Wannabe Bike Girl

Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows how I feel about Robbie McEwen. And, well, in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen today, he struck again. This is from cyclingnews.

Andreas Klier (T-Mobile) was in the early break, then in the chase with Van Petegem, but they had to admit that Ballan and Boonen were the stronger duo: “I tried to win today, but on the Paterberg, another rider made a big error, and because of that I couldn’t follow,” he said, referring to (but not wishing to name) McEwen’s dramatic slowing down while in front with Klier on his wheel.

Sometimes that’s the way things go. But with McEwen? I don’t know. I mean, I’m sure he wasn’t thinking “hmm, I’ll make Andreas Klier’s life miserable today” but of course, he probably didn’t think either. I’d stop ragging on him if he started racing with respect.

I know I’m cheating using one of Blogger’s, but I was tired of the old one. And, honestly, I don’t have time to create a new one from scratch.

Good things: Vino won a race, Kai Reus won a stage and QS screwed up once (but not today).

Bad things: Unibet riders getting raided (among others) and Petter (also a Unibet rider) getting hit by a car.

I promise to try to update more later.

My feelings for Paolo Bettini are similar to my feelings for Robbie McEwen: great cyclist, not necessarily a great guy. Or something like that (I’m talking on the bike, I have no knowledge of their off the bike personalities). Last year Bettini put Baden Cooke into a barrier and then basically blamed Cooke and didn’t seem to care. As people who read my blog know, I tend to care deeply for athletes I like and I get defensive when bad things happen to them (especially bad things that completely screw them over). In addition, I harbor resentment toward QuickStep for their treatment of Jurgen van Goolen. So, Bettini just loses all around in my book. When I read there was a chance that Bettini wouldn’t race MSR, I was pretty please. Of course, I go and check my feed reader only to discover Velonews (I know, shut up) has posted that “Bettini [will] start MSR.” And cyclingnews pretty much has the same thing on their site.

My predictions? I think Boonen will win, but there are several other cyclists who I think might have a chance. Petacchni could give Boonen a run for his money and I think that Allan Davis, barring any crashes, might be able to do something. Ideally, I’d want Davis, Zabel or Paride Grillo as the winner. Or any combination of the three of them. Grillo is probably the least likely, although he’s been second and third to Boonen and Petacchni, I think.

And, one last thing from cyclingnews.

» An interview with Rory Sutherland, March 14, 2006

Rory’s Story

With a number of high profile doping cases recently being awarded, including that of former Phonak rider Tyler Hamilton, the cycling public – and public in general – may be starting to assume an convicted cyclist is guilty until proven otherwise. However, as the case of young Australian rider Rory Sutherland demonstrates, these lines are not so clear cut.

Although advised not to engage with the media, the 24 year-old from Canberra chose to respond to an invitation from Cyclingnews’ Anthony Tan to hear his story.

Today was the final stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico and I have to confess to being pretty happy with the results, of both the race and the final stage. Cyclingnews only has brief results, but they’re just awesome (to me).

» Stage 7 – March 14: Campli – S.Benedetto Del Tronto, 166 km

Results
1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram
2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
3 Paride Grillo (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare

Final General Classification
1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank

Ignoring Robbie McEwen, the top three make me happy. I like it when Petacchi wins and I especially like it when Paride Grillo comes in third. One of these days (hopefully at the Giro) he’s going to win. And as for the over winner? I’m really proud of him. It’s nice to see some of the young cyclists (especially those who have all these pressure on them to do well) win. And Dekker is an excellent cyclist. He definitely deserved the win.

Cyclingnews has a few articles on what is rapidly becoming my favorite team, Liberty Seguros.

» Allan Davis: Leaving Nice, off to San Remo

Liberty Seguros sprinter Allan Davis had to quit Paris-Nice today because of ongoing stomach problems. But the Australian will return to his European home in the Basque country tomorrow to overcome the bug – and eventually get ready for the “Primavera” next Saturday, a race the man from Bundaberg feels very much attracted to.

Although I said over at Podium Cafe that I’d like to see Zabel win. I definitely wouldn’t mind if Davis could come how find a way to beat everyone. He’s come in second so many times this season (and it’s only March) that it’s about time he won.

» “No mathematics” for Contador

One of Spain’s most promising young cyclists, Liberty Seguros’ Alberto Contador, has started his 2006 season with the French ‘race to the sun’ about a week ago. Being an excellent climber and a good rouleur, the 23 year-old would have been a candidate for a good overall placing or a stage win in Paris-Nice, but Contador was a little short of luck after finishing a solid fourth at the prologue in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

Again, he’s had some bad luck and I want him to win. I really hope that he manages to stay healthy this season. The more top finishes for Liberty (and Contador) the happier I’ll be. And, of course the team as well (since they’re definitely more important than me. Heh.).

And lastly, this is from procycling. The site, though, seems to be broken for now (when I posted this). I found this via the cache.

