August 2, 2009. Calgary. Ironman 70.3 Calgary!
New course...i'm only surprised that the IM people weren't successful taking over an existing event.
Count me in...2009!
www.ironmancalgary.com
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
What is it with all the cheating?
In order not to sully my previous post on this year's good-but-not-epic Tour, I decided to reload and address doping in cycling. Yep, again. Why?
4 riders tested positive or were removed from this year's Tour. At least so far. I read yesterday that it might be a week or so before all the tests are done. Let's hope that nothing more comes down the pipe...
Ahhh yes, the last positive (4th) came Sunday night, where Kazakh rider Dmitriy Fofonov tested positive for a stimulant. So he's now looking for a new job. Sad...cycling is at least becoming non-tolerant of doping. However, on the flip side, the recent dopers on the Saunier-Duval and Barloworld teams have resulted in both of these sponsors pulling their team sponsorships. So that is not good.
Fortunately, the erstwhile Saunier-Duval team has already found a new sponsor. American Beef - a mexican company by the way - has agreed to sponsor the team (which will officially be called Scott-American Beef) for the rest of the year.
However, this doping epidemic is not limited to the Tour de France. On the weekend, Denmark's National MTB champion Peter Riis Andersen tested positive for EPO. Whoops. On the same day, the women's world road race champion Marta Bastianelli (Italy) tested positive for a banned stimulant. Of course, she blamed her pharmacist and his special herbs that she was using for weight loss. Double whoops. On the positive side, that does open up two more hotel rooms in Beijing next month since both cyclists have been punted off their respective Olympic teams.
Moving away from cycling and into track and field...lots has been said about sprinters and their tendency to "ingest" products that make them go faster. US athletes especially (although our very own Ben Johnson will always be at the top of any list - right beside Marion Jones - let's call them the King and Queen of Dopage). Anyhow, the recent successes of Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt have brought sprinters from Jamaica into the limelight. However, despite the high profile of their sprinters over the years, the NY Times did a story last week that highlighted how the nation has never had a sprinter test positive for steroids. Good story. Well, it was until yesterday when an unidentified male sprinter tested positive for something (still unsure) and will not be going to the Olympics. Whoops. So much for a feel-good story.
Last thing...it was also announced yesterday that the IOC will store all the doping tests from Beijing for 8 years. This is an improvement of 400+ weeks over the current 30 days. Wow. So now there is a big deterrent that beating a test in Beijing might still result in further shame down the road. It will be interesting to see what happens there...Jacques Rogge (IOC President) predicted 40 doping violations in Beijing, so we'll see what happens...8-8-08!
Bikey On...
4 riders tested positive or were removed from this year's Tour. At least so far. I read yesterday that it might be a week or so before all the tests are done. Let's hope that nothing more comes down the pipe...
Ahhh yes, the last positive (4th) came Sunday night, where Kazakh rider Dmitriy Fofonov tested positive for a stimulant. So he's now looking for a new job. Sad...cycling is at least becoming non-tolerant of doping. However, on the flip side, the recent dopers on the Saunier-Duval and Barloworld teams have resulted in both of these sponsors pulling their team sponsorships. So that is not good.
Fortunately, the erstwhile Saunier-Duval team has already found a new sponsor. American Beef - a mexican company by the way - has agreed to sponsor the team (which will officially be called Scott-American Beef) for the rest of the year.
However, this doping epidemic is not limited to the Tour de France. On the weekend, Denmark's National MTB champion Peter Riis Andersen tested positive for EPO. Whoops. On the same day, the women's world road race champion Marta Bastianelli (Italy) tested positive for a banned stimulant. Of course, she blamed her pharmacist and his special herbs that she was using for weight loss. Double whoops. On the positive side, that does open up two more hotel rooms in Beijing next month since both cyclists have been punted off their respective Olympic teams.
