, well, Armstrong has retired, he and the tour have moved on and in different directions. Shame on LeBlanc and the tour, but let it go. Seriously. Everyone needs to before this ruins the ‘06 tour before it even gets started.

Music: The Golf Channel

I’m sorry about this, but the accents on words don’t translate into Blogger at all, so things aren’t exactly right when I link them here. I am really sorry about that, but I have no idea how to fix it. Anyway, onto the news.

French article from L’Equipe about the problems between then UCI and the Tour: L’UCI et le Tour faches. It seem like talks have broken down and the three grand tours are still refusing to join the ProTour.

PezCycling News covers Bruyneel’s reaction to the TdF announcement and surrounding “issues.” TDF ‘06: Bruyneel Reacts To ASO Snub: No sooner had the video presentation ended at yesterday’s Tour de France 2006 Route Presentation, than audience members wiped off the gob-smack layed out by the ASO in their amazing ‘exclusion’ of images of Lance and his team. (PEZ saw only one image of Lance). Discovery ds Johan Bruyneel had a few things to say about it…

From Radsport Aktiv: Keine Tour fur die Bergspezialisten. Mostly reactions to the TdF presentation, and a comment on how ‘06 won’t be a good year for the mountain specialists.

From Todociclismo: Iban Mayoz, Ruben Perez y Benat Albizuri firman con Euskaltel por una temporada. Transfer news.

Also from Todociclismo: La UCI muestra su malestar ante el discurso de Patrice Clerc. More UCI and Tour news.

From velo-club.net: L’interview exclusive de Rik Verbrugghe.

From Velomania: Pictures from the tour presentation as well as a link to the new issue.

From Velonews: Throwback course should produce throwback Tour: Whenever a dominant Tour de France champion like Lance Armstrong retires or is absent because of injury, the vacuum is nearly always filled by at least one, probably two, very open, exciting editions of the race. That should be the case in 2006, which might recall the dramatic Tours of 1987 and 1989 (post Bernard Hinault), or 1997 and 1998 (post Miguel Indurain). Perhaps that’s why the Tour organizers, ASO, have chosen for the emblem of their 2006 edition a yellow jersey pulled into the hexagonal shape of France by six gloved hands.

Music: commercials

DORTMUND, GERMANY – OCTOBER 27: Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag of Germany and Team Ruegenwalder cycle during the opening of the 64th Six Days at the Westfalen-Hall on October 27, 2005 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

64th Dortmund Six Day:

DORTMUND, GERMANY – OCTOBER 27: Erik Zabel and Rolf Aldag of Germany and Team Ruegenwalder celebrate winning the opening of the 64th Six Days at the Westfalen-Hall on October 27, 2005 in Dortmund, Germany. (Photo by Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Cyclocross: classement UCI

Francis is 36th with 55 pointes.

Music: Numb3rs

Stuart O’Grady has not signed for Unibet.com, but instead of the Danish team CSC.

GRENOBLE, FRANCE – JULY 12: Stuart O’Grady of Australia and Cofidis arrives for the start of stage 10 of the 92nd Tour de France between Grenoble and Courchevel on July 12, 2005 in Grenoble, France. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images).

Team CSC Signs Stuart O’Grady: The 32-year old Australian profile, Stuart O’Grady, will be riding for Team CSC next year. O’Grady has signed a one year contract with the team and will be a major reinforcement on several levels. (official team csc site)

Downside to new deal: STUART O’Grady has ended a professional nightmare, signing with stellar Danish team CSC for 2006, but it is a deal that will definitely rule him out of the Tour Down Under and possibly the Tour de France.

Music: Billie The Vision & The Dancer – Good and Bad

Armstrong “ignored” at Tour launch: PARIS, France (Reuters) — Seven-times winner Lance Armstrong rode into retirement this year and it appears the Tour de France is keen to forget him.

Organizers praise Lance-less Tour: The Tour de France began a new era after seven years of domination by Lance Armstrong when organisers unveiled the 2006 itinerary on Thursday. Current Tour director Jean-Marie LeBlanc sad that it was “time for things to change” from the era of Armstrong’s record seven consecutive victories.

Tour de France execs snub Lance Armstrong: The route for the 2006 Tour de France was revealed today, along with the Etape du Tour which finishes on L’Alpe d’Huez. The Tour will visit Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, starting “in the thick of the final of the Football World Cup.” ASO, owner of the Tour, said the war against doping – a “ceaseless combat” – would be ramped up. But the co-organisers went out of their way to be rude to the seven times winner of “their” Tour.

