Most of you probably didn't watch Wednesday morning very early Men's Cycling Time Trial missed a classic. First off, out of nowhere, Canadian Svein Tuft led until the last 10 or so riders. So that was pretty cool. He was even on the podium until Levi Leipheimer came and bumped him off with 5 riders to go. But the real battle was at the front, where the biggest names in the sport all brought their "A" game. Cadel Evans, Sammy Sanchez, Alberto Contador, and Fabian Cancellera were close throughout. Contador took off with a bang, blowing off his exclusion-from-the-TDF with a huge lead at the first time check. But he slowed the rest of the way. Evans was always close (was 5th, 5th, 4th, and 5th at the 4 checkpoints) but couldn't get to the podium. Gustav Erik Larsson (who apparently rides for CSC but didnt make the TDF roster) was actually faster than Cancellara at the third checkpoint, but Fabian managed to be 40 seconds faster over the last 12 km! Ridiculous. And it wasn't the bike (Cervelo P3C) since Larsson also rode one. Rather than giving you a picture of Levi Leipheimer without his helmet on the podium, here are the Canucks! Good job guys. Tuft ended up 7th, and Hesjedal was 16th.
The womens race was the same evening. And in this one, the Canadian rider didn't do quite as well. Alexandra Wrubelski from Regina actually led the women's race for a while too, but only since she was the first rider in the time trial. Hmmm. She ended up 24th overall. The women's race came down to Kirsten Armstrong (who despite having the same name as Lance's ex-wife, is not related to him), Emma Pooley (Great Britain), and Karin Thurig going 1-2-3. Some of you might now Thurig's name since she is a pro cyclist who also races Ironman. She has even won 3 Ironman races in Europe! So a bronze medal at the time trial is a nice addition to her bronze medal from Athens. However, Thurig did edge Bike-Y fave Jeannie Longo, who at age 49 missed the podium by 1 second. She's 49 years old! Ridiculous. She is also already dropping hints that she'd like to go to London in 4 years.
Gear check - the TT was such a waste. No new bikes unveiled - so sad. The most noteworthy events were the time trial helmets worn by Team Spain and the cool cycling overshoes with a huge Nike logo for Team USA. I'm a bit disappointed...
So that is the recap of the TT. Tonight Athletics finally get going, with a bunch of preliminaries tonight and the first two finals tomorrow morning. The men's shot put will be the first final, and Canadian's Dylan Armstrong has an outside chance at a medal. Actually, the Americans might sweep the medals. But here's hoping Armstrong brings his 'A' game tonight! The women's 10,000m is also tonight, with Ethiopia's Dibaba (Ejegayehu and Tirunesh, the two time World Champion) sisters my personal picks. Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher will represent North American (since no Canadian's made the cut). Enjoy the race.
Tomorrow the Beijing Triathlon preview!
1 comment:
We're the Canadians sponsored by Orbea? Looks like both Sven and Alexandra were on them, but Hesjedal was on a Felt (presumably his Garmin-Chipotle ride)... What's the deal all-knowing Trev?
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