Moving away from cycling and into track and field...lots has been said about sprinters and their tendency to "ingest" products that make them go faster. US athletes especially (although our very own Ben Johnson will always be at the top of any list - right beside Marion Jones - let's call them the King and Queen of Dopage). Anyhow, the recent successes of Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt have brought sprinters from Jamaica into the limelight. However, despite the high profile of their sprinters over the years, the NY Times did a story last week that highlighted how the nation has never had a sprinter test positive for steroids. Good story. Well, it was until yesterday when an unidentified male sprinter tested positive for something (still unsure) and will not be going to the Olympics. Whoops. So much for a feel-good story.
Last thing...it was also announced yesterday that the IOC will store all the doping tests from Beijing for 8 years. This is an improvement of 400+ weeks over the current 30 days. Wow. So now there is a big deterrent that beating a test in Beijing might still result in further shame down the road. It will be interesting to see what happens there...Jacques Rogge (IOC President) predicted 40 doping violations in Beijing, so we'll see what happens...8-8-08!
Bikey On...
Le Tour Toujours
We are now 48 hours post-Tour and the 2008 edition will be remembered for a new winner - Carlos Sastre, a dominant team (CSC), and perhaps the turning point on the war on drugs in cycling. Ok, we'll get to doping in a bit, but let's illustrate just how genius CSC was this tour.
They had arguably the best climber in Sastre - who finally made a move on the rest of the GC on Alpe D'Huez that race favorite Cadel Evans made the mistake not to cover. Perhaps Evans thought that Sastre would come back to the pack like all the rest of the contenders (Menchov, Vande Velde, Valverde) always did. But with the seemingly undroppable Andy Schleck and his brother Frank riding shotgun, Sastre knew it was his time. The two minutes he gained climbing Alpe D'huez turned out to give him a comfortable lead after Saturday's time trial, and he cruised into Paris with the race in hand. Kudos also to Andy Schleck for winning the white jersey as best rider under 25, despite sacrificing every stage for the team. And to Bjarne Riis who coached the team and gave them a strategy that they worked to perfection. Great to see...
Congrats also to Canada's Ryder Hesjedal, who completed his first Tour in 47th place. Although he was never given a lot of camera time, he placed high enough on every big mountain stage to never lose too much time (save one time i believe)and thus finished 2nd on his team. I'm still not sure what type of rider Hesjedal will be in the future - he's not a sprinter, not a pure climber, probably at best a super-domestique who can time trial pretty well. He did finish 14th overall during Saturday's time trial, so the future looks bright for both Hesjedal and his Garmin-Chipotle team.
Speaking of Hesjedal and his Garmin team, they are taking compression socks to a whole new level. They are using a product called NormaTec PCDs (Pneumatic Compression Device) which are giant inflatable legs that the riders use to aid recovery after racing during the tour. Here's a great pic of Hesjedal using the PCDs and you can read more here...
Is it too early to look forward to 2009? It should mark the return of Alberto Contador (2007 Champion whose Team Astana was not invited this year) and the return of the doped-once-and-admitted-it Ivan Basso (who will be on Team Liquigas). Those two, plus up-and-comers like Andy Schleck, Roman Kreuziger, Bernhard Kohl, and Tadej Valjavec (who all finished in top 13 of this years Tour) make the future look even brighter. Just make sure to stay clean boys...
More to come...
They had arguably the best climber in Sastre - who finally made a move on the rest of the GC on Alpe D'Huez that race favorite Cadel Evans made the mistake not to cover. Perhaps Evans thought that Sastre would come back to the pack like all the rest of the contenders (Menchov, Vande Velde, Valverde) always did. But with the seemingly undroppable Andy Schleck and his brother Frank riding shotgun, Sastre knew it was his time. The two minutes he gained climbing Alpe D'huez turned out to give him a comfortable lead after Saturday's time trial, and he cruised into Paris with the race in hand. Kudos also to Andy Schleck for winning the white jersey as best rider under 25, despite sacrificing every stage for the team. And to Bjarne Riis who coached the team and gave them a strategy that they worked to perfection. Great to see...
