Tour de France - 2007

You can see stage by stage video highlights of this years tour at the cyclingnews.com website. Even with all the drug issues and speculation I still enjoyed the drama and the racing. The Discovery team has officially disbanded as of the end of this season, and so the winner and the 3rd place riders are now looking for work.

Stage 15 Recap

Stage 15 recap video.

Stage 14 Recap

Stage 14 highlights.

Disco is back in fashion

Well we probably won't see the return of platform shoes, Bee Gees and Disco ball but "Disco"; The Discovery Channel Cycling team, took it to their rivals in the Tour de France today. Alberto Contador won the stage in a mtn top sprint over Yellow Jersey wearing Michael Rasmussen and then we saw Levi Leipheimer come in 4th just 40 seconds behind.

What impressed me today was the poise and maturity with which Levi rode today. It was obvious to me that following the first 2 big attacks that Levi wasn't intereted in chasing them down IMMEDIATELY but rather just accelerated a bit and then rode back to the group. The desparate chasing of any attack by Cadel Evans eventually spelled his doom as he couldn't hold the pace by Rasmussen or Contador and not only drifted off their wheels but slip backwards past the chase group of Levi, Sastre and Soler. I believe that if Evans had held a more controlled and possibly smarter sense of riding he would have been in with Levi and quite possibly been contending the stage win after helping Sastre bridge back to Rasmussen and Contador.

Levi's tactics were even more savy as he forced Sastre to Chase as Levi wasn't going to chase down his own teamate. There is still about 400 km to race in the giant mountains and yet today we saw riders reacting like it was the last mtn stage of the tour. This will only play into the hands of Levi who appeared to do the least amount of work today of all the favorites, only lose 40 seconds and moved into 4th place overall. Well, he still has to catch Rasmussen.

Alpes Recep: Stage 9

Video update of Stage 9

2007 Tour de France - First 3rd Review

The first 1/3 of the 2007 Tour de France is now complete and I feel a bit lame for not posting a thing about it. Of course, my hundreds of readers (Mike, Rob and Matt) probably don't really care. Okay, but I like posting big flashy pictures of cycling and making predictions for all to read, so I'll try to get this up to speed for the following 2 weeks.

As expected the peloton this year is suffering from what Discovery Director Johan Bruyneel calls the "Postal virus." What he means is that for the past 7 yrs (not counting last year) postal took control of the race when it hit the mountains and only allowed attacks that it deemed as non-threatening. The evidence of this control was probably the great escape of Floyd in stage 17 of the 2006 tour where it's been documented that the big teams only put on a concerted chase for under 20km allowing Floyd to appear God-like and give credence to his positive test. But I digress. Another factor in making this race so wide open EVEN as we now leave the Alps is that besides the prologue TT, we haven't undergone the proverbial individual TT that shifts around the top 10 in the first week. We still have about 110 km of TT racing still to come along with the monstrous Pyrenees mountains.

Revelations of this Tour:
Alexandre Vinokourov - Vino had a nasty fall that required stitches in both knees and has been suffering ever since to hang on. It looks like the Astana captain might be conceeding his leadership to Andres Kloden who sits in 8th place just 3:50 off the lead

Denis Menchov - Although Menchov was considered for a top 5 in my opinion, I wasn't looking towards the Russian to win this years tour. But I didn't expect him to crack so quickly in this years tour. Much like Astana, the leadership is shifting at Rabobank also from Menchov to Michael Rasmussen. But unlike Astana, I don't think Rasmussen has the TT ability to actually win the tour like Kloden does.

Alberto Contador - The young Discovery rider has the most amazing kick when he attacks up-hill and so far he looks deadly and all others should be worried. But this is only his 2nd tour (finished around 35th in 2005) and he is not sure how his body will react in the 3rd week.

General classification after stage 10
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 49.23.48
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.35
3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.39
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 2.41
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.08
6 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 3.18
7 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 3.39
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 3.50
9 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.53
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 5.06

The Oscar Pereiro pick

Oscar Pereiro sits on the precipice of being awarded the 2006 Tour de France and yet I find myself begrudgingly adding him as a top 10 07' Tour contender. It's not out of spite from the Floyd Landis affair and the fact that Oscar has made some comments that weren't that sporting but more to do with what I see as the biggest gift ever in professional cycling.

