Okay, let’s put the Astana sadness behind us for a few days and get excited about the Tour of California which kicks off on Sunday with a 3.4km prologue leaving from Palo Alto. I can’t wait!I will be writing daily race reports during the entire race for my good friend Cathy over at US Cycling Report. She is going to have the best coverage going by far with daily reports, stunning photos by Celia Cole and on-the-ground interviews with your favorite riders. I’ll be posting the same race reports here each day. Only the US Cycling Report site will have the reports, results, photos and interviews so make sure you check in there each day as well.
We all know that Levi is coming back to defend his title and win again. No doubt the events of this week and the death of his chances of winning the Tour this year will have him even more motivated to make his mark at this race. It’s a no-brainer that he’s my pick for the win.
The heart-breaking news that greeted cycling fans this Valentine’s Day was that Astana will not be invited to participate in the 2008 Tour de France or any other ASO run races this year. Contador will not be able to defend his title as champion. German fans will not be able to see if Andreas Kloden can make it to the podium again and American fans won’t be able to watch Levi Leipheimer or Chris Horner ride in the biggest cycling event of the year.
The powers that be at the ASO made this decision, in large part, because of the past actions of the Astana and while I respect and support their desire to clean up the sport and show that there is a zero-tolerance policy in effect for doping at these races, I do not think that this targeted attack on Astana is even close to being fair.
The 2008 Astana is NOT the 2007 Astana or the 2006 Astana. They have gone to enormous lengths to turn over a new leaf, so much so that, other than the name, they are almost unrecognizable as the former Astana team. The attempts that they’re making to ensure that the past does not repeat itself should be praised and encouraged. But instead the ASO is sticking with the Guilty Until Proven Innocent system of justice that plagues this sport at the top levels and means that race organizers and team management are still not working together to attack the problem.
If you disagree with the ASO’s decision and you want to let them know, here are a few email addresses to get you started. Tell them how you feel. It’s a private organization and they have the power to change any decision they want.
You know how when people are going through a traumatic event in their lives they often turn to a support group that includes individuals who have gone through the same thing themselves in the past and can help them navigate through the pain and stress they’re feeling in a safe and healthy way?
I think that we cycling fans need to set up something that so that we can reach out to all the poor, grief-stricken baseball fans these days. It breaks my heart to watch baseball fans walk around with eyes like saucers, shaking their heads in disbelief at the news of their hero, Roger Clemens and the mounting evidence that points to his use and abuse of steroids and/or human growth hormones during his career.
I feel a bit like someone who has survived and escaped an abusive relationship listening to someone who has just begun to be mistreated at home. I hear them going through the same stages of denial: “There’s no way he would do it,” “He really sounds sincere when he says he didn’t do it,” “I know a guy who knows a guy who went to school with a guy who dated a girl who’s brother worked for his agent and he says that he’s totally clean.” It’s sad.
We cycling fans have been going through this for so long that we’ve forgotten how much it hurt that first time that one of our favorite riders was accused of - or admitted to - doping. Do you remember that first time? Maybe it was the first time you heard someone accuse Lance of doping. Maybe it was Floyd or Jan or Ivan. Maybe it was the entire T-Mobile squad. You didn’t believe it of course. You argued with friends and family and co-workers, defending your hero with great gusto. Then more and more names started being linked to doping, more and more guys started admitting to it outright. Then you changed your tune to something like, “well, maybe the rest of them are doing it, but not my guy.” The evidence continued to pile up and at some point you stop arguing with people when the subject of doping in cycling comes up and you just try to change the subject.
And here we are watching these poor baseball fans just beginning that journey. If any of you baseball folk are reading this, we’re here for you. We know how you feel. You feel hurt and confused. It’s natural. I’m afraid I can’t tell you that it will get better. In fact, it will almost certainly get worse. But you’re not alone. And, in a few years, when that first co-worker says to you, “why do you watch baseball? Aren’t they all on drugs?” we’ll still be here for you.
The Team CSC website is reporting that Danish rider Nicki Sørensen took a nasty tumble while training with his teamates near Malibu, California on Sunday. He was rushed to hospital in Thousand Oaks and, according to the team, he “suffered deep cuts and bruises to his forehead and face and later underwent surgery in hospital.”It does sound though as if he’s going to be okay and the team says they think he’ll be able to return home later this week.
Sørensen is one of those hard-working, loyal-to-the-death kind of domestiques that every team leader dreams of having with him in the peloton. Despite riding pro since 1999 he has only taken one big win in his career - stage 18 of the Vuelta in 2005. However, he has made his mark on the sport in other ways.