Congrats also to Canada's Ryder Hesjedal, who completed his first Tour in 47th place. Although he was never given a lot of camera time, he placed high enough on every big mountain stage to never lose too much time (save one time i believe)and thus finished 2nd on his team. I'm still not sure what type of rider Hesjedal will be in the future - he's not a sprinter, not a pure climber, probably at best a super-domestique who can time trial pretty well. He did finish 14th overall during Saturday's time trial, so the future looks bright for both Hesjedal and his Garmin-Chipotle team.
Speaking of Hesjedal and his Garmin team, they are taking compression socks to a whole new level. They are using a product called NormaTec PCDs (Pneumatic Compression Device) which are giant inflatable legs that the riders use to aid recovery after racing during the tour. Here's a great pic of Hesjedal using the PCDs and you can read more here...
Is it too early to look forward to 2009? It should mark the return of Alberto Contador (2007 Champion whose Team Astana was not invited this year) and the return of the doped-once-and-admitted-it Ivan Basso (who will be on Team Liquigas). Those two, plus up-and-comers like Andy Schleck, Roman Kreuziger, Bernhard Kohl, and Tadej Valjavec (who all finished in top 13 of this years Tour) make the future look even brighter. Just make sure to stay clean boys...
More to come...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Canadian Flagbearer...plus the Tour continues...
Hi All,
I thought that before the Canadian Olympic Committee names it's flagbearer on Wednesday for the opening ceremonies in Beijing, I should at least cover the potential candidates. TSN did a nice job of covering the possibilities and here is their list...with my comments...
The Veterans
* Susan Nattrass - Shooting. 6th Olympics. Her first was 1976. But no Olympic medals.
* Ian Millar - Equestrian. 9th Olympics. Ridiculous. Also no Olympics medals.
The Coming Off Injury Trio
* Alex Despatie - Diving. Coming off injury.
* Karen Cockburn - Trampolining. Coming off injury.
* Kyle Shewfelt - Gymnastics. Also coming off injury.
The Real Medal Contenders
* Marie-Helene Premont - Cycling. Consistent podium finisher in World Cup.
* Simon Whitfield - Triathlon. Same.
* Adam van Koeverden - Kayak. Probably our best chance for a repeat gold medal. Guy never loses in the 500m.
Personally I like the idea of giving the flag to one of the old guard. Nattrass or Millar would probably love it, and both of them have more upper body strength than Premont or Whitfield. Plus I always hear that athletes get tired from carrying the flag and thus underperform in their event. So let's avoid the medal contenders altogether (Despatie and Cockburn are also in that group). We'll see on Wednesday...
The Tour...today's stage in two sentences. Two huge HC climbs, but breakaway group managed to win after thrilling downhill finish. CSC was strong to defend Schleck's Yellow, but Menchov and Vande Velde dropped back. Ok, that's it. Actually Menchov lost only 30 seconds (so he is now 73 seconds back) but Vande Velde got dropped on the last climb and then crashed on the downhill and is now over 3 minutes back. No chance.
Canada's Ryder Hesjedal actually made the early breakaway and finished in 30th place (only 4 minutes back) and has now 56th overall (and second on the Garmin team). He is having a great first TDF and is definitely validating their decision to put him on the team!
One update from yesterday. Oscar Pereiro, who crashed hard and broke his shoulder, said "I thought I was going to die" and "hoped to feel nothing". Wow. He also said he crashed because a cyclist in front of him had a "slight fright". Wow.
I wanted to talk doping, but will put that off until tomorrow...enjoy the tour tomorrow as they tackle a long stage and end with the epic 21 switchbacks of Alpe D'Huez!
I thought that before the Canadian Olympic Committee names it's flagbearer on Wednesday for the opening ceremonies in Beijing, I should at least cover the potential candidates. TSN did a nice job of covering the possibilities and here is their list...with my comments...
