Frustrated Geek - An ocomik.net 2.0 site

From the most people in the states don't really give a crap about cycling department:

The Tour de France has concluded and once again an American sponsored team has placed a rider in the top spot on the podium in Paris, Spaniard Alberto Contador.

For me this years Tour was a real heartbreaker. After what happened last year with Operacion Puerto and then the controversy over TdF champion Floyd Landis' failed drug test, I was really thinking that this years event would bring about a new beginning for the sport of cycling. ...

As I reflect on writing the above paragraph maybe it did show some signs of a new beginning. Not a beginning without the doping scandals but a beginning on how cycling is going to deal with those who get caught cheating. For the first time since 1998, complete teams have been removed from the race. The first was that of Tour favorite Alexandre Vinokourov Astana's team, after it was determined that Vinokourov had allegedly taken part in blood doping. Next was the withdrawal of Cofidis when one it's riders tested positive for an excessive amount of testosterone in his system. Lastly, Rabobank, sacked their team leader and current leader of this years Tour, when it was discovered that he'd been less than honest regarding his whereabouts leading up to the start of the race.

This last move really threw things into turmoil but I feel it also demonstrated that cycling is serious, more so than many other sports, about doing away with doping. And although it's going to place an implied asterisk in the record books, it is a step in the right direction.

On a high note, I did witness some great racing from Alberto's win at Plateau-de-Beille; the epic battle on the slopes of the Col d’Aubisque between Leipheimer, Contador, and Rasmussen, which Rasmussen eventually won; and Levi's dominant time trial performance in stage nineteen, his first ever TdF stage victory. Also it was great to see Americans continue to have success in a sport that was once solely dominated by the Europeans.

Sure it would be easy to get down on the sport and believe that cycling is gasping its last breath but I prefer to cling to the belief that the love cycling fans have for their sport is stronger than anything the riders, the teams, or the organizations can throw at it.

Vive le Tour!

Posted by ocomik at 12:03 PM | Permalink

After last years picks I should probably hang my head in shame, fortunately I can use Operación Puerto as an excuse as to why my prognostication skills were not up to snuff.

In lieu of last years poor performance, I present this years 2007 Tour podium:

• Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana
  
• Carlos Sastre, CSC
  
• Levi Leipheimer, Discovery

I'm once again looking forward to this years race. It seems just as wide open as last year and ripe to deliver some unexpected surprises. Viva le Tour!

Posted by ocomik at 12:58 PM | Permalink

Yep! It's time to throw up some cycling news and commentary, Tour de France style, on the old blog.

Team Discovery has just announced their squad to compete in this years Tour de France. The breakdown:

Alberto Contador | Vladimir Gusev | George Hincapie | Levi Leipheimer | Sergio Paulinho Egoi Martinez |Benjamin Noval| Yaroslav Popovych | Tomas Vaitkus

I don't think there are any real surprises; however, I'm guessing Jani Brajkovic's exclusion is due to a crash he had at the Tour de Suisse. Leipheimer will be the expected leader and I'm thinking he should be on form after a somewhat less than stellar performance at the Dauphiné (yes I know he can't win them all). My expectations for Contador and Gusev are for them to mix things up in the peloton and for Contador to put some hurt on some people in the mountains. Martinez and Noval are experienced domestiques with Hincapie providing veteran experience throughout the three weeks. Vaitkus is an unknown for me and I'm not sold on Popovych or Paulinho being able to make any significant noise.

Also I'm a little disappointed not to see "Chechu" Rubiera on the roster to provide some support in the mountains.

As for my predictions of whom will stand atop the podium in Paris, I'm not quite there yet. The early money is Vinokourov (Team Astana) and Cadel Evens, Denis Menchov, Leipheimer, Alejandro Valverde, Oscar Pereiro will be the ones garnering the most attention.

This years tour looks to be wide open and as such I'm not so sure we won't see a surprise winner come along and claim the top spot in Paris.

Posted by ocomik at 02:00 PM | Permalink

This last week for me has been ripe with tongue in cheek stories, which I just love, on a myriad of different topics. Case in point, this rant posted by VeloNews about cyclist Ivan Basso's confession to having attempted to use performance enhancing methods before the start of the 2006 Tour de France. A confession akin to Clinton's "I didn't inhale." The part I love has been emphasized in blue.

Anyone expecting great things following Ivan Basso's solemn confession that he was the "Birillo" named in Operación Puerto should sit down, take a deep breath and a deeper drink, and recall how he or she felt when told that Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and compassionate conservative George W. Bush weren't for real.

This guy won't even do a proper job of ratting himself out, much less anyone else. ...

"I did admit having attempted to use doping for the (2006) Tour de France, and I am ready to pay the penalty for that," Basso said.