St 2: Good day, bad day (from March 7, 2005)

Sylvain Chavanel: Once the budding chouchou of French cycling, at 26, Chavanel seems finally to have used up his reserves of patient goodwill with the French press. This morning, under the headline ‘Lack of Ambition’, Le Journal Du Dimanche sniffed that it had overheard Chavanel tipping himself to finish somewhere between 60th and 70th position overall in Paris on July 24th. Presumably, the pain of both a mediocre overall finish and a few media brickbats will be eased by Chavanel’s estimated 980,000pa salary from Cofidis. We make that about 2,684 euros for today’s Sunday shift.

This relates back to my posts about French cycling. I don’t know if it’s a lack of ambition on the part of Chavanel or too high expectations from French cycling as a whole. Or, what I think maybe it might be, is that perhaps he (and French cyclists in general) just aren’t good enough (fit enough?) to compete at such a high level. I don’t know, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens at the tour, since that’s what seems to matter the most to French cycling.

Over at Podium Cafe, I wanted to note that Sylvain Chavanel had finished second on the sixth and final stage of Paris-Nice. It’s posted over on Podium Cafe because I like both the French cyclists and “hopeless cases,” both of which Chavanel seems to be. What was a simple note ended up being an extremely long post. It’s my take on the state of French cycling.

» Podium Cafe :: Notes on French cycling

I’d like to point out that of the top 10, four of them were French. Which is pretty good, though not great. Also, there were four French teams represented. Sadly, not good enough for the win (one more for Liberty, though!), but pretty damn good.

It has come to my attention that I live in the wrong country. Don’t get me wrong, I love American sports (we won’t talk about Ohio State’s basketball game today and how angry that makes me) and I would miss them greatly if (when?) I were to leave. But at the same time, I abhor the way American TV stations cover European sports, or sports where Americans don’t do well (since I don’t know what you’d call tennis). The coverage of football (European) is crappy and the only way I can get most of it is to pay extra for digital cable. And the tennis coverage is just a joke.

But cycling. Oh, cycling. I don’t watch OLN any more, so I completely miss whenever their Cyclysm Sundays (can’t they lose that name yet? It’s just dumb.) are on. But, today I happen to catch it and they’re covering Paris-Nice. Awesome, I think. I can make myself feel better about OSU’s loss by watching my favorite sport.

But, no. I’m wrong. Why? Because I had completely blocked out the fact that the commentators suck. Don’t get me wrong. Paul and Phil doing the tour is hilarious and gives me lots to rant about. But I am just tired of the American-focused coverage. If OLN would take some time to cover non-American cyclists, maybe they could interest their viewers to keep tuning back. Of course, that would require OLN to admit that there is more to cycling than the Tour de France and there is no way that they’ll do that. Maybe I’m just asking for too much. I just want the rest of the world to get a little respect from OLN, but it seems that is too much. I thought that once Armstrong was gone, things would change. But, no. It’s all Americans all the time.

Such a waste of opportunities.

Music: commercials

At least, I think it was Zabel. I know that Ullrich was always called the perennial second, but Zabel’s the sprinter.

When I started watching cycling, he’d just come off a few of his best seasons (I think I missed them by one season, I’m not sure) and he and Petacchi (who I adore as well) were racing pretty tight. But it was almost Petacchi first and Zabel second. And now it seems that Allan Davis is doomed to second place.

The irony, though, is that over in Italy at Tirreno-Adriatico, Zabel came in second to Bettini.

So, it’s Quick Step for the win and Milram and Liberty for second. Is this how the season is going to be this season? Will everyone be playing “catch me if you can” with QS? I hope not, but then again, I don’t really see anything changing. Of course, come Grand Tour season Quick Step is the one playing catch up.

Regardless of what will happen, I’d like to see both Davis and Zabel do a bit of winning.

» Stage 4 – March 9: Saint-Etienne – Rasteau, 193 km (Paris-Nice)
» Stage 2 – March 9: Tivoli – Frascati, 171 km (Tirreno-Adriatico)

Music: Thierry Amiel & Jonatan Cerrada – Toute la musique que j’amie

Sometimes, depending on what’s going on, I’ll forget to check cyclingnews. This doesn’t happen often (and, honestly, I’m more likely not to check velonews). But anyway, I’ve managed to miss a few results.

» Tropicale Amissa Bongo: The stage race, in Gabon, was won by the Finnish cyclist Jussi Veikkanen (Française Des Jeux) and Frédéric Guesdon (also of Française Des Jeux) was second over all. Even though my feelings for FDJ are mixed, it’s really nice to see some of their boys, especially young ones such as Veikkanen, doing so well.

» 15th Challenge Illes Balears – Stage 5: Way back in ‘03 when I started spending time following cycling online, I discovered this cyclist. He was German and pretty decent and used to be on my favorite team (at the time) T-Mobile. He’s since changed teams and eventually ended up going through a variety of teams (including Lamonta and Wisenhof) and has now gone full circle (German cycling team wise) and is on Gerolsteiner. And, while David Bernabeu (Comunidad Valenciana) won the stage race overall, it was really nice to see David Kopp winning for a ProTour team. I hope that he does really well this season. I feel he deserves it.