Before I break down Oscars previous tour results I will state that we saw two Oscars in the 2006 Tour. The first Oscar found himself in 46th place at 28:50 behind the Yellow-clad Floyd Landis after 12 stages and one brutal day in the Pyrenees. The 2nd Oscar held onto the yellow jersey (after being allowed to gain 29:57 on stage 13) and did a valiant job of staying with the leaders of the tour until that fateful stage 17 where no one could stay with Floyd.

Oscar has only done 3 tours: 2004, 2005 and 2006 finishing 10th, 10th and 2nd. Hey, that is pretty good and it shows the progression in ability, maturation and fitness you'd expect from an upcoming tour contender. Or does it?

The 2004 Tour Oscar finished 10th over 23 minutes behind the then six-time winner Lance Armstrong. When you look deep into the stages you will see that Oscar had some good results in the flat stages as well as a few very good results in the mountains including a 6th place on stage 12 and a 14th on the ITT up Alpe d'Huez. But oddly Oscar couldn't take this result and build on it for 2005. He drifted to 30th after the Alpes and was allowed to drift off the front with a big group, eventually getting 2nd place to George Hincapie but gaining over 5 minutes. In the next few days Oscar would win a stage while being allowed once again a big leash in gaining 3 minutes and then another day of gaining 4 minutes. By the end of the 2005 tour Oscar secured another 10th place at 16 minutes behind Lance Armstrong. If he was a true contender he wouldn't have been allowed 12 minutes leeway from the Tour Patron, Lance Armstong.

The 2006 Tour was heading the same direction as his previous tours until the in fighting and decision by Oscars former team (Phonak) to let him take the jersey and the pressure off of Floyd.

In the end this whole experience may have created a new Oscar and another Claudio Chiappucci type rider, or maybe we are just seeing the biggest gift in cycling since Maurizio Fondriest lucked into the 1988 World Championship title? This I am sure of, Oscars days of gaining big minutes in the Tour while others watch is over.

Cycling Update

Floyd Landis Arbitration Trial
Sorry I didn't post anything concerning Floyd's arbitration trial. It was quite interesting, enlightening and depressing all at the same time. The best coverage of the trial can be found at the Trust but Verify blog.

Giro
The Giro brought out more TV viewers in Italy than what they have had in quite a few years. I found the Giro enjoying, but not overly exciting. Danilo Di Luca was a worthy winner and I think I would enjoy seeing the climbs on DVD. Andy Schleck, just turning 22, was the true surprise of the tour finishing 2nd and under 2 mins behind the eventual Pink Jersey wearer Di Luca. It reminds me of a young tour 2nd place finisher in 1996 who went on to win the next year and take a ton of 2nd places during his career - Jan Ulrich. Maybe I'm jumping the gun on that one, we shall see.

Drugs
Speaking of the 1996 Tour, winner Bjarne Riis has now admitted to being doped with all sorts of stuff and especially EPO during that time and that tour specifically. The UCI is clamoring that Riis give back his title (they can't do it however as the statute of limitations has run out - 8yrs). But let's review the podium for the 1996 Tour:

1. Bjarne Riis
2. Jan Ulrich
3. Richard Virenque

Jan Ulrich was part of the 1996 Deutsche Telekom team that is all but admitting to mass doping and Jan retired in disgrace with possible ties to Operation Puerto. Virenque was implicated in the 1998 Festina doping scandal and admitted later on that he doped. So who gets the title? I guess you could hand it to Frankie Andreu - oh wait, he admitted to doping in prep for the 1999 tour

Tour de France
The upcoming tour is probably more open this year than last year and here are my preliminary favorites, in no particular order

Alexandre Vinokurov
Levi Leipheimer
Andreas Kloden
Tom Danielson
Denis Menchov
Carlos Sastre
Alejandro Valverda (pending Operation Puerto investigation)
Frank Schleck (Andy's older brother)
Oscar Pereiro

I think Oscar doesn't have a legitimate chance at making the top 5 and I would think a top 10 is about the best he can do. But since he got 2nd last year (thanks to a 30 min gift) I must put him on the list.

That's all for now - TJ

Intervals?

This week I embarked on a set of intervals up a small and very steep hill about 40 mins ride from my house. Since I'm not in that great of shape, this little hill repeat is quite brutal and I've been using my 39x26 (yes, 26) gearing to get thru it. I'm just getting myself into the groove of doing these and therefore I only did 4 this week. Profile shown below:

Back to Cycling

I've been back to cycling a bit more and possibly I'll be racing this year some more. Thanks to my friend Rob Zabrecky for the tip to this really cool website, Bikely, that I can track my routes and see the elevation profile, all my routes will be available to view soon. Here are two rides I did this past week.