The Veterans
* Susan Nattrass - Shooting. 6th Olympics. Her first was 1976. But no Olympic medals.
* Ian Millar - Equestrian. 9th Olympics. Ridiculous. Also no Olympics medals.
The Coming Off Injury Trio
* Alex Despatie - Diving. Coming off injury.
* Karen Cockburn - Trampolining. Coming off injury.
* Kyle Shewfelt - Gymnastics. Also coming off injury.
The Real Medal Contenders
* Marie-Helene Premont - Cycling. Consistent podium finisher in World Cup.
* Simon Whitfield - Triathlon. Same.
* Adam van Koeverden - Kayak. Probably our best chance for a repeat gold medal. Guy never loses in the 500m.
Personally I like the idea of giving the flag to one of the old guard. Nattrass or Millar would probably love it, and both of them have more upper body strength than Premont or Whitfield. Plus I always hear that athletes get tired from carrying the flag and thus underperform in their event. So let's avoid the medal contenders altogether (Despatie and Cockburn are also in that group). We'll see on Wednesday...
The Tour...today's stage in two sentences. Two huge HC climbs, but breakaway group managed to win after thrilling downhill finish. CSC was strong to defend Schleck's Yellow, but Menchov and Vande Velde dropped back. Ok, that's it. Actually Menchov lost only 30 seconds (so he is now 73 seconds back) but Vande Velde got dropped on the last climb and then crashed on the downhill and is now over 3 minutes back. No chance.
Canada's Ryder Hesjedal actually made the early breakaway and finished in 30th place (only 4 minutes back) and has now 56th overall (and second on the Garmin team). He is having a great first TDF and is definitely validating their decision to put him on the team!
One update from yesterday. Oscar Pereiro, who crashed hard and broke his shoulder, said "I thought I was going to die" and "hoped to feel nothing". Wow. He also said he crashed because a cyclist in front of him had a "slight fright". Wow.
I wanted to talk doping, but will put that off until tomorrow...enjoy the tour tomorrow as they tackle a long stage and end with the epic 21 switchbacks of Alpe D'Huez!
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Tour Gets Good...
Hi All,
It's about time! This weekend finally saw the Tour de France really have an epic finish. After repeated attacks by the big names on Sunday's 15th stage, the top of the GC is now tightened up so that the Top 6 are all within 49 seconds. And we have 3 pre-race favorites (Menchov, Evans, and Sastre) that are in that group and need to open some time in the next two mountain stages (Tuesday and Wednesday) before Saturday's final Tour-deciding time trial. So the next two mornings are definitely get-out-of-bed-early mornings to follow the tour as it winds towards Wednesday's finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez.
Sunday's 15th stage was epic for more than seeing the faves struggle at the end. It featured a massive crash that took out 30 riders (including 6 of 8 riders from Garmin-Chipotle). However, they all got up and finished the stage. It also saw 2006 TDF winner Oscar Pereiro crash when he went over a guardrail and fell 20 feet onto a road below (amazing picture is here). He broke his shoulder and will be sitting out the rest of the Tour. But the real story Sunday was just how dominant Team CSC is this year. At the bottom of the final 12 km climb, CSC put 5 riders on the front and blew apart the still-sizable peloton. However, when they had thinned the group down to just 10 riders, they still had 3 riders (Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, and Carlos Sastre). This allowed them to keep the pressure up, eventually resulting in Sastre breaking away from Cadel Evans (who only had a 1-second lead on Frank Schleck) and making up almost a minute by the top, thus putting Sastre back into serious consideration to win. It also allowed Frank Schleck to break away in the last 400m and make up the 1 second he needed to wear Yellow going into tomorrow. This once again illustrates how important team tactics are in a race like this. Cadel Evans ended up alone without teammates for most of the last hill, and I expect to see more of the same tomorrow and Wednesday. Cadel Evans is still only 7 seconds back, and is probably the best time trialer of the group of 6 still in consideration.