.....Uh huh. Tell me, who's advising these guys on their mea culpas? Teen-age boys? Because they sound without exception like a pimply stoner whose mom found a ditch-weed fatty in his backpack, trying to explain that he was only thinking about using it to get giddily sideways before dinner because he heard someone, somewhere, say that it makes meat loaf taste like filet mignon.

Oh that paragraph just makes me chuckle... [Ed]

Posted by ocomik at 11:53 AM | Permalink

This is my new road rig for the upcoming season - It' an '06 Trek 1500T. I've only taken it out once for a brief spin, Christmas day to be exact, and it got so foggy that I had to turn around after about five miles. I've still got some fine tuning to do but it seemed to handle really nice and I especially liked the way it climbed.

Posted by ocomik at 09:42 PM | Permalink

On the day after what can only be described as one of the greatest cycling feats in modern Tour de France history, I thought I'd link to what some of the other cycling analysts are writing. Enjoy!

Floyd Landis was at rock bottom 24 hours before he finished the 17th stage of the Tour de France. Now, after one of the greatest escapes in modern Tour times, he sits in third place, just 30 seconds of leading the race once more. - Phil Liggett, OLN

Floyd’s ride was epic, in every way. On the final climbing day, a harrowing course profile of five climbs and treacherous technical descents, he was simply unstoppable. He didn’t receive a lick of help from anyone in the field. To a man, they simply sat on his wheel and wilted as he left them behind, spent. - Garrett Lai, MSNBC

The end of the Landis dream.!!!! Did I actually write that yesterday! How good it feels to be wrong. I have just witnessed one of the greatest racing days that I have ever seen. Yes, there was Claudio Chiappucci in 1992 on his way to Sestrieres but that wasn't the day after he had cracked and lost ten minutes. - Paul Sherwen, OLN

The Greatest Ride of All Time - Today we’ve seen the greatest single day ride in the history of the Tour de France. We’ve seen more dominant performances throughout the 3 weeks of the Tour than many times before.

Floyd Landis barely clinging to life at the start of today’s stage, has dragged himself through determination, through will and through true grid, in fact contention, he can win the Tour de France. - Bob Roll, OLN

With a sensational display of brio and guts in the style of seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, the American put himself back in the title hunt with a solo win in the last Alpine stage. - Jamey Keaten, AP

Posted by ocomik at 09:24 AM | Permalink

I've tried to write this entry as a narrative, then using a sense of journalistic style and finally just throwing up my hands and letting the words come.

Basically, this years race has left me pretty flat. Gone are the days when Armstrong would dominate the Tour using his signature low-gear spinning style to climb the toughest mountains in all of France. You never knew exactly at what point the attack would come but eventually Armstrong would lay down the law and when he did there was no doubt about it. His cadence would decimate the peloton, forcing riders to lift their tempo or risk falling further down the standings. In a word, it was smashmouth.

Now contrast it to this years tour, where leaders almost change daily because the times between riders are so close that the slightest undulation in terrain causes a change in the general classification (GC). The one true favorite, Floyd Landis, seems to be more content by winning with finesse, not taking chances and instituting cyclings version of the prevent defense in hopes of taking the yellow jersey into Paris.

But all of that changed yesterday on the stage 16 into La Toussuire. Tour leader Landis had a "bonk" of such proportions that he lost over 8 minutes in the standings and found himself in eleventh place in the GC. By all intents and purposes, Floyd's 2006 Tour was over.

Mark Twain was once quoted; "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." In Floyd's case, the report of his death - at least as it relates to the 2006 Tour - might even be considered an understatement.

One things for sure, Floyd must not have read the press clippings this morning before the start of stage 17. For today, Floyd left his indelible impression on Tour de France history.

With about 150 kilometers of racing to go and all five of the climbs still in front, Landis launched an attack that by most cycling standards would be considered suicide. But Landis was not to be denied and he crossed the finish line at Morzine first, five minutes over his closet rival, and enough to move him back into third on GC.

With the time trial set for Saturday and Landis only 30 seconds behind his two nearest rivals, I think it's safe to say that the game is back on!

Posted by ocomik at 04:08 PM | Permalink

Although, I haven't had a chance to watch the stage on OLN, this thing called work prevents that, I was able to keep apprised of the happenings via the official tour web site. Here's my thoughts:

• I'm thrilled Floyd Landis is wearing the Maillot Jaune. In watching his interviews with OLN's Frankie Andreu, he's been extremely confidant but in a very low key manner during this years Tour. This was quite a contrast compared to George Hincapie's interview this morning, where he'd hardly look into the camera. He seemed like a dispirited prize fighter that knows he's going to taste the canvas before the bell even rings.
  
