Here are some of my favorite pictures of the downside to cycling

The Infamous Lance Armstrong Crash in the 2003 Tour

Cyclingnews.com

2005 Tour de France.

In the women's stage 2 sprint (Redlands Classic), Lyne Bessette (Saturn) failed to control her bike after running over teammate, Ina Teutenberg (seated), who had prematurely raised her hands in victory.

George Hincapie (USPS), Johan Museeuw and Servais Knaven (Domo) look like creatures from another planet on the pavé.

Cyclingnews.com

Cyclingnews.com 2005 Pictures of the Year

Cyclingnews.com
Robbie McEwen head butts fellow Aussie Stuart O'Grady while Tom Boonen takes the win.

Pic of the year #2

Cyclingnews.com

A group climbs the Galibier.

Pic of the year #3

Cyclingnews.com

No great cycling picture gallery is complete without a picture of Paris-Roubaix.

Pic of the year #4

Cyclingnews.com

Europe has some amazing views, and they look even better with a bike race.

Pic of the year #5

Cyclingnews.com

Picture of the year #5. Great sprint photo with Eric Zabel edging out Bennati and McEwen.

ill mitch - American Success Story

This isn't about cycling or politics. But sometimes, something is too important NOT to mention. Ill Mitch...he could be the next great "thing".

Chris Horner interview

I know I've blabbered on before about Chris Horner, but he is a great success story and one of the best tactical riders I ever met or raced against (Although Jonathan Vaughters was great too). He is truly gifted at being able to read a race and react to it. It also helps to be extremely talented physically and strong as an ox. Chris should be looking for another great year in Europe riding with another good guy American, Freddy Rodriguez on the Davitamon-Lotto squad.

1 finger, 2 fingernails

Circus freak? Perhaps. My lovely sister took my finger off with the hinge of the door when I was just over a year old. But luckily the Doctor did a decent job of sewing it back on. The finger is fine, but I now have two fingernails growing from that one finger. Some say I'm cursed, others say I'm blessed, I just think it's more difficult to keep clean.


I haven't found a way to cash in on my sisters brutality or my disfigurement but I'm forging ahead with a few thoughts in mind. Maybe I should take a few pictures of my scars from years of racing and hitting the deck from 35 mph. Maybe. But for now, just another finger shot!

Racing for 2006

So I cut my racing and riding totally off in July this year. The reason? Well, there were actually a few.

1. It was really really hot and this isn't my job now.
2. I was golfing more and went on a great golf trip to Bandon Oregon. I decided to spend more time on the range than in the saddle.
3. My job at work changed and I was putting in more and more hours. Therefore I wasn't getting off work earlier and had no time to ride.
4. This isn't my job anymore and so I was really lazy. Did I mention that I was golfing more?

I feel a strong need to start riding again but the weather is COLD (not quite Colorado cold, but still cold) and it's just always dark outside. Time to get the indoor trainer going and the 3rd bay in the garage setup. Here is to a strong 2006 season.

Colorado Springs Bike Shop Theft

I have many memories of my first season racing in Colorado (1995) and one is of a cocky guy with very nice bike equipment, Reese Houghton. Reese was from Colorado Springs and worked for Colorado Cyclist, a giant online cycling store. He always had the nicest stuff and a cute girl by his side.

So now it turns out he's a crook and got caught steeling over $380,000 worth of cycling goods from a local store in Colorado Springs and then selling it on EBAY. Having worked in a bike store I know it's a tough business to keep afloat and then you get a guy like this undermining the entire operation. I hope he gets what is coming to him.

Urine EPO tests unreliable?

Cyclingnews.com investigates the validity of the urine EPO test in this linked article. This past year has seen a rash of positive tests for EPO and other enhancing drugs. But it has also seen several of those results reversed with a negative "B" sample or the results thrown out all together. As was the case with a Tri-athlete that was able to determine he was indeed clean and the test was wrong.

