Hi All,
I have been planning on discussing some recent results in the triathlon world, but for whatever reason (too engrossed in the Giro? not enough top stars racing against each other?) I keep putting it off. Enough is enough...
The last bunch of races started with Ironman 70.3 Florida. Leanda Cave dominated the women's race, easily winning by several minutes. Two Canadians (Magali Tisseyre in 3rd and Lisa Bentley in 6th) finished near the top of the leaderboard. The men's race was a sprint finish between Dirk Bockel over Luke Bell. As you might have guessed, the pro fields were not real strong.
The next weekend, Ironman 70.3 Austria was held, and the frequent-racer Chris McCormack outsprinted Marino Vanhoenacker by 3 seconds for the win. The women's race was won by Sandra Wallenhorst over Lucie Zelenkova. Erika Csomor only managed to finish 5th...hmmm, that's not too great for the frequent 70.3 winner. I love that Macca has raced about 8 times already this year but we haven't seen anything from Normann Stadler, Faris Al-Sultan, or the rest of the top Europeans.
The Bayliss's (husband and wife) had another good day at Ironman Lanzarote last weekend. Bella easily won the women's race in 9:54, winning by over 21 minutes. She's amazingly consistent in Ironman races, but seems to be more interested in racking up wins rather than peaking for Kona like many of the top ladies. Her husband Stephen finished 5th in the men's race, but could not challenge Bert Jammaer as he repeated as men's winner. Two Ironman veterans who consistently race >5 Ironmans a year, Stephan Vuckovic and Olaf Sabatschus, finished second and third.
So we have had three decent Ironman or 70.3 races the past three weeks, but only 3 of the Top 10 finishers in Kona competed in any of those races (actually, they were all women - Wallenhorst, Bella Comerford-Bayliss, and Erika Csomor). Why don't the guys race more often? It's not the greatest sport to follow since it is pretty easy to go months without racing against other top athletes. Not very Bikey-friendly...
The ITU thought they figured out this by launching the World Championship Series. With well-spaced races around the globe and more prize money than ever before, the ITU thought they could at least get their top athletes to race head-to-head 8 times from May to September. Looked great on paper, but unfortunately, the nicely spaced out schedule does not include enough races to make global travel appealing. So after an event in South Korea that many of the Europeans chose to skip, this weekend's race in Madrid does not include many top athletes from Canada, the US, and Australia. Instead, they are staying home to continue training and will wait for the Series to come to Washington, DC on June 21. So we will be into at least the third race of the year before we see Emma Snowsill racing against Vanessa Fernandes or to see Javier Gomez race against the three men that knocked him off the podium in Beijing. Grrr.
In Madrid this weekend we do get to see the first race of the season for Javier Gomez, but he is coming off a foot injury that he says has impacted his run fitness. Since he wins by hammering the run, it will be interesting to see what happens on Sunday. Olympic Gold Medallist Jan Frodeno is also starting his season in Madrid. He has never won an ITU race, but will have to beat Brad Kahlefeldt, Tim Don, Courtney Atkinson and Canadian Brent McMahon to do it. McMahon didn't have a great race in Korea, but as Canada's only racer in Madrid, I'm hoping he can pull out a Top 5 result in Madrid. The women's race is missing Snowsill, the Canadian girls, and even Vanessa Fernandes is sitting out due to her broken collarbone, so it good be anyone's race. Perhaps Juri Ide will win again? Or Annabel Luxford? Or one of the many British athletes? I can't even guess...
One last triathlon note that I found this weekend is that triathlons may be hazardous to your health. Yep, participating in a triathlon is twice as dangerous as running a marathon, at least according to this recent study. They found that among almost 1 million athletes in triathlons, there were 14 deaths. However, 13 of the 14 were during the swim leg (ummm, that doesn't make us poor swimmers feel any better) but most of them were due to suspected heart rhythm problems that only really showed up during the adrenaline-fueled swim leg. I would like to add that the chances of dying while driving to a triathlon are probably much higher than the risk of dying during one, but if your ticker hasn't been checked lately, it might not be a bad idea for some of the elder triathletes out there.
Okay, the Giro. I won't spend too much time on it this week, instead I will wrap it up on Monday next week after I know who will win the race. This week has featured an amazing head-to-head competition between Denis Menchov (current leader by 29 seconds) and Danilo Diluca (currently second and the overwhelming local fave). I doubt they have been separated by more than a few feet all week long. During the mountain top finishes, they watch each other, counter every move, and look to add or subtract every second they can off their rival. It's been awesome racing. For those of you who haven't been paying attention at www.universalsports.com, please get over there and catch up. They have great commentary, no commercials (amazing!), and video is available either live or on-demand. Versus and OLN Canada should be paying attention. Great work Universal!