This ride is one through Rocklin, a ride I used to do with the Spin City group every Sunday:

And here is a fun ride to the foothills in Penryn, near Auburn.

Tour of California

I took my daughter to the 2nd stage of the Tour of California's finish in downtown Sacramento. It was a cool finish and it was nice to see and talk to Chris Wherry and Chris Baldwin of Toyota United Pro.

Is that a spin-move?

This clip is one of my all time favorites and I first saw it on ESPN with Craig Kilborn commenting "is that a spin move? This is the best fight since Tyson and McNeilly." It can't be easy fighting in those dang cycling shoes, and with no upper body. Circa 1994...

French "Gall"

The President of the French anti-doping agency, Pierre Bordry, had some comments to make about the Floyd Landis case. However, he made one glaring comment pertaining to the newly admitted to "administration error" made by the lad. (The lab incorrectly indexed Floyd's B sample with the wrong ID number and then corrected it later - which supports the Landis team's claims of slopping work at the lab).

Mr. Bordry remarked:

"For his defense, M. Landis uses all the legal means that he wants. If he reveals that the laboratory made errors - formal, or substantial - it would be good if we were officially informed so that we could respond, on the form or on the substance (of the accusations). However, I note that, at the moment, Mr. Landis prefers to organise press conferences to give his arguments: we're moving out of normal procedure here."

Part of Floyd's defense is that the lab in correctly (and illegally) leaked the information of his positive "A" sample test when the results aren't usually even made public until after the result of the "B" sample. Now the French are upset that Floyd is disclosing the errors made by the lab to the public and that his entire defense is being made public. The French seem to be expecting behavior accounted to them that they certainly are not giving towards Floyd and other riders (This same lad was found legally at fault for similar actions with Lance Armstrong). This would be like during the court case of a wrongful death suit with a hospital where the hospital doesn't want the facts known public and if they are found that they need to be informed about them first so that the Hospital can react to the public first.

I think it's all about the fact that the French (and this lab specifically) believe there is NO way they can do any wrong and therefore the ends justify the means.

Whiners and image

Jens Voigt (former teammate of Ivan Basso) is now complaining that the signing of Ivan by Discovery is bad for the image of cycling. So.....Ivan has been cleared to race and so have numerous others that were wrongly implicated in Operation Puerto that rocked the cycling world just at the start of the 2006 Tour de France. I'm at a loss as to what Ivan and the others are supposed to do in this case. Are they to NOT try to get a team and race just so that Jens can feel better about his sport? If there is NOTHING on Ivan, then it would appear that the image being damaged here is that of the authorities that wrongly accused the cyclist and attempted to ruin their careers.

I think it's the Euro mentality that puts forth the "feelings" and image over "innocent until proven guilty" that is what drives the US.

Discovery Channel picks up another Superstar

Lance Armstrong is confirming that the Discovery Channel Cycling team has signed Ivan Basso, the 2006 Giro di Italia winner and 3rd in the '04 Tour and '05 Tour de France runner up. Of course Ivan has some possible legal issues with the Operation Puerto stuff, but he's been cleared for racing. Also, I suspect that the Discovery Channel management would not take on Basso if they were worried that he might guilty of cheating. The US based cycling squad now has another big-time winner for this years Tour and Ivan should be a possible winner for several years to come (Depending on the legal issues he might face and how others such as Floyd Landis fair in their own battles).

Landis puts forth his defense

Floyd Landis and his legal defense team have put forth their case and posted it to Floyd's website for all to see. Also they have requested an open trial as they want to expose the sloppy and botched work of that by the French laboratory and the supposed railroad job by the UCI by convicting Floyd in the press before his case was even under review.

The recent Tour de France champion also just underwent hip replacement surgery and evidently everything went as planned.

Thoughts of the "first" American Winner

I saw the "FEARLESS" episode about Greg LeMond on OLN (soon to change it's name to "VERSUS") last night. He was an amazing cyclist but I came away with a few thoughts. He states that in 1991 he was the strongest he's EVER been going to the tour but the Peloton was "different" as the speeds were amazing and that he blames doping for his losing.

1. He says "training is training and they weren't doing anything different than I had all my life."
- except Greg, maybe they weren't eating Ice cream all winter and came into the season fit...unlike your typical yearly routine.