To make sure the sport isn't turned upside down we need to be getting these tests correct and with greater probability assurance. It's also not fair if these tests are wrongly accusing a cyclist of being a cheat. With the world taking notice of the drug problems in cycling, a riders career, finances and reputation can be ruin with one false result. On the flip side, the better the test and the more accurate the results, the greater the opportunity to nail those that are guilty.

Bettini destroys the field at the Championship of Zurich

A rain soaked Paolo Bettini soloed the last 40km and put almost 3 mins into the group he left to win this years Championship of Zurich. It was a brutal display of power and strength and a bit of revenge for the poor results from the week before at the Worlds in Spain. The Italian team was the focus of debate after the Worlds road race as they seemed to be working against each other and not in lock step for their sprinter "Ale-Jet". Bettini at least, was able to make up for his own gambles the week before.

Boonen ends season with a Rainbow Jersey

Tom Boonen lasted the longest of all the favorite sprinters and finished with a flurry. The 273km road race was brutal because of it's distance and especially the pace on the last 2 laps. No American made the top ten, but our only hope was a Fred Rodriguez sprint and he missed the split on the final climb. Congrats to Tom for a great year.

Roberto Herras, Tom Danielson and the Vuelta

Tom Danielson finished his first grand tour in 8th overall. My prediction was that Tom would get a top 5 spot, but hey this result is still great. Roberto Herras took his 4th straight victory and really took control with a giant throw-down in the mountains. Then to cap things off he was less than 1 second off the winning ITT for stage 20. Congrats all the way around.On the fantasy cycling thing....I finished 850th overall. Not terrible as I picked the overall winner and Ale-Jet took 5 stage victories. But maybe next year. Until next time....

Fantasy cycling - Nerd up

Time to show my 'geekness' and reveal that I have joined a cycling fantasy league. This league is based out of Belgium and has around 2000 participants. I finished around 200 in the Giro di Italia and then forgot to even update my team for le Tour de France. However, I'm fully participating for the Vuelta. Here is my standing and points after stage 3. I'll try to keep this updated - like anyone cares.

60th Vuelta a Espana

This year my pick for the breakthrough ride of the year will be Tom Danielson of Discovery Channel. The Tour of Spain (Vuelta a Espana) just started on August 27th and Tom Danielson placed a nice 5th in the first stage TT.

Although I think Tom can grab a top 5 overall and maybe surprise the world with a Damiano Cunego style tour (2004 Giro winner), I honestly believe that the defending champion, Roberto Heras, is the overall favorite to take the title...again.

But watch out for Floyd Landis as well. Maybe he will be motivated enough to bring another American atop the podium in a grand Tour.

Lance Wins 7th and much more

Sorry that I didn't write a lick during the 2005 Tour de France. I was overly busy last month with the tour on TV, listening to it on the internet at work, working too many hours and throwing in a marathon weekend of golf. I also did the greatest thing ever by purchasing TIVO, just in time for the tour. I just concluded burning 5 DVD's of this years tour all from digital recordings on my TIVO. That box is great.

Lance won his 7th and now is retired. In a way I'm glad he decided to call it quits. First, the tour will be very exciting next year as several guys will think they can win. But best of all I NEVER have to hear or see that old hag Sheryl Crow spouting off about cycling again (although now it will probably be back to her paranoid views on politics). Wow is she annoying.

Some other great news is that my good friend and former teammate of about 6yrs, Mike Dempsey, is engaged to be married. I'm so thrilled for him. Congrats Mike.

Mason's Birthday Bike

Mason turns 5 on Friday, June 24th and here is a picture of his gift. It's a Redline Grom x, with 16 in wheels.