Ironman news - this weekend saw Ironman Lake Placid occur for the 10th time. And while the two race winners were relative newcomers (Francisco Pontano and Caitlin Shea-Kenney), I was more surprised to hear that the race sold out Monday morning before spots were available online. So just like Ironman Canada, the only way into Lake Placid appears to be showing up a year in advance! The demand for top quality Ironman races continues to grow. Very interesting. I assume more Ironman-licensed races will come to the US soon…
Speaking of triathlons, the non-drafting New York City Triathlon made the news for the wrong reason. Greg Bennett and Liz Blatchford won the respective races, with Canadians Brent McMahon and Paul Tichelaar finishing in 4th and 5th place. McMahon actually was in 2nd place when he collapsed a few feet from the finish line, but ended up finishing 4th before fainting from heat exhaustion/dehydration. Wow. But the much bigger news was that another swimmer died in this race (the 4th since May in a US triathlon) but it may have been because of jellyfish! Yep, apparently the sludge pit that is the Hudson river had large numbers of jellyfish that stung the racers "repeatedly" during the swim portion, and it has been suggested that an allergic reaction or heart attack might have been the cause of the 32-year old's death. So sad…triathlon is having way too many of these types of events lately...
And for those of you who just read this for Nike commercials, here is a great sneak preview of their Beijing advertising campaign. They are using this commercial globally, so that is why you will see so many non-American athletes featured here.
Tomorrow…we'll recap Tuesday's stage, and talk doping heading into the Olympics…
It's about time! This weekend finally saw the Tour de France really have an epic finish. After repeated attacks by the big names on Sunday's 15th stage, the top of the GC is now tightened up so that the Top 6 are all within 49 seconds. And we have 3 pre-race favorites (Menchov, Evans, and Sastre) that are in that group and need to open some time in the next two mountain stages (Tuesday and Wednesday) before Saturday's final Tour-deciding time trial. So the next two mornings are definitely get-out-of-bed-early mornings to follow the tour as it winds towards Wednesday's finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez.
Sunday's 15th stage was epic for more than seeing the faves struggle at the end. It featured a massive crash that took out 30 riders (including 6 of 8 riders from Garmin-Chipotle). However, they all got up and finished the stage. It also saw 2006 TDF winner Oscar Pereiro crash when he went over a guardrail and fell 20 feet onto a road below (amazing picture is here). He broke his shoulder and will be sitting out the rest of the Tour. But the real story Sunday was just how dominant Team CSC is this year. At the bottom of the final 12 km climb, CSC put 5 riders on the front and blew apart the still-sizable peloton. However, when they had thinned the group down to just 10 riders, they still had 3 riders (Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, and Carlos Sastre). This allowed them to keep the pressure up, eventually resulting in Sastre breaking away from Cadel Evans (who only had a 1-second lead on Frank Schleck) and making up almost a minute by the top, thus putting Sastre back into serious consideration to win. It also allowed Frank Schleck to break away in the last 400m and make up the 1 second he needed to wear Yellow going into tomorrow. This once again illustrates how important team tactics are in a race like this. Cadel Evans ended up alone without teammates for most of the last hill, and I expect to see more of the same tomorrow and Wednesday. Cadel Evans is still only 7 seconds back, and is probably the best time trialer of the group of 6 still in consideration.