2. He also says his Mitochondria-whatever disease wouldn't have allowed him to win anyway - Then why blame the doping?

3. Greg says the outrageous speed was the result of doping and therefore by default (since he didn't dope) he was bound to lose
- But the problem with that is that until Dave Z last year, Greg had the FASTEST ever TT average speed in the Tour History. I mean, that was in 1989 and lasted until 2005. That's 16 yrs and shouldn't we be saying that he was doped for posting that speed?

The whole thing just ended with a bad taste in my mouth as Greg leaves with the comments "I could have dominated cycling - But I wasn't given the opportunity". How sad as I think he DID dominate and he made the most of the opportunities he was given.

Landis Wins 2006 Tour

Oddly I didn't blog at all about this years tour and yet there is just so much to write about. Highlights are:

*Floyd Landis declares he will need hip replacement surgery after the tour.
*Levi flops in the TT and winds up 5mins back of Floyd.
*Floyd takes the lead through the Perynees while looking very strong.
*Floyd allows Oscar Pereiro to take the lead after being 30min's on GC.
*Floyd looks super strong up L'Alpe D'Huez and puts more time on Menchov, Evans and Sastre and takes the lead over Oscar.
*Floyd detonates on the climb to La Toussuire and is 8:08 behind Oscar and hiding in 11th place. Floyd doesn't make excuses but says the battle is not over, although winning the tour is most likely not going to happen.
*Floyd writes himself into tour Lore by scorching the field and riding on his own over 5 mountain passes and solo for 130k. Floyd ends up 3rd and 30 secs out of first place.
*Floyd get's 3rd on the final TT and has a lead of 59 sec.
*Floyd wins the tour

I was glad to see Oscar stay in 2nd place. Which means it all worked out for Floyd letting him go up the road and it all went wrong for T-Mobile and CSC for allowing Phonak to dictate the race and for just letting Oscar go up the road. I mean, TMob and CSC could have chased, but we saw in the stage #17 to Morzine that given the role to chase, they don't do so good (but then they were chasing Uber-Floyd).

2006 Tour de France Links

I've been watching the Tour at nights at home (thanks for Tivo) and listening to audio and viewing videos while at work. I thought I'd list out my sources for those of your that might not have found these. Enjoy.

Let's start with a good visual of all things cycling:
Daily Distractions from PEZ Cyclingnews

Audio - LIVE tour coverage from Eurosport
www.eurosport.com

VIDEOS of the Tour and behind the scenes:
Velonews
Cyclingnews diary - Levi Leipheimer
OLN-TV Daily Videos
Eurosport Videos

Cycling sites that give live text updates:
Cyclingnews.com
Eurosport live!
Official site of Le Tour de France 2006
The Daily Peloton TDF site

Look at my cycling sidebar for more good links. A few highlights are:
The Paceline - Discovery teams site
ProCycling Magazine
Graham Watson
Cycling Post
Bici Race - Italian based site with a US bias

Enjoy and I'll be posting on the tour soon.

World Cup is upon us

Boston Herald newsclip - Just for Marc Dunn

Ivan Basso - Half way to the Tour double

Ivan Basso put on a display in winning his first Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) by 9:18 over Jose Gutierrez and 11:59 over two time winner Gilberto Simoni. Basso is now the favorite for the upcoming Tour de France with Lance Armstrong retired and Jan Ullrich dropping out of the Giro (and way back).

The past 2 years has seen only Basso being able to hold Lance's wheel in the Tour and he showed all those in the Giro that they can't hold his wheel. But putting the smack down on those in May, just might come back to haunt Ivan come July. Remember Iban Mayo in the Dauphine a few years ago as he ripped Lance and everyone else apart in the ITT up Mont Ventoux, only to whither in the mountains during Le Tour de France.

It was a bit disappointing seeing Tommy D get sick while in the top 5 and not really ride to his capability and even more disappointing to see Paulo ride so poorly. He was never in contention.

Back from golf

My brother-in-law, myself and two other guys did a golf trip up to Sunriver, Oregon (Bend Oregon area) and we played around 110 holes from Thursday thru Sunday. We hit Running Y Ranch in Klamath Falls both up and back. In Sunriver we played the Woodlands and Meadows courses and also Crosswater, which ripped me good. We all played well and I was in the 80's with a 79 and an 82. The first day at Crosswater I got an 85 or 86, so I was happy with that. The downfall is that I was off my bike for over a week and now I'm so entranced with golf I don't feel like riding. But the saviour in that line of thinking is that I just blew a bunch of money so I won't be golfing much right now. Onto the bike it its! Hmmm, I would really like to buy a new bike or a bunch of new stuff. Probably not.