Horner rides himself onto the Tour team

After his dramatic solo win yesterday, Chris Horner was granted the honor of riding the upcoming Tour de France. Obviously he deserves to ride the Tour and perhaps his broken leg will be a blessing in disguise. Chris opted to ride the Giro d'Italia instead of le Tour at the start of the year, but missed the Giro while mending his broken leg. Cyclingnews.com confirms the good news:

Cyclingnews' Anthony Tan spoke to yesterday's stage winner Chris Horner last night. While Horner was of course very excited to have won at the Tour de Suisse, he placed less emphasis on it than on the fact that his manager had just confirmed to him that he had gotten the ticket for his team's Tour de France roster - something Horner has been wishing for a long time, since neither FDJ nor the Mercury team had taken him to France. So watch out for a full News story on this later on on Cyclingnews.

Finally, Horner wins big in Europe

American Chris Horner of Saunier Duval-Prodir, won the very tough and mountainous 6th stage of the Tour de Suisse today. Chris attacked on the final climb with 2 others and then dropped them gaining 1:12 by the finish. He just may have punched his ticket to a ride in this years Tour de France with his very impressive win.

Training for July 4th Criterium

Well, on a personal note, I'm trying to get ready for the 4th of July crit in Davis. I finished a very close 3rd there last year and I really like this course. However, last year I was a cat 5 and now I'm racing with as a cat. 3. But I think it may be more difficult to do as well this year as I don't have any team to help me out, which helps a lot. Also, I've started a new position at work and I'm putting in mostly 10 hour days resulting in less time for some solid training.

As usual I'm doing more specific sprinting work and short hill intervals rather than the long endurance miles. This is solely based on the time I have available for training and the main reason why I tend to stick to criteriums. Plus, they are such a blast to race.

Inside Cycling with John Wilcockson: Dauphiné with an English accent

Although no American took the overall win at this years Dauphine, the Yanks were in the thick of the action and just there to tune up for the upcoming Tour de France.

John Wilcockson of Velonews wrote a great historical article highlighting the english speakers of 20 years challenging for the overal. Next up is the Tour de Suisse where Jan Ullrich is front and center showing how his training has progressed in preparation for "le tour". Stay tuned.

USA and the Dauphine Libere

5th stage of the Dauphine Libere in France with Levi (in yellow), Floyd and Lance (in blue) all showing there strength. I hope this bodes well for the 2005 Tour de Frrance



Levi went down on a corner during the final descent of stage 5. No major damage was done and should be expected to continue. Levi is still my pick for the overall win.

Fitting winner as Father's day approaches.

This past weekend was a high point for American cycling, and yet Lance Armstrong was only a sideshow. The two biggest races of the week were taking place with the first stage of the Dauphine Libere stage race in France and the Wachovia USPRO Cycling Championship one-day race in Philadelphia, PA. The Wachovia USPRO race has been on the same course the last 21 years and boasts as being the richest one day race in the world. The winner's paycheck was $142,000.

The USA took the top 5 spots in Philly, the first time the podium has had an all USA showing in its history. Meanwhile, across the pond in France, the Americans were four of the top 5 in the Dauphine opening prologue. Lance Armstrong was 5th and his teammate George Hincapie took the win over Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis.

Philly (USPRO) was won by Chris Wherry of Health Net as he soloed away from his breakaway companions Danny Pate and Chris Horner. Having lived and raced in Boulder Colorado I knew both Chris Wherry and Danny Pate. Danny was a young quiet amateur but everyone knew if he kept at it he would be something. Of course they thought the same about Chris as he won US Amateur National Championships in 1996 and was always tangling with the big pros in any race he entered.

I met Chris while he worked at the local Buchanan’s coffee shop on the Hill in Boulder biding his time before turning pro. Our team attempted to pick up Chris when he decided to turn pro and his father was the one negotiating the deal. Chris’ dad was always at the local races and you could pick him out as he stood over 6 ft and wore an English style driving hat. Chris ended up signing with Saturn, but we had nothing but respect for the way his dad treated our team and the way Chris handled the situation. Chris’ dad died in 2002 of Leukemia and I’m sure that his memory has kept the cycling fire burning within.