• I think I knew deep down that it was going to be virtually impossible for Team Discovery to put another one of it's riders on the top of the podium in successive Tours. However after Operacion Puerto ravaged the field, I was thinking anything was possible, hence my pick of Hincapie. Sometimes I just won't let the Vulcan in me win.
  
• If stage 11 demonstrated one thing, it was that we can still get some excitement out of the Tour this year. After the first 10 stages, I was starting to question whether this race was going to turn out to be anything special. In my opinion it was a real snoozefest and the first Pyrenean stage did nothing to diminish my opinion.
  
• One thing that is painfully obvious, Operacion Puerto turned this years Tour on it's head. Many of the teams seem ruderless, unsure of whether to ride tempo, attack, defend, or just abandon. Although, some teams may not have been directly impacted by Operacion Puerto, i.e. riders suspended, indirectly every team has been effected, especially as it relates to the tactics of racing.
  
• Next stage worth watching: Tuesday, July 18th - L'Alpe-D'Huez. I'm taking that day off!
  

Posted by ocomik at 03:24 PM | Permalink

The title says it all but the next couple of days should give everyone a better idea of who are the real contenders for this years race. After last Saturday's time trial, I'm not so sure that many of the Americans, excluding Landis, will fare as well as expected by the time they arrive in Paris.

For those of you who don't know what all of the fuss is about regarding the Tour de France, the mountain stages are a great introduction to the race.

See you at the bottom.

Posted by ocomik at 09:27 PM | Permalink

I've watched the Tour for years, going back to the weekend coverage that the U.S networks provided back in the 1970's, which usually encapsulated the three-week race into a one or two hour time capsule. Although coverage was sparse, I was always intriqued by the ability of the riders to undertake what I perceived as one of the most daunting challenges in sport.

It was only years later that I came to fully grasp the intricacies of the Tour, i.e. the aspect of the race within the race. No longer was it just a multi-stage road race with a sole winner; the man with fastest time to arrive in Paris. It was now about all of the nuances that make up the tour. In layman's terms it is the battles that exist inside the war. And no example better describes this point than what took place yesterday to put George in Yellow.

During a stage of the Tour there are places out on the road where individuals can pick up sprint points. Sprints points are typically awarded (1st 6 pts, 2nd 4 pts, and 3rd 2 pts) to the first three riders to cross the designated line. Along with each of the points comes time bonuses, which match the number of sprint points. If you come in first at a particular sprint location you would get 6 points added to your sprint total and a 6 second time bonus, i.e. time that is shaved off of your overall time. Ultimately, the one with the largest total of accumulated sprint points, the points leader, wears the green jersey during the next stage to denote his dominance of the sprints.

After the prologue on Saturday, George Hincapie and Thor Hushovd, had the same time going into the first stage. Out on the road, the peloton had caught up with all but one rider, who had broken away earlier in the day. With a sprint location looming up ahead, Hincapie broke out of the saddle and accelerated for the line. Fortunately, one of Thor's Credit Agricole teammates was able to catch George's move and beat him to the sprint line but not before the damage was done. With George crossing the sprint point in third place he had moved two points ahead of Thor and would wear the Maillot Jaune, the yellow jersey, for the first time in his career.

Congratulations George and thanks for bringing some excitement to this years race, especially considering the turmoil.

Now I'm off for a ride...

Posted by ocomik at 08:37 AM | Permalink

Man! What a difference twenty-four hours can make. In that short period of time, one of the teams, Astana-Wurth, who were initially asked to stay away from the Tour because of it's role in Operacion Puerto, were allowed to participate, and then three of the top contenders (Ulrich, Basso, and Mancebo) were suspended by their teams because of possible involvement in the same drug scandal.

When I saw this on VeloNews today I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. "No way!" I cried.

I was really looking forward to this years Tour considering that Lance is retired, Ulrich is getting up in age (his last Tour win came in 1997), possibly making this his last opportunity, and Basso has looked amazing all spring, especially considering his domination in the the Giro d'Italia last month. In my opinion, this had all the makings of being one the best races in a longtime.

Fortunately, there are still some great riders left and with the recent suspensions it is going to make for a wide open race. At this point in time, anyone, and I do me anyone, can win this. The only problem that I see is that whoever the victor is, and if folks like Ulrich and Basso are found innocent of the allegations lodged against them, the victory may be viewed as less than that because the best cyclists were not allowed to compete.

But so roll the wheels of international cycling, where you're presumed guilty until you prove your innocence. Viva le Tour

    Pre-scandal TDF Picks: (1) Basso, (2) Ulrich, (3) Landis
    Post-scandal TDF Picks: (1) Hincapie, (2) Valverde, (3) Landis

Posted by ocomik at 01:16 PM | Permalink