Back on the bike

Two weeks ago I did a monster ride up through the foothills and the lower climbs of the Sierra's with 3 other guys. It was about 6.5 hrs and unfortunately I only had a 39x23 gear for the climbs. We went up some long steep climbs that I really needed at least a 39x25 for, at minimum. One such climb was called "prospector road" off of Hwy 49, before we got to Georgetown. This climb I did about 4mph the entire way up and my knees about popped whenever I tried to climb sitting down. The good news is that I didn't stop on the climb or on any of the numerous climbs and for the entire ride I didn't bonk either.

I followed up that ride with some good workouts that week and then a nice hard ride last Sunday as well. My intervals are going fine and I'm seeing some big improvements on my stamina, weight loss and power. I still need more time during the day to ride and really get my fitness to a better place. I would ultimately like to do some Masters racing and look to do Masters Nationals. But I still have to golf, so that's a tough one.

Cycling Videos

Cyclingnews.com has two short videos of Paris-Nice and Paris-Roubaix with Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin do the commentary. Enjoy.

Paris-Nice
Paris Roubaix

Colorado Cyclist Classic Stage Race 1995

Here is a pic of me going over the climb at the Garden of the God's circuit race in 1995. The World Championships were in Bogata Columbia that year and none of the big pros wanted to train there. So we had the privelage of racing Indurain, Armstrong, Hamilton and about anyone that was a big time racer in 1995.

Racing from 1996

1996 Colorado Superweek Omnium. Tyler in a break away - on 4th of July!

Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California has been terrific so far and it's been great to see the American riders and Domestic teams doing well. The newly formed Toyota-United Pro team has two stage wins with Jaun Jose Haedo taking them both in impressive sprint finish fashion.

The overall lead has only been contested by Amercans as local bay area resident Levi took the lead for the first two stages, then giving it over the Discovery Channel's George Hincapie. However, Phonak team leader Floyd Landis put the hurt on everyone in the Time Trial and now has a nice lead of 0.29 over another American Dave Zabriskie of CSC. The next several stages don't seem to have enough climbing to change the overall outcome and I fully expect Floyd to take the overall win.

One complaint is to ESPN and it's coverage. The coverage is above average and I will accept that for what it is. Cycling on TV in the USA. However, as the race is shown at 10pm pst I Tivo it to watch the following day. ESPN has been showing college basketball games on ESPN2 prior to the race and you can never know for sure when the games will end. So far I've only seen the finish of 2 stages as the other ones have cut off recording prior to the finish. It's very annoying and I can't wait for cycling on OLN again. OLN knows how to present cycling.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Although V-day isn't the massacre that Capone dished out in 1929, it can have the same effects if not taken seriously enough.

The picture says it all.

Happy Valentine's Day and may you get what you want and need today.

Tyler Hamilton Suspension upheld

Tyler Hamilton's suspension for a positive blood transfusion test result was upheld this weekend. Tyler can return to racing in September of 2006, at which time he'll be 35. This case had so many variables and odd quirks that I have a hard time swallowing the guilty verdict. I understand the need to punish the dopers (although this wasn't a positive drug test, just positive for taking a transfusion of someone elses blood) but when you have strange occurrences and some false positive results it's difficult ruining the career of an athelete that may be innocent.

Another note on the positive test issue in regards to Roberto Heras. You have to question the test itself and ask yourself why would Heras be tested positive on the very last day of the Vuelta and note earlier in the race. Heras was leading Menchov by over 4:30 going into the final time trial and so why would he need to be drugging up for the time trial? Also, if he was doping the entire race, why didn't the test find him positive earlier? It's odd indeed.

JANKE.CC

Cycling Season kicks off

The cycling season has officially started and at two remote places around the globe. The Tour of Qatar and the Tour de Langkawi (Malaysia) and soon the Tour of California. Look for updates soon.

JANKE.CC

Aaaahhh, isn't that cute!

Avery....just over a year old.

Avery is walking now......

Remember her?

According to Snopes.com, this quote isn't a real one. But that sure looks like a really big billboard and will probably stain her reputation.

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.