Ironically the person that Chris took the USPRO title from was a former amateur teammate (Taya Chain) of Chris and friend while in Boulder, Fred Rodriguez. Chris is a well deserving winner and I’m sure a win that would have made his father proud. Congratulations Chris.

Paolo wins the 88th Giro d'Italia

I was basically correct about the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia. Simoni, Di Luca and Rajano all made life tough on Paolo and at one point had enough of a lead on the road that Simoni was the 'virtual' leader on the road. But with an amazing descent of the Finistre climb and then a more than adequate ascent of the Sestriere, Paolo kept Simoni in sight and won the overall by just 0.28.

This next week Lance Armstrong starts his pre-tour racing with the Dauphine Libere in France. This should prove to be interesting. Stay tuned.

Giro d’Italia almost over

With just one big test left, Saturday’s incredible mountain stage, the Giro victory is all but in the pocket of Discovery Channel’s Paolo Savoldelli. With a 2:09 advantage over 2nd place climbing superstar Gilberto Simoni, Paolo has the luxury of watching Gilberto for the inevitable attack and try to limit his losses to the 2 minute mark. Simoni has in his corner several factors. 1. Defending champion and teammate, Damiano Cunego, who is not in the running after a bad day in the mountains cost him 6 minutes resulting in working tirelessly for his team leader, Simoni. 2. The stage to Sestiere is a brutal climb with major sections on gravel. Advantage goes to the climbers. 3. Discovery Channel has no climbers to help Paolo.

These three items all favor the attacking climber, Simoni and if used correctly and soon after Paolo is isolated, the cagey Italian Lampre rider will be snugly fitting into his 3rd Pink Jersey (Maglia Rosa). But Paolo has shown the ability to fight and not panic and limit his losses in the high mountains. Paolo also put time into Simoni on the first two mountain stages. My prediction: Paolo loses another 25 seconds to Simoni and keeps the jersey for the overall win. But, this is why they race the race…to prove me wrong.

Racing update

I'm not racing the Giro, but I am doing cat 3 races now. I did my first cat 3 criterium last week (May 15th) in Rancho Cordova, CA. I was quite nervous on the start line as I had not done a cat 3 race in over 10 years and only been doing cat 5 races the last year and a half. What I did have on my side was years of experience in pro races and the knowledge of how to stay involved in the thick of the race. After the first few laps I knew I wouldn't be having any trouble finishing the race with the group, but now I wanted to win.

I worked hard trying to get in a break or start a break. But the racing was very negative and after 30 minutes of trying to get away I realized this thing was coming down to a field sprint.

Unfortunately, I had no teammates to help and fought to get to the front for the sprint. I finished a disappointing 20th place. That wasn't too bad for the first Cat 3 race in a long time but not what I wanted. I thought I had finished 25th and my dad thought I finished 11th. I guess it was right in the middle.

Giro Stage 11

With the first mountain top finish in the 88th Giro d’Italia came the big shake up we’ve been waiting for with Basso, Savoldelli, Simoni and Di Luca all stepping up indicating they are in for the overall win while Cunego lost a whopping 6:02. Paolo Savoldelli (DSC) edged the stage win from Ivan Basso (CSC) while Gilberto Simoni finished just 0.21 behind and Danilo di Luca at 1:01 after Paolo’s spint victory.

Ivan is the overall leader by 0.18 over Paolo and showed today he is probably the overwhelming favorite. Of course this next week is drenched with mountain-top finishes and to lose 2-3 minutes on a single day is not out of the question. However, Ivan showed in the Tour (3rd overall) last year that he is more than capable of staying with the climbers for a 3 week grand tour. The real revelation today was the ride of Paolo and the disturbing demise of defending champion Cunego.

Tomorrow shouldn’t be as devastating with the big climb at the start of the day, followed by about 150km of downhill racing.

