Wannabe Bike Girl

The International Herald Tribune has a really good article summarizing events from today’s stage of the tour. There’s a great little piece about Arsenal defender William Gallas (Arsenal being my favorite football/soccer team in Europe) being a cycling fan. Apparently he’s going to ride in Cofidis’ car behind Sylvain during the ITT. I think it’s pretty awesome. But the most interesting bit is something I talked about over on my post about today’s stage over at my TDF Diary.

NO REWARD: French cyclist Sylvain Chavanel felt shortchanged after a huge effort in Sunday’s second stage.

The Cofidis team leader rode out ahead in a small group for most of Sunday’s 164.5-kilometer (102.2-mile) trek from Auray to Saint-Brieuc but was overtaken by the chasing pack near the end.

“We didn’t get our reward,” Chavanel said. “I was in the first breakaway, a strong group, and then I got things going again. I stayed (in front) for the whole day for practically nothing. But that’s cycling.”

Chavanel, who finished the stage in 88th place, hopes for better luck in Tuesday’s time trial.

“I have a whole day ahead of me to recover for the time trial,” Chavanel said. “I am here to make an impression and win a stage on the Tour de France.”

In case anyone wanted to know why I love Sylvain Chavanel so much, the last sentence basically sums it up. Like I said over at Podium Cafe today, he never gives up. And it’s nice to see that not only am I right, but he doesn’t plant to give up just yet (not that I thought he would, but today was pretty frustrating for him and for me as a fan).

This second link I got from cycling fans anonymous. It’s excellent and I highly recommend you read it as soon as possible.

The doper’s redemption

David Millar appeared to have it all, until a poor Tour led him to sign up to the Brotherhood of the Needle and he found himself locked up in a French jail

When I checked cyclingnews this morning, I didn’t think that I’d have much to write about and so I was planning to mention something about the Pereiro scandal. But then I clicked on the news link and discovered a bunch of interesting stories.

Source: First Edition Cycling News for January 20, 2007

Inquiring about Allan Davis’ possibilities of riding for a pro tour team again next year, his manager Paul De Geyter (Celio Sport & Image ) told Cyclingnews that Davis is in the last phase of his contract negotiations and that things should be wrapped up by the time the European season kicks off.

De Geyter said, “Indeed, I want Allan to have a clear situation by the beginning of February.”

As much as I don’t like Discovery (for various Armstrong-related reasons), I won’t complain if that’s where Davis goes (as the commenter suggests). I hope that everything is sorted in time for Davis to race.

According to Reuters, Millar’s Cofidis team tried to seek damages for what it viewed as harm to its image, but judge Ghislaine Polge threw out the request, saying “Through its involvement in professional cycling, its established knowledge of doping and the absence of significant measures to eliminate it, Cofidis could not have been unaware of the well-known doping phenomenon or of its magnitude.

It’s all interesting, but I’m tired of doping scandals. By now, when I run across them, all I do is just shake my head and sigh.

Philippe Gilbert of La Française des Jeux had a skin cancer removed from his thigh in an operation on Thursday in Liege, Belgium. The doctors removed a melanoma and ordered him to rest for 10 days, according to the AFP.

“It is a ‘beauty spot’ which had to be removed. The wound is serious, but not in a bad location. However, if I ride it will heal more slowly,” Gilbert said.

He must now delay the start of his season. “I was to start with the [GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise] on February 6,” he said, “but now it will undoubtedly be with the Volta ao Algarve on February 21.”

Probably if you read this blog on a regular basis (so to speak), you know that I am a huge fan of Gilbert’s. I really, really hope he recovers soon.

And last, CN has what could be an interesting feature on Vino. I haven’t read it yet, but I plan to later today. I hope both Vino and Astana do well next year.

Chasing the Tour: Vinokourov gets ready

Having won most of the races he wished to in his career, Alexandre Vinokourov is staking everything on the big one this year. The Tour de France is his sole target and he’s hoping that this time round, everything will come together. Shane Stokes of Cyclingnews reports from the Astana training camp in Mallorca, Spain.

I don’t expect there to be this much news I care about every day. In fact, I was surprised how many stories there were that caught my eye. Hopefully this season will be better (in some ways) than last.