» Paris-Nice – Prologue: Much to my surprise, though it probably shouldn’t have been, Bobby Julich (CSC) won the opening stage of this year’s PN. It’s nice to see him continuing to ride so well, especially after his spectacular season last year. I hope that he can keep this up. It seems that Team CSC really does do amazing things for cyclists. As for the rest of the prologue? I am quite pleased with two of the top five riders being from Libery Seguros (Andrey Kashechkin and Alberto Contador). I am also really happy that Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) came in third. He’s had a rough go of things recently. And, as mentioned on Podium Cafe, Tom Boonen turned in a surprising (or not, depending on how you look at it) fifth place – that certainly bodes well for my prediction of this being the year of Quick Step.

Also, as I noted on Podium Cafe, I was unhappy that Vino wasn’t racing at Paris-Nice. I pretty much guessed that he was going to focus on the Tour de France this year, and it turns out that that is part of it. But a lot of revolves around his new team and keeping a low profile.

» Vinokourov plays it low:

Instead of sticking to his habits and riding Paris-Nice, where he has always performed very well, Kazakhstan champion Alexandre Vinokourov has started his season at the Vuelta a Murcia in Spain this year. By leaving T-Mobile behind, the new leader of Liberty Seguros opted for a different team management, another race programme, a new language and a new position within the team directed by Manolo Saiz – but he is also less exposed.

“He [Saiz] wanted me to change my programme, to be less present in front,” the Tour de France podium aspirant explained to L’Equipe at the Vuelta a Murcia. “He’s certainly right: even if had gone [to Paris-Nice] only for training, I would have wanted to be up front. I feel much more free this year, as if I had no pressure at all. The Spanish journalists are not really interested in me, so I tell myself it’s not too bad if people forget about me before the Tour…”

Vinokourov is also happy with his new director. “Manolo is incredible,” he continued. “He takes care of everything in this team: the rider’s programme, the choice of handlebar tape and organising each rider’s travelling. He doesn’t delegate anything.”

Liberty Seguros has taken on not only Vinokourov, but also fellow Kazakhs Andrei Kashechkin and Sergei Yakovlev – and the three are now integrating into their Spanish surroundings: “I think the Kazakh clan has been accepted; it is now part of the team. It’s normal, we were the new ones. We responded to them in our own way: with vodka and caviar which we brought from Kazakhstan. They loved it!,” Vinokourov added, explaining that all three had taken Spanish courses this winter in Monaco, where they live. To top it off, the three newcomers not allowed to share rooms while at races, and ‘Vino’ has been staying with teammate Joseba Beloki.

“He is obliged to talk to me in Spanish, and if I don’t understand a word, he’ll translate it in French,” Vinokourov said. “Manolo refuses that we share rooms with ‘Kash’ or ‘Yako’ as he fears that we’d only speak Russian.”

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this, but at the same time I think that perhaps this is a good idea. Not just the language things (which, actually, I think is a great idea), but also the fact that Vino is keeping a low profile. That is something that neither Jan Ullrich nor Lance Armstrong would ever have been able to do (although Ullrich seems to be on a somewhat low profile so far this season, I guess that’s what happens when Armstrong retires). I am glad that Vino is racing other races, just different ones. That gives me hope that Tour de France focused cyclists haven’t forgotten that these small races were what got them where they are today.

Even now, in the beginning of March, I’ll state (as I have since the tour ended last year) that I’ll be rooting for Vinokourov in the tour (well, and Sylvain Chavanel). I don’t know how he’ll end up or what his chances really are. But I’ll stick by him because I’d definitely like him to win.

I believe that this year will be the year of Quick Step. Perhaps not at the Grand Tours, but definitely in the smaller races. The one thing that might cause not allow that to happen is their loss of two riders last season (Patrik Sinkewitz and Michael Rogers), both of whom have won significant races in the past. But they have two of the best cyclists, who I probably don’t even have to name, Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini and that might just be enough.

In the past two months and a few days, Quick Step has won seven stages and five races (including Qatar where Boonen won almost every stage). That’s a total of 12 wins in the first two months and a few days of the season. I don’t think that there is any other team (although Petacchi’s wins have put Milram up near the top) has come close. Nor do I think any other will, though I hope with a bit of team work and strategic race planning, Milram could potentially come close.

But, honestly, as much as I don’t like Quick Step, they are on the road to dominate the season. I don’t know how this will apply to the longer stage races, but I think that they’ll probably have an strong showing. In those races that they didn’t win (but entered) most of the time there was at least one Quick Step rider in the top twenty, and often in the top ten.

Quick Step is the future of cycling. They’re doing something right.

Just a note of excitement on my part. One of “my” boys that I follow is an American named Steven Cozza. He’s riding for a Belgian continental team, Yawadoo Colba ABM. And I was just looking at his race schedule and he’s going to be riding some pretty good races this season, including LBL!

Or at least potentially riding them. Good job, Steven.