Stage 11 - May 19: Marostica - Zoldo Alto, 150 km

Results
1 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 4.13.43 (35.472 km/h)
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
3 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.21
4 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.01
5 Daniel Atienza Urendez (Spa) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 1.50
6 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.03
7 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole
8 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
9 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team 2.17
10 Jose' Rujano Guillen (Ven) Selle Italia-Colombia 2.19

General classification after stage 11
1 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 49.05.20
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 0.18
3 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.04
4 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 2.27
5 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 3.45
6 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4.34
7 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Wurth Team 4.48
8 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 5.25
9 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare 5.58
10 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 6.10
11 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears 6.24
12 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6.48
13 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto 6.57
14 Daniel Atienza Urendez (Spa) Cofidis-Le Credit Par Telephone 7.08
15 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 7.16
16 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 7.20
17 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 7.40

Giro update

The first week of the Giro was very exciting. Paolo Bettini was in the middle of the action taking a stage win, the leader’s jersey, and also Australian sprinter Baden Cooke into the barriers. For the last move, Bettini was relegated to the back of the pack and Cooke was left wondering what might have been. Saturday saw the first TT and the opportunity for the potential winners to make their move. American Dave Zabriskie - Team CSC and a Utah native won the TT by just 17 seconds over teammate Ivan Basso. Dave was far down the overall classification and so Danilo Di Luca kept the Maglia Rosa, for now.

Today the Giro heads into the high mountains and the real fighting will start. Paolo Salvadelli of Discovery Channel lost his teammate Tom Danielson from an inflamed knee. Paolo will need to utilize the inevitable fighting from Simoni, Cunego and Basso and just play off of their attacks.

General classification after stage 10

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 44.51.40
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 0.09
3 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel-Pro Cycling Team 0.35
4 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 1.15
5 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.27
6 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.35
7 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.38
8 Serguei Gonchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 1.39
9 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.10
10 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 2.11

Giro d' Italia

The 88th edition of the Giro d' Italia (Tour of Italy) is set to start on Saturday, May 7, in Reggio Calabria. The 2nd most prestigious grand tour (only behind the Tour de France) has a little more "prestige" this year as all 20 ProTour teams have committed to participating. Normally a team like Discovery Channel (formerly USPS) would not partake in the Giro, but with the advent of the new ProTour, they are sending a competitive squad.

Last years surprise winner, 23yr old Damiano Cunego, and two-time winner and teammate Gilberto Simoni are the odds on favorite for the win this year. Ivan Basso has decided to take on the Giro and the Tour this year after his very impressive 3rd at last years Tour de France. It appears that all three mentioned here will be doing the Giro/Tour double and therefore I don't know how committed they are to putting the hammer down in Italy this month. But behind the obvious favorites are several former winners, proven tour riders and a few up and comers that are solely focused on a Giro win. I see the following with chances to win or be top 10:

Damiano Cunego (Ita) - Lampre - Caffita
Gilberto Simoni (Ita) - Lampre - Caffita
Ivan Basso (Ita) - Team CSC
Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) - Discovery Channel
Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) - Domina Vacanze
Stefano Garzelli (Ita) - Liquigas - Bianchi
Tom Danielson (USA) - Discovery Channel

Tyler Hamilton interview

Cyclingnews.com did an email interview with Tyler Hamilton where he lays out his side of the story (again). I feel he has valid scientific reasons to question the results of the test. The problem has been that the UCI, WADA and those claiming he was doping, have yet to release all their data. Therefore it's hard to say whether the "facts" that Tyler is putting forth are true or false. There is just nothing to compare them to and so I have to believe they are most likely the truth.

Tyler also posted a few other articles about the decision on his website: www.tylerhamilton.com. Check it out.