Ironman news - this weekend saw Ironman Lake Placid occur for the 10th time. And while the two race winners were relative newcomers (Francisco Pontano and Caitlin Shea-Kenney), I was more surprised to hear that the race sold out Monday morning before spots were available online. So just like Ironman Canada, the only way into Lake Placid appears to be showing up a year in advance! The demand for top quality Ironman races continues to grow. Very interesting. I assume more Ironman-licensed races will come to the US soon…
Speaking of triathlons, the non-drafting New York City Triathlon made the news for the wrong reason. Greg Bennett and Liz Blatchford won the respective races, with Canadians Brent McMahon and Paul Tichelaar finishing in 4th and 5th place. McMahon actually was in 2nd place when he collapsed a few feet from the finish line, but ended up finishing 4th before fainting from heat exhaustion/dehydration. Wow. But the much bigger news was that another swimmer died in this race (the 4th since May in a US triathlon) but it may have been because of jellyfish! Yep, apparently the sludge pit that is the Hudson river had large numbers of jellyfish that stung the racers "repeatedly" during the swim portion, and it has been suggested that an allergic reaction or heart attack might have been the cause of the 32-year old's death. So sad…triathlon is having way too many of these types of events lately...
And for those of you who just read this for Nike commercials, here is a great sneak preview of their Beijing advertising campaign. They are using this commercial globally, so that is why you will see so many non-American athletes featured here.
Tomorrow…we'll recap Tuesday's stage, and talk doping heading into the Olympics…
Friday, July 18, 2008
Vive Le Tour!!
Mucho apologies to any of you who logged in last week only to discover that my vacation prevented a Friday update last week. There are a ton of stories to update, but I'll commit to trying to update a few things over the next week as I will have daily blogs next week as the Tour winds down.
But since I was in Southern France last week watching the Tour de France, i figured that would be a good place to start. The 95th Tour de France is spinning along, and similar to previous years, is noteworthy only for the doping stories. Since 1996, the year that Bjarne Riis "won" the Tour (only to be later stricken from record books when he confessed to taking EPO from 93-98) although the riders who finished 2nd and 3rd that year were alleged/confessed dopers Jan Ullrich and Richard Virenque. So there is no official winner that year. Then came the Lance Armstrong years, with all the allegations and suspensions that came with them. In the past couple of years, the "big" names all seem to get involved in doping scandals, with Top-5 guys like Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Iban Mayo, Alex Vinokourov, and Michael Rasmussen all being banned or dismissed from the Tour. Still, the 2008 Tour promised better testing, and several teams have undertaken their own in-house drug testing.
However, the cyclists don't seem to be getting the message. This year, another one of Lance Armstrong's former lieutenants on the Blue Train of USPS/Discovery Manuel Beltran (now with Liquigas) tested positive for EPO. This was noteworthy because it adds to the list of former Armstrong teammates who have now tested positive. The list also includes Frankie Andreu, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, and Roberto Heras. Then a second Spanish rider tested positive for EPO.
Then on Thursday the biggest name yet when Riccardo "The Cobra" Ricco tested positive for EPO as well. The 24-year old Ricco was one of the biggest stars this year, with 2 mountain stage wins and lots of good quotes about how he dreamed about winning the stage at Alpe D'Huez (next week). His dismissal was followed up by his team, Saunier-Duval, pulling the entire team out of the Tour. Today, the team fired both Ricco AND Stage 10 winner Leonardo Piepoli for "ethical reasons" and the sponsor decided to pull out of future cycling sponsorships. Whoops. So a team that won that won 3 of the first 10 stages of the tour, had both the polka-dot and white jerseys at some point this month is now in shambles...so sad.
That's not to say the Tour is in any more trouble than in the past. Cheating has been an issue since way back in 1904, when the 1903 (1st year) champion was found guilty of hitching a ride on a train during one of the stages. The event has seen the faces come and go, but the grandeur of the peloton and the epic climbs and stages will always overcome the scandals which seem to come every year in July. The people of France come out to support the event, and not just a particular racer or team. Every day brings a new hero or winner, and that will allow this event to prosper for years to come.
By the way, Cadel Evans continues to lead this years Tour by one second over Frank Schleck. American Christian Vande Velde is third (38 seconds)with pre-race faves Denis Menchov (57 seconds) and Carlos Sastre (88 seconds) still in the running. Lots more on the Tour next week...enjoy the Alps this weekend guys!
