Quick recap of a busy last weekend before we get to some new stuff. And lots of videos below...so read on...
Some great news to report on the Bikey front! Ryder Hesjedal got named this week to the Garmin-Slipstream-Chipotle team for the Tour de France! Great news...and he becomes the first Canadian participant in 11 years. A pretty good two weeks for Ryder since he got named to the Olympic team last week...
Ryder Hesjedal used to be a Canadian National Mountain Bike Champion. So while he trained for the Tour, his old teammates were representing at the World Champs. Last weekend the Elite's raced, and yep, another 6th place (Catherine Pendrel) and a 4th place (Marie-Helene Premont) for the women while the men could only manage 16th and 24th. Oh well, Canada had a pretty good week, no podiums, but plenty of top 6 finishes!
There were two big triathlons last weekend in the US (Des Moines and Coeur D'Alene). We'll start in Coeur D'Alene since Canadians kicked ass down there. Tom Evans from Penticton, BC easily won the mens race with his trademark swim and bike to give him a big lead off the bike. But unlike some of his previous races, he didn't need to worry as he ran a wicked fast 2h53m marathon to win by an easy 9 minutes. It was his third career IM victory (IM Canada and IM Lake Placid are the others). Good for Tom!
Another Canuck, Heather Wurtele, who is a first year pro triathlete, surprised the American favorites by blowing away the women's field with an amazing 5h16m bike split. She was so far in front she could have walked the marathon. Her 3h20m run still left her with a 12 minute win! Wurtele is from Victoria, is really tall (6'2") and took her Kona spot. Could she be this year's Chrissie Wellington?
And that wasn't it, as two others Calgary natives finished in 4th place (Scott Curry and Sara Gross). Great day for the Canucks!
Moving over to the Olympic distance guys and girls in Des Moines - the Canadians did not do so well. Despite a typically good finish by Simon Whitfield (5th place), no other Canadians finished in the top 10. Hmmm. Not so good. Pre-race womens favorite Emma Snowsill didn't let me down and won easily by almost 90 seconds over Emma Moffatt and World Champ Helen Tucker. On the men's side, Rasmus Henning from Denmark won this race by outrunning Bevan Docherty, Greg Bennett, Ivan Rana, and Whitfield. The last race Henning won was...way back...to Des Moines last year. So he has won both of the biggest money races for ITU guys. $200,000 and a Hummer last year, $200,00 and a Lexus SUV this year. Not bad for two days work. Oh yeah, Sarah Haskins and Hunter Kemper both finished as top American to qualify for Beijing. Canadians Paul Tichelaar, Lauren Groves, and Kyle Jones all DNFed while Brent Macmahon finished in 12th place.
Speaking of those lovable Danes, they are busy ruffling some antidoping feathers. Danish researchers just did a study where they gave volunteers EPO and then sent them to two IOC anti-doping labs and see if they got caught. One of the labs didn't find one positive test, and the other did but was only consistent if the volunteers were taking higher doses of EPO and not maintenance doses. I dont think the anti-doping folks are happy to hear this with only 40 days until the Olympics!
Dopers might have to start skipping another drug soon. The World Anti-doping Agency is considering banning Viagra since it acts as a blood vessel dilator. This has potential benefits in both speed and endurance events by aiding the delivery of oxygen to muscles. Very interesting. In the past, I thought that athletes only took Viagra at the Olympics so they could party with the coeds at the Olympic village? The link in this paragraph also includes a story that British officials are taking steps to prevent athletes from using "fake penises" during urine samples. That is one job I would not volunteer for.
Speaking of Brits, the ever-famous Paula Radcliffe is rehabbing slowly. It appears she is running on an anti-gravity treadmill, which uses air pressure to lift one's body weight so it makes it easier to run with less impact. However, some coaches claim anti-gravity treadmills don't really mimic real running. I'll keep you posted. Here is what those treadmills look like.
Ok, almost done...the US Olympic Track and Field Trials start this weekend. Pretty tough team to make it seems. In some events, the top 4 Americans could all make the Olympic final, but only top 3 get to compete in individual events in Beijing. The women's 100m could have 12 women that are considered "contenders". Should make for a great competition over the next 10 days. Nike has some very funny commercials that might get you into the mood...
And oh yeah, Sunday is the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain. In honour of what should be a great match, here is a very funny Nike Football commercial on "A Day in the Life" of a Football superstar. It's directed by Guy Ritchie and is pretty clever. And yes, I do spend too much time watching Nike commercials...
Enjoy the weekend! And come back early next week for a special mid-week Bikey!
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