There is lots and lots to get to this week, from triathlon to track & field to Canadian cycling, but first let's recap what was probably the most media-covered cycling event ever to hit North America, last week's Amgen Tour of California.
Does anyone else think it's ironic that Tyler Hamilton and Ivan Basso were both big names at a tour that is sponsored by the maker of EPO? After all, both of them are connected to using EPO and have served suspensions for it...
As I posted last week, I had a chance to visit Southern California for the three weekend stages. First off, Stage 6 in Solvang, a small town that every year gets selected as the time trial locale for the race. This year it was a 15 mile stage, with a small hill about half-way. With Levi in the Gold jersey, the pre-race discussion was whether he could hold off Michael Rogers (3-time world TT champion) and US Champ Dave Zabriskie, who were both within striking distance of Levi. Levi, heading off last, knew that Gustav Larsson (who won silver in Beijing's TT, one place ahead of Levi) had set the new best time. Levi also probably knew that Zabriskie and Rogers were setting race-best time checks at every interval. Levi hammered home, and even though Zabriskie finished in a new best time, Levi cruised home with an 8-second win, and pretty much secured himself the overall Tour win. 
Other notables on Friday included George Hincapie finishing in 6th place, Christian Vande Velde in 12th, and Lance Armstrong in 14th. This time trial was probably not hard enough or long enough for Lance to really shine. It will be much more interesting to see how he does during the long time trials in the Giro. Until then, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Under the disappointing category, you have to note Tyler Hamilton finishing in 93rd place (out of 106) and Carlos Sastre in 82nd place. The 3 high-profile Canadians performed well, with Svein Tuft in 20th place, Dominique Rollin in 38th place, and Michael Barry in 45th place. I guess 20th place was not great for Tuft, since he did medal at the World Championships last year in the TT, but he did have a super cool bike.
Here's a few more random pictures from Friday's stage, including High Road's crazy-looking time trial bike, some race pics of Svein Tuft and Dominique Rollin, and some others of Sastre and Hushovd.
Saturday's Stage 7 was an 89 mile stage that ended with 5 criterium-style 5-mile loops in and around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. This is a very fan-friendly way of showcasing the riders again and again. This was accentuated when a break-away containing contenders like Frank Schleck, Christian Vande Velde, and George Hincapie entered the circuits with a dangerously high lead on the peloton. So Astana was forced to turn up the heat, which gave fans some great viewing of Lance Armstrong driving the peloton. Eventually, Astana got the breakaway down to a manageable 2-3 minutes, and let the race play out. Unfortunately for the fans, fan fave George Hincapie could not hold on to win the stage. It was actually three lesser names (Rinaldo Nocentini ended up winning) that contested the sprint finish, with Hincapie's group 7 seconds back. Of course, no real change to the GC. Bad news for Canada's Svein Tuft, who crashed during the stage and finished 8 minutes back. Oops.
Sunday's Stage 8 was no pushover, as it contained the biggest peak of the week, the 5123 feet Palomar Mountain. This climb is 12.5 miles in length, and contains a very Alpe d'Huez-like 21 switchbacks. This had the desired effect of breaking up the peloton, and only 31 (out of 84 who still remained in the race) finished with the main peloton. For the second day in a row, Frank Schleck got into a lead breakaway, and was able to outsprint Vincenzo Nibali to take the stage win. The Astana-lead peloton finished 40 seconds back, solidifying the overall win for Leipheimer. Canadians Rollin and Barry both ended up well-back, and Tuft never even started the stage after his crash on Saturday.
Leipheimer was in a class by himself this week, and his near-stage win in Stage 2 and his TT win in Stage 6 proved he was the fastest man in the peloton. And yes, that includes Lance. To be honest, Lance always said that Astana's goal was for Levi to win. Lance even joked that his LIVESTRONG campaign should be re-named LEVISTRONG for the week. Lance played the role as a super-domestique and finished 7th overall. Levi was joined on the podium by Zabriskie and Rogers, and in the winner's circle with Mark Cavendish as Sprint Winner, Robert Gesink as Best Young Rider, and Jason McCartney as King of the Mountains. Congrats to all, especially considering how brutal the weather was in Northern California.
136 riders started, and only 84 finished. That speaks to the weather and the difficulty of the race. And the number of crashes that happened certainly didn't help. Stage winners Fabian Cancellara, Thor Hushovd, and Francisco Mancebo all failed to finish the race, and big names like Oscar Freire, Ivan Basso, and Tom Boonen also did not finish.
As we look ahead to 2010's Tour of California, a number of questions remain. Will the financial support be there to enable such a large-scale race? Will the race remain in February, or move to April or June when weather will be less of an issue? If it moves, will the big name European riders still come over? Will Lance be back? It will be interesting to watch, but everyone who was there will speak to how high-quality the event really was. It is an amazing event for North America, and I sure hope it continues...
One more cycling news...Velonews has a great interview with Cervelo's Dominique Rollin as he prepares for the classics season in Europe. Check it out here...Rollin is going to make more headlines in 2009 and beyond...go Dom!
Okay, after spending way too much time there, let's go quickly through a few other things. Big props to Taylor Phinney, who at age 18 set US National Records in both the 1000 meter time trial and 4000 m individual pursuits in sweeping a World Cup event in Denmark. This kid (whose parents are both Olympic medalists) is the real deal and will be the next big thing in US cycling for the foreseeable future.
Triathlon news: the Ironman schedule starts this week with Ironman Malaysia on Saturday. And there are lots of big names racing, with Belinda Granger looking to repeat her 2008 win. She will actually have some decent competition, as Erika Csomor, Nicole Leder, and others look to knock her off. The men's race has lesser known pros like Petr Vabrousek, Luke McKenzie, and Ironman Canada champ Bryan Rhodes trying to tame what the race organizers call the "Toughest Show on Earth". Thats what trying to compete (and win) in an Ironman when the temperature routinely hits 40 degrees. No wonder this is one of the few Ironman events that never sells out...
The ITU crowd also gets off to a start too this weekend, as Australians compete in the Gold Coast Triathlon. This is not a World Cup event, but is noteworthy since Bikey fave Kirsten Sweetland will compete in her first race since last year's World Championships. Good luck to her, and hopefully a healthy Sweetland can help put Canada back on the map in 2009!
Also in Australia are a pair of track & field events, including the first race of the year for Asafa Powell and a world record attempt in the men's pole vault for Australia's Steve Hooker at a meet in Sydney this weekend. Hooker is attempting to beat Sergei Bubka's 15-year old outdoor pole vault record. Good luck to him...
Ok, next week I will publish a bonus doping-only edition of Bikey. Look for it before Tuesday...have a good weekend...
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