Tour de Georgia recap

The 2005 Tour de Georgia had it all this year; sunshine, rain, hail, strong winds, SNOW and drama. The weather assisted in giving the race some extra drama, but the racers provided most of the incentive for a nerve racking spectacle. With 6 PRO-TOUR teams in attendance, including the 6 time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong, the field was strong and the eventual winner couldn't be considered a fluke.

The 30k individual time trial and the subsequent 2 climbing stages were the deciding 3 stages in the 6 stage race. Floyd Landis of Phonak and Lance's former Tour pace man in the mountains came away with the TT victory and put 1.46 mins on Lance himself. While the next stage included rain, hail and numerous climbs, it didn't separate the expected strong men. It did, however, soften the bunch in preparation for the penultimate and brutal climb up Brasstown Bald in Stage 4. With temps in the 30's at the top of the 4000 ft climb and light snow falling at the top, all the favorites arrived at the climb together ready to decide the race going one on one. Well, Lance and Discovery had 3 teammates as did Bobby Julich and CSC while Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer were without any team help. But it didn't really matter as the ultra steep climb dictated the racers go all out and not much team work would have helped. Tom Danielson ripped everyone apart and took the win just 14 seconds in front of Levi, 0.59 seconds ahead of Lance and 1.09 in front of the then race leader, Floyd Landis.

Tom Danielson took the overall lead by 4 seconds over Levi and 9 seconds on Floyd. Tom is riding the Giro d' Italia this year and should be well prepared for his first grand tour. The TDG also showed the depth of the top US riders with Levi, Bobby Julich and Floyd all putting together a great week. Tom is the youngest of the bunch and should be the bright star the USA needs for cycling in the future.

Final General classification
1 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 26.53.44
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 0.04
3 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.09
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.10
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 1.41
6 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 3.04
7 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Prodir - Saunier Duval 3.11
8 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 3.14
9 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 3.51
10 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 3.58

Tyler Hamilton suspended for 2 years.

For all things considered and pending a long shot with the Court of arbitration and Sport, Tyler Hamilton's cycling career is over. Today the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) gave Tyler the maximum sentence of a 2-year suspension with a 2 to 1 decision. Tyler put forth information about his defense and to me the details are quite convincing. Read for yourself and decide. With Tyler already being 34 years old, there isn't much of a future for him in cycling after a 2-year break. The news coincides with Lance Armstrong announcing his pending retirement and puts the future of US cycling in doubt, if for only the next 2 years

Lance to retire after the 2005 Tour de France

Lance Armstrong announced he will retire immediately following the end of he 2005 Tour de France no matter if he wins or loses. Not much else to say, but check out the transcript of the press conference.

Tom Danielson and Tour de Georgia

The Discovery Channel's new signing this year and the USA's future hope is an up and comer, Tom Danielson. Tom is a tremendous climbing talent and is showing improvement in time trialing. He is slated to ride the Giro d' Italia in June and hence is showing good form as of late. I didn't include Tom on the list of people to expect on the podium at this years TdG as he rides for the defending Champion, Lance Armstrong. But I don't think it would be too difficult for Dicso to have two guys on the podium without lacking any team power punch. I expect to see Tom in the Top 5.

Predictions and wrapup

Amstel Gold Race: AGR is another one-day classic but unlike Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, this spring race features a lot of climbing. The next few classics, including AGR, typically feature a rider that is considered a climber or a power climber. Don't expect a sprinter to be near the finish for Amstel Gold. Last years winner, David Rebellin, has a great chance of repeating and should be considered a favorite. In my book he is. Here are my top 5 picks:

1. David Rebellin - Ita, Gerolsteiner
2. Danilo Di Luca - Ita, Liqui-gas
3. Jorg Jaksche - Ger, Liberty Seguros
4. George Hincapie - USA, The Discovery Channel
5. Jens Voight - Ger, CSC

I would pick George a bit higher, except he is possibly more tired from the past few weeks than the others. But he certainly wouldn't surprise me with a win.