The other big story outside of the top few riders is the resurgence of Lance Armstrong. He suffered mightily in the first week, losing 3 minutes on one stage and 2 more on another steep finish. But this week, he has been more like the old Lance, with a few more surges late in stages. He actually attacked and caught up to a group of 6 on Monday that included Carlos Sastre, Danilo Diluca, Stefano Garzelli, Ivan Basso, and Denis Menchov during the last climb, but got called back to help out teammate Levi Leipheimer, who was still in the Top 3 until he faded during that stage. Then he made a late surge during Wednesday's epic climb to the Blockhaus, where he tried to bridge across to eventual stage winner Franco Pellizotti. It's nice to see him back at the front of the peloton. That's not to say he's ready to win the Tour (he's still lost over 5 minutes to Denis Menchov this week and only sits in 12th overall) but he's a lot closer than he appeared in Week 1.
With one more big mountain stage on Friday, and the final time trial on Sunday, I'm sure Lance will try to add his name to the headlines once more. Good luck...
Okay, that might be it for this week...enjoy the last three days of the Giro!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Catching up with the Giro!
Hi All,
If you're not watching the Giro this year, you have missed out on a great bike race. Lots of breakaways full of big names, some epic climbs, and some great sprint finishes. Lucky for you, there are still 8 stages left (in which 5 are mountain stages)! So jump over to universalsports.com and check it out every morning. Here's a bit of a recap, built around a 5 key points...
1. Lance and Team Astana - this race has seen it's global popularity soar this year with Lance's comeback, and despite Lance not being in peak shape, he has made a ton of headlines. With Levi being the team leader and Chris Horner and Lance as his top helpers on the first week of mountain stages, Levi was able to stay with the top leaders and consistently stay in the Top 5 without too much difficulty. Lance did struggle in the first week, losing almost 3 minutes on one stage to drop quickly out of the Top 10. But Lance appears to be gaining fitness and confidence, and he has often lead the peloton up tough stretches, and pulled away on a daring descent with Danilo Diluca earlier this week. He has that snap back in his legs, and now appears to be rounding into shape for a better attempt at a win in France. He is still talking about the desire for a stage win, so we'll see what happens...
The other Astana news concerns their ongoing sponsorship issues. The team did receive some of their money that is owed to them by some of their sponsors, but is facing a May 31st deadline by the UCI. If not, Lance and the boys could be wearing different jerseys in France. They did break out modified Astana jerseys this week where most of their sponsors names wear faded out, as a kind of protest. Anyhow, nothing will impact the last week of the Giro, but it bears watching...
2. The race for the Maglia Rosa - this year, the pink jersey that signifies the race leader has already been shared by 5 guys, including the sprinters Mark Cavendish and Allessandro Petacchi. Later, team leaders such as Thomas Lovkvist, Danilo Diluca, and Denis Menchov have worn it. And with 5 big mountain stages left, there is still a chance that others in the Top 5 such as Levi Leipheimer, Franco Pellizotti, and Carlos Sastre can change the leader board with a great mountain stage or two...
3. Team Columbia-Highroad - All they do is win. After their win in the Team Time Trial that put Mark Cavendish into pink, they kept the pressure on and got Thomas Lovkvist into pink after Stage 4. Although Lovkvist lost it the next day, he still holds the white jersey as best young rider for the past 10 days (the only other rider who was worn white for more than one day during the Giro is Mark Cavendish). Then they got back to winning, with Kanstantin Siutsou winning Stage 8, Cavendish winning both Stage 9 and 11 and teammate Edvald Boassen Hagen winning Stage 7 and coming in second in both Stage 6 and Stage 8. Keep your eye on Boassen Hagen as he's a star and future grand tour contender. High Road is killing the Giro, and despite their two main overall guys (Lovkvist and Michael Rogers) both struggling in yesterday's time trial, they still have the best overall team in the Giro.
4. Americans Crashing Out- First it was Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin) who crashed in Stage 3 and fractured vertebrae, ribs, and pelvis. Then it was Chris Horner from Team Astana who tore a calf muscle and hurt a shoulder in a Stage 10 crash. And with Team Garmin's inability to win a stage or generate a Giro contender, this has not been a great visit to Italy for the American team either. Can Tyler Farrar win a stage in the last week to salvage their race?