Overall second-placed of the 2005 Tour de France cycling race, Ivan Basso of Italy, listens during the presentation of the 2006 Tour de France route , Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005 in Paris. The race will start from Strasbourg, eastern France, going counter clockwise through Luxemburg, The Netherlands and Belgium, then northern and western France, to reach the Pyrenees mountains and head towards Paris through the French Alps, with the notable points being the absence of a team time trial, the return of L’Alpe d’Huez, and the matter of which rider takes the start line in the No. 1 jersey now that Armstrong has retired. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Outgoing Tour de France cycling race director Jean-Marie Leblanc (L) and his successor Christian Prudhomme (R) pose in front of the map of the 2006 edition of the race in Paris, October 27, 2005. The 3,639 km race starting July 1 in Strasbourg and ending July 23 on the Champs-Elysees, includes 18 climbs, with 3 days through the Alps and three time trials with a seven-kilometre prologue. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

Best climber of the 2005 Tour de France Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark, left, and overall second placed Ivan Basso of Italy, look on during the presentation of the 2006 Tour de France route, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2005 in Paris. The race will start from Strasbourg, eastern France, going counter clockwise through Luxemburg, The Netherlands and Belgium, then northern and western France, to reach the Pyrenees mountains and head towards Paris through the French Alps, with the notable points being the absence of a team time trial, the return of L’Alpe d’Huez, and the matter of which rider takes the start line in the No. 1 jersey now that Armstrong has retired. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Music: Hawksley Workman – You Me and the Weather [Live]

The day has arrived and, while I was sleeping (I didn’t get to bed until after one am), the 2006 tour route was announced. It seems that the biggest news is that the team time trial has been dropped (good and bad, good because it’s so stressful — on both the fans and the cyclists, bad because people love it). The Alpe d’Huez is back this year (after being taken out last year, probably because Armstrong liked it) and there are, of course, time trials. Three of them to be exact. The first is, of course, the opening TT/Prologue on Stage 1: 7 km in Strasbourg (07/01) (I posted a map of it in the previous entry). The second is Stage 7: 52 km, from Saint-Gregoire to Rennes (07/08). And the third and final time trial is Stage 19: 56 km, from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines (07/22).

The race will touch several different countries along with France: Spain, Germany, Holland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Stage 10 marks the first mountain stage, it is 193 km from Cambo-les-Bains to Pau (07/12). The tour will cross the Pyrenees and the Alps. Here are some statistics from the Official Tour de France site:

Running from Saturday July 1st to Sunday July 23rd 2006, the 93rd Tour de France will be made up of a prologue and 20 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,600 kilometres.

These 20 stages have the following profiles:

• 9 flat stages,
• 4 medium mountain stages,
• 5 mountain stages,
• 2 individual time-trial stages

Distinctive aspects of the race:

• 3 mountain finishes,
• 2 rest days,
• 116 kilometres of individual time-trials (including the prologue)
• 22 Category 1, Category 2 and highest level passes will be climbed
• 8 new stop-over towns: Obernai, Saint-Gregoire, Cambo-Les-Bains, Val d’Aran – Pla-de-Beret, Montelimar, La Toussuire, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Antony.

For more information:

Tour 2006: TTT out, Alpe back in: The 2006 Tour de France route is unveiled in Paris and mixes plenty of old favourites with some new challenges. The team time trial is dropped, Alpe d’Huez is back, the Ventoux is bypassed and there are two new summit finishes. (procycling)

Prudhomme takes centre stage: Tour boss-in-waiting Christian Prudhomme unveiled the route of the 2006 race and gave some background to key stages as well as the location of the Etape du Tour. (procycling)

Le Tour 2006: no team time trial, and no Armstrong: American’s reign a ‘very long chapter’ as organisers snub 7-time winner (cyclingnews)

Le Tour 2006: One of the hardest in years (cyclingnews)

Riders, managers react to `06 Tour route (velonews)

2006 Tour route unveiled: The speculation is over. Some of it was right, much of it was wrong. Either way, the organizers of the Tour de France on Thursday unveiled the route of the 2006 race, officially kicking off the post-Armstrong era at France’s national tour.

Ethics or Chaos: Tour organizers declare war on doping (velonews)

Depending on time constraints and what information I can find, I might summarize a few of the stages. But, you know, I have a lot of time to do that before the tour, so we’ll see. Before I post the route and a full map, here are two non-tour related news items.

Cycling gets another Pound-ing: World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound gives cycling another roasting, criticising the sport’s attitude towards doping and stating that the problem is institutionalised. (procycling)

Ale-jet looking for new challenges: Having swept up dozens of major tour stage wins, Alessandro Petacchi is getting advice from Michele Bartoli on how he can be competitive in the northern Classics.

Music: the people in the apartment above me

Strasbourg will host the Tour de France 2006: A CITY CONSTANTLY MOVING FORWARD 

From the BBC:
Tour poised to unveil 2006 route: The route for next year’s Tour de France is to be announced on Thursday (10/27).

And, from the official site: The Start from Strasbourg!:

Strasbourg! And it’s not simply a dream. We’re going there on home ground (…) We’ll be riding along the banks of the river Rhine. Yes, all our dreams have come true!

Even Henri Desgrange’s delight, in the columns of L’Auto newspaper, at the prospect of the very first stage of the Tour in Strasbourg after the First World War could not be expressed more strongly.

1919! The “revival” Tour. The Tour of a whole France, as referred to by its inventor, one that passes through the Alsace and Lorraine regions. Without a doubt this was a landmark Tour which gave rise to one of the most sensational inventions in the world of sport; the magical star, the sun God, the symbol of rebirth: the yellow jersey!

The Route (so far).

Music: Water/All Things Considered