Another cycling story from France. Last week Jeannie Longo qualified for her 7th Olympics in Cycling. She is a 49-year old 12-time world champion who is still a podium contender in both the time trial and road race disciplines. 7 Olympics takes her back to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Crazy...
Over to the Canucks...this week we found out that Perdita Felicien is officially out for the Olympics. Despite missing the Canadian Olympic Trials, Perdita was given a couple extra weeks to prove her fitness. But the broken bone in her left foot still hasn't recovered. So she is now aiming for the 2009 Worlds and the 2012 Olympics. Too bad for Canada since that eliminates one of our best medal hopes. The womens 110m hurdles still has Angela Whyte and Priscilla Lopes-Schliep as contenders.
The Canadian Track team is almost complete. 29 athletes qualified at Nationals - including medal hopes Tyler Christopher (400m)and Gary Reed (800m). A few other athletes can still qualify if they attain qualifying standards by July 22nd. So hopefully we can increase our numbers by a few...however, the high standards did mean that only one longer-distance runner (Edmonton's Megan Metcalfe in the 5000m) qualified. Edmonton actually is very well represented, with Tyler Christopher, Angela Whyte, Brian Barnett (200m), and Tim Barrett (Race Walking) joining Metcalfe as Olympians calling Edmonton home.
Last Olympic story for today. The Blade Runner, Oscar Pistorius, is officially out for the Olympics. He won his court battle to be allowed to compete, but missed the qualifying standard of 45.55 seconds (400m) by 0.7 seconds. He still hoped to make the South African team in the 4X400m relay, but today they picked the 4 athletes to make up their team, all of whom have faster times than Oscar. So he will go to Beijing for the Paralympics in September, where it is expected he will dominate in the sprint events.
This weekend also includes Ironman Lake Placid, where Desiree Ficker will attempt to get her season back on track. Last weekend included LifeTime Fitness Triathlon, where Simon Whitfield won his biggest race this year (and $60,000!) by outrunning Andy Potts by 3 seconds. He also set a course record which speaks highly of his training going into Beijing. Fellow Canadians Brent McMahon and Paul Tichelaar also picked up pay cheques for finishing 6th and 7th. Emma Snowsill easily won the womens race by 2.5 minutes and also won $60,000.
Ok, see you on Monday...
Friday, July 4, 2008
It's a busy time in europe...
Hi All,
A huge week ahead...lots to preview...
The Tour de France starts this weekend (Saturday) and will feature a pretty wide open field. With the exclusion of Team Astana (Leipheimer, Contador, and Kolden), the Yellow Jersey should come down to Cadel Evans or Alejandro Valverde (at least right now). We probably won't know much until the big mountains next weekend, but it should keep us watching in the meantime just the same...the previews from Velonews.com and Cyclingnews.com are here.
Just in time for the TDF, Team Garmin-Slipstream has a new uniform! And don't worry, they kept the argyle! You can see some pictures here...and remember to watch for Canada's Ryder Hesjedal starting on Saturday.
And of course the ugly part of cycling must make an appearance...just this week, Michael Rasmussen has been suspended for 2 years for missing all those doping tests before last year's Tour (he said he was in Mexico but was really in Mexico with a suspect doctor). However, his team (Rabobank) still owes him €700,000 in contract fees. Wow...cycling pays better than i thought. No wonder they can all afford EPO!
Quite possibly the most competitive Ironman race before Kona will take place this Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. The men's field includes the last 3 men's Kona champs (McCormack, Stadler, and Al-Sultan) along with Cameron Brown and last year'a winner Timo Bracht. The women's race will be interesting to see if Chrissie Wellington can go 4-for-4 in her Ironman career. She is joined by the two women who ran side-by-side last year for most of the run course - Nicole Leder and Andrea Brede. Should be a good race on both sides!