5. Yesterday's Time Trial. Everyone knew it was going to be tough, being 60 km long and including multiple tough uphills and downhills. So tough, that most riders skipped the TT bikes and aerobars and competed on their normal road bikes. Very few even bothered with aero helmets. Even TT specialists, like US Champion Dave Zabriskie and World Champion, struggled mightily, finishing 118th! Among the top contenders, only Thomas Lovkvist finished outside the Top 25. The surprise winner (and now the race leader) was Rabobank's Denis Menchov, who beat Levi Leipheimer by 20 seconds to win his second stage of this Giro. Leipheimer, who had won his first 3 time trials this year, looked strong but just came up short. Lance finished 13th (2:26 back), just behind Basso and Sastre. The average speed by Menchov was only 38 km/h, and the general classification didn't really expand as expected. Some thought huge time gaps would occur due to the difficulty, but with 22 riders finishing within 4 minutes of Menchov, that didn't occur. Lots more racing to come!
Moving out of Pro Cycling and into the world of Marathoning, there are a couple of updates...Paula Radcliffe still has her eye on returning from her plethora of injuries to compete in Berlin at the Worlds in August. She claims that if she can't get her fitness back by August she will race a fall marathon (maybe another trip to New York). Meanwhile, one of the few women to beat Paula during a road race, Kara Goucher, confirms that she too will toe the start line in Berlin this August, deciding to not miss a chance to compete at a World Championships.
The "other" Berlin Marathon, held annually in September, will be almost as popular since it will include another WR attempt by Haile Gebrselassie. The last 3 men's World Records (and 6 since 1997) have been set on this very fast course. Geb thinks he has one more sub 2:04 marathon in him, and would solidify his legacy as the fastest long distance runner of all-time with another world record.
Other running news...Usain Bolt is still fast. Even after crashing his car in Jamaica earlier this year and being criticized for his constant partying in London, Bolt is still the Man. He set another World Record, this time in the rarely run 150m event last weekend in Manchester. Actually, Donovan Bailey held the WR (14.99s)in this event until Bolt obliterated it (14.35s). The video is below, and shows Bolt absolutely destroying the field, reaching 100m in 9.90 seconds (remember, this is Bolt's first big race of the year).
Up next for Bolt is his trip to Toronto on June 11 for the Festival of Excellence, which is the name for the opening meet at Toronto's new Varsity Centre track stadium. Bolt, who is reportedly getting $250,000 in appearance fees for this event, will be the main attraction of the one day event, along with the two Canadian hurdlers Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien. Yay, Perdita is back! Anyhow, tickets for the event start at $75 (and go to $250!), so dig deep if you want to see Bolt in action. Chances are pretty good he'll run hard for 60m and cruise to a decisive victory.
Lots more that I didn't get to, including the return of Michael Phelps, the latest uproar over swim suits, and lots of triathlon news (including Ironman Lanzarote this weekend). I'll update everything next Friday...
If you're not watching the Giro this year, you have missed out on a great bike race. Lots of breakaways full of big names, some epic climbs, and some great sprint finishes. Lucky for you, there are still 8 stages left (in which 5 are mountain stages)! So jump over to universalsports.com and check it out every morning. Here's a bit of a recap, built around a 5 key points...
1. Lance and Team Astana - this race has seen it's global popularity soar this year with Lance's comeback, and despite Lance not being in peak shape, he has made a ton of headlines. With Levi being the team leader and Chris Horner and Lance as his top helpers on the first week of mountain stages, Levi was able to stay with the top leaders and consistently stay in the Top 5 without too much difficulty. Lance did struggle in the first week, losing almost 3 minutes on one stage to drop quickly out of the Top 10. But Lance appears to be gaining fitness and confidence, and he has often lead the peloton up tough stretches, and pulled away on a daring descent with Danilo Diluca earlier this week. He has that snap back in his legs, and now appears to be rounding into shape for a better attempt at a win in France. He is still talking about the desire for a stage win, so we'll see what happens...
The other Astana news concerns their ongoing sponsorship issues. The team did receive some of their money that is owed to them by some of their sponsors, but is facing a May 31st deadline by the UCI. If not, Lance and the boys could be wearing different jerseys in France. They did break out modified Astana jerseys this week where most of their sponsors names wear faded out, as a kind of protest. Anyhow, nothing will impact the last week of the Giro, but it bears watching...