On stage 16 of the 2003 Tour, Sørensen was hard at work for team leader Tyler Hamilton. Sørensen got into a breakaway early on in the stage and ended up sacrificing his own chances for a stage win in order to pull Hamilton and thereby allow his leader to conserve strength. He’s ridden the Tour every year for the past seven years for CSC and there’s a reason why Bjarne Riis brings him along every year.
Here’s hoping Nicki feels better soon!
Meanwhile, my boy Matthieu Sprick is still in yellow over in Malaysia at the Tour of Langkawi but he’s holding on with his fingernails now to a one second lead over Mitchell Docker (Drapac-Porsche) who put two seconds into Sprick today. It’s not looking good for Matt, but my guess is that this experience of four days in yellow has put a fire in his belly and I bet we see some exciting things from him in the future.
There’s almost nothing I love more than watching some young rider who has worked hard at his sport get that first big win of his career. That’s why I was thrilled to hear that 26-year old French rider Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Télécom) had won Stage One of the Tour of Langkawi this weekend.The young rider got himself into a 19-man break early on in the stage and with three kms to go he escaped off the front of the pack; a move that none of the other riders saw coming and which left them scrambling to catch up. They were unable to pull him back before the line and he gained a three second lead over them all.
Many of us may not have heard of Sprick before this week, and his Wikipedia entry may be about as detailed as a matchbook cover, but the kid’s got some skills on the bike. He’s been a pro since 2004 when he first joined the Bouygues Télécom team. While he hasn’t taken home any big wins since beginning his career he has ridden in two Tours de France and took third place in the Best Young Rider classification in his very first Tour in 2006 - no small feat.
Sunday at Langkawi was a day for the sprinters and Crédit Agricole’s Jeremy Hunt took the stage win, but Sprick held onto his overall lead and he did it again today holding onto that three second lead and staying in the yellow jersey for a third straight day.
Of course we all love the big boys in the peloton - the rock stars - but the David and Goliath story never gets old and it does my heart good to see a young, little-known rider, put it all on the line and take a win like that. I hope he wins the whole damn thing.
I fell in love with cycling in 1989. I was 14 years old and my dad convinced me to watch part of that summer’s Tour de France with him on TV. He was an avid amateur cyclist at the time and had recently completed back-to-back Centuries as part of the Seattle to Portland ride.
I watched as Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon on the Champs d’Elysee by eight seconds. Fignon collapsed from his bike onto the cobbles, sobbing at the heartbreaking loss. It was the closest Tour de France in history and right there, I was hooked.
Today I’m a freelance writer and a regular contributor to a handful of publications both in print and online including Pedal magazine, Bike Trade Canada magazine, the Daily Peloton.com, and The Paceline (the official site of the former Discovery Channel Team).
I’ve had the opportunity to interview people from all different areas of the cycling world but things really came full circle for me in April of last year when my work as a writer for Pedal magazine took me to a press conference with Greg LeMond in Toronto. I was able to meet and interview the cycling legend one-on-one. I told him about the day I fell in love with cycling and he told me with a grin that it had been a pretty good day for him too.
I’m really excited about joining the Ride-Strong.com team. I hope you enjoy the posts!
If you are a mountain biker and looking for rides to do in your area or while traveling check out SingleTracks.com. It is a great site for mountain bike enthusiasts!
SingleTracks.com mission is to be the most comprehensive information source for mountain bikers around the world.
Okay, let’s put the Astana sadness behind us for a few days and get excited about the Tour of California which kicks off on Sunday with a 3.4km prologue leaving from Palo Alto. I can’t wait!I will be writing daily race reports during the entire race for my good friend Cathy over at 
The heart-breaking news that greeted cycling fans this Valentine’s Day was that Astana will not be invited to participate in the 2008 Tour de France or any other ASO run races this year. Contador will not be able to defend his title as champion. German fans will not be able to see if Andreas Kloden can make it to the podium again and American fans won’t be able to watch Levi Leipheimer or Chris Horner ride in the biggest cycling event of the year.
You know how when people are going through a traumatic event in their lives they often turn to a support group that includes individuals who have gone through the same thing themselves in the past and can help them navigate through the pain and stress they’re feeling in a safe and healthy way?
The Team CSC website is reporting that Danish rider Nicki Sørensen took a nasty tumble while training with his teamates near Malibu, California on Sunday. He was rushed to hospital in Thousand Oaks and, according to the team, he “suffered deep cuts and bruises to his forehead and face and later underwent surgery in hospital.”It does sound though as if he’s going to be okay and the team says they think he’ll be able to return home later this week.