Speaking of Mr Stadler, he is going to be riding a new bike this week. He is no longer going to be riding a Kuota and instead will be riding a Scott Plasma 2. Too bad for Kuota, since Normann basically put them on the map with his 2 wins in Kona. Scott has also added running shoes to their lineup to try and become a total triathlon line.
Moving back to the US, the Olympic Track Trials are ongoing. So far, the marquee event was the men's 800m (click here to watch 2 minutes of the best race footage ever!). Here's a quick recap of the first half of the Trials, with plenty more to come this weekend.
Canada's Olympic Track Trials start today as well in Windsor. Canadian athletes have to attain both the Canadian Olympic standards as well as win (or in some cases finish in Top 4) to go to Beijing. It is entirely too complicated to go into here, but suffice to say, I will post the entire Canadian Team when they figure out who is actually going. The results of the meet are to be posted here.
The US Swimming trials continue to prove that no one is safe in the pool. Despite having held the world record in the 200m breaststroke until 4 weeks ago (broken by a swimmer wearing the Speedo LZR), Brendan Hansen finished 4th at the Olympic Trials and thus will not be heading to Beijing in his best event. As the folks at Tracktown might say, he's just toast!
See you next week!
A huge week ahead...lots to preview...
The Tour de France starts this weekend (Saturday) and will feature a pretty wide open field. With the exclusion of Team Astana (Leipheimer, Contador, and Kolden), the Yellow Jersey should come down to Cadel Evans or Alejandro Valverde (at least right now). We probably won't know much until the big mountains next weekend, but it should keep us watching in the meantime just the same...the previews from Velonews.com and Cyclingnews.com are here.
Just in time for the TDF, Team Garmin-Slipstream has a new uniform! And don't worry, they kept the argyle! You can see some pictures here...and remember to watch for Canada's Ryder Hesjedal starting on Saturday.
And of course the ugly part of cycling must make an appearance...just this week, Michael Rasmussen has been suspended for 2 years for missing all those doping tests before last year's Tour (he said he was in Mexico but was really in Mexico with a suspect doctor). However, his team (Rabobank) still owes him €700,000 in contract fees. Wow...cycling pays better than i thought. No wonder they can all afford EPO!
Quite possibly the most competitive Ironman race before Kona will take place this Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany. The men's field includes the last 3 men's Kona champs (McCormack, Stadler, and Al-Sultan) along with Cameron Brown and last year'a winner Timo Bracht. The women's race will be interesting to see if Chrissie Wellington can go 4-for-4 in her Ironman career. She is joined by the two women who ran side-by-side last year for most of the run course - Nicole Leder and Andrea Brede. Should be a good race on both sides!
Speaking of Mr Stadler, he is going to be riding a new bike this week. He is no longer going to be riding a Kuota and instead will be riding a Scott Plasma 2. Too bad for Kuota, since Normann basically put them on the map with his 2 wins in Kona. Scott has also added running shoes to their lineup to try and become a total triathlon line.
Moving back to the US, the Olympic Track Trials are ongoing. So far, the marquee event was the men's 800m (click here to watch 2 minutes of the best race footage ever!). Here's a quick recap of the first half of the Trials, with plenty more to come this weekend.
Canada's Olympic Track Trials start today as well in Windsor. Canadian athletes have to attain both the Canadian Olympic standards as well as win (or in some cases finish in Top 4) to go to Beijing. It is entirely too complicated to go into here, but suffice to say, I will post the entire Canadian Team when they figure out who is actually going. The results of the meet are to be posted here.
The US Swimming trials continue to prove that no one is safe in the pool. Despite having held the world record in the 200m breaststroke until 4 weeks ago (broken by a swimmer wearing the Speedo LZR), Brendan Hansen finished 4th at the Olympic Trials and thus will not be heading to Beijing in his best event. As the folks at Tracktown might say, he's just toast!
See you next week!
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