Tour de Georgia: The TdG gets underway with a special news conference from Lance Armstrong on April 18th. Speculation has run wild over what he will be announcing. Rumors run the gauntlet from outright retirement, riding the Giro (Tour of Italy) and Tour double, to indicating girlfriend Sheryl Crow is pregnant. I think he will announce that 2005 will be the last he is racing in Europe and 2006 will be spent trying to pump of cycling in the states. But we will see.

Tyler Hamilton's blood doping case is rumored to have a decision coming on Monday which may also clear him for inclusion to TDG. That is wild and would be great to see. With Tyler possibly taking part, the startlist would include 5 top USA cyclist and all but two representing different teams: Defending TdG champion Lance Armstrong (Discovery), Bobby Julich (CSC), Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), Floyd Landis (Phonak) and Tyler Hamilton (Phonak).

As Bobby Julich has already won twice this year (Paris-Nice and Criterium International) I am betting on a more than solid performance from him this year. But as all the other top Americans listed above are actually tour hopefuls, you can expect a great battle for the top podium position. Lance will fight it out with Bobby for the win, and third will be edged out by Floyd Landis just over Levi. Let me state that if allowed to race, you will see Tyler instead of Floyd in the top 3.

The big name missing this year's TdG is Saunier Duval's new signing, Chris Horner (USA). Chris had a bad wreck in his season opener Terreno-Adriatico and was forced to quit. A few weeks later he nabbed a top 20 GC finish and a 6th place stage finish in Setmana Catalana. However the pain in his leg wouldn't go away and after coming back to the states it has been confirmed that he broke the tip of his femur. Bad news for Chris, but hopefully we will see him in the tour this year.

Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix

If the last few weeks are an indication of what's to come this year in cycling, hang on. Tom Boonen (BEL) of Quickstep took the double by winning the Tour of Flanders in a solo effort and then backing that up the next week with a sprint win in Paris Roubaix. Both victories showed the 24 yr old is not only "fast and strong" (as Lance Armstrong described him this week), but also very astute with tactics. Congrats to George Hincapie (USA) of Discovery for an amazingly strong showing in Paris Roubaix and getting a well-deserved 2nd place while narrowly missing out on the top podium spot. After 163 miles of hell including 60 kilometers of pave' (cobblestones), to see a three up sprint finish in the Roubaix veledrome was nothing but exciting. Can't wait for next year.

Category Upgrade

I have upgraded from a category 5 racer with USA Cycling, to a category 3. The upgrade was needed for a few reasons. First, it's just a bit too dangerous riding in the lower category as the bike handling skills of the group are not that great and I don't want to crash for no good reason. Secondly, my family was embarrassed that I was racing as a cat 5 considering my previous experience and exploits. And thirdly, I needed the motivation for getting faster. Hopefully this upgrade will be a good thing and not have me dying to hang on with my tongue on the top tube.

First Race of the Year.

So I did two criteriums this past weekend and did okay in both. Top 10, but I haven't seen the official results yet. This year I am doing category 5 races as my fitness wasn't up to the PRO I/II level it once was. Here are some photo links to the ultra wet Land Park Criterium and the windy West Sac Criterium.

Land Park - SGW
Land Park -Velocommunity

West Sac - SGW
West Sac - Velocommunity

On another note, I saw my former team-mate, friend and cycling legend Michael Carter at the Land Park Crit. He was here in town this past week with two guys he is currently coaching. Michael rode the 1992 Tour de France and was a world class climber. Michael is racing this year with the Marco Polo Cycling team and just finished the Tour of Qatar along with a ton of europros.

Lance Goes for 7 straight

Lance Armstrong has announced that he has decided to attempt a 7th straight Tour de France win. Previously, Lance had speculated that he may not attempt the Tour this year and try again in 2006 while focusing on other events. It will still be interesting to see if Lance does focus more on the Spring Classics, the Hour record and maybe the Giro di Italia.