2. The race for the Maglia Rosa - this year, the pink jersey that signifies the race leader has already been shared by 5 guys, including the sprinters Mark Cavendish and Allessandro Petacchi. Later, team leaders such as Thomas Lovkvist, Danilo Diluca, and Denis Menchov have worn it. And with 5 big mountain stages left, there is still a chance that others in the Top 5 such as Levi Leipheimer, Franco Pellizotti, and Carlos Sastre can change the leader board with a great mountain stage or two...
3. Team Columbia-Highroad - All they do is win. After their win in the Team Time Trial that put Mark Cavendish into pink, they kept the pressure on and got Thomas Lovkvist into pink after Stage 4. Although Lovkvist lost it the next day, he still holds the white jersey as best young rider for the past 10 days (the only other rider who was worn white for more than one day during the Giro is Mark Cavendish). Then they got back to winning, with Kanstantin Siutsou winning Stage 8, Cavendish winning both Stage 9 and 11 and teammate Edvald Boassen Hagen winning Stage 7 and coming in second in both Stage 6 and Stage 8. Keep your eye on Boassen Hagen as he's a star and future grand tour contender. High Road is killing the Giro, and despite their two main overall guys (Lovkvist and Michael Rogers) both struggling in yesterday's time trial, they still have the best overall team in the Giro.
4. Americans Crashing Out- First it was Christian Vande Velde (Team Garmin) who crashed in Stage 3 and fractured vertebrae, ribs, and pelvis. Then it was Chris Horner from Team Astana who tore a calf muscle and hurt a shoulder in a Stage 10 crash. And with Team Garmin's inability to win a stage or generate a Giro contender, this has not been a great visit to Italy for the American team either. Can Tyler Farrar win a stage in the last week to salvage their race?
5. Yesterday's Time Trial. Everyone knew it was going to be tough, being 60 km long and including multiple tough uphills and downhills. So tough, that most riders skipped the TT bikes and aerobars and competed on their normal road bikes. Very few even bothered with aero helmets. Even TT specialists, like US Champion Dave Zabriskie and World Champion, struggled mightily, finishing 118th! Among the top contenders, only Thomas Lovkvist finished outside the Top 25. The surprise winner (and now the race leader) was Rabobank's Denis Menchov, who beat Levi Leipheimer by 20 seconds to win his second stage of this Giro. Leipheimer, who had won his first 3 time trials this year, looked strong but just came up short. Lance finished 13th (2:26 back), just behind Basso and Sastre. The average speed by Menchov was only 38 km/h, and the general classification didn't really expand as expected. Some thought huge time gaps would occur due to the difficulty, but with 22 riders finishing within 4 minutes of Menchov, that didn't occur. Lots more racing to come!
Moving out of Pro Cycling and into the world of Marathoning, there are a couple of updates...Paula Radcliffe still has her eye on returning from her plethora of injuries to compete in Berlin at the Worlds in August. She claims that if she can't get her fitness back by August she will race a fall marathon (maybe another trip to New York). Meanwhile, one of the few women to beat Paula during a road race, Kara Goucher, confirms that she too will toe the start line in Berlin this August, deciding to not miss a chance to compete at a World Championships.
The "other" Berlin Marathon, held annually in September, will be almost as popular since it will include another WR attempt by Haile Gebrselassie. The last 3 men's World Records (and 6 since 1997) have been set on this very fast course. Geb thinks he has one more sub 2:04 marathon in him, and would solidify his legacy as the fastest long distance runner of all-time with another world record.
Other running news...Usain Bolt is still fast. Even after crashing his car in Jamaica earlier this year and being criticized for his constant partying in London, Bolt is still the Man. He set another World Record, this time in the rarely run 150m event last weekend in Manchester. Actually, Donovan Bailey held the WR (14.99s)in this event until Bolt obliterated it (14.35s). The video is below, and shows Bolt absolutely destroying the field, reaching 100m in 9.90 seconds (remember, this is Bolt's first big race of the year).
Up next for Bolt is his trip to Toronto on June 11 for the Festival of Excellence, which is the name for the opening meet at Toronto's new Varsity Centre track stadium. Bolt, who is reportedly getting $250,000 in appearance fees for this event, will be the main attraction of the one day event, along with the two Canadian hurdlers Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien. Yay, Perdita is back! Anyhow, tickets for the event start at $75 (and go to $250!), so dig deep if you want to see Bolt in action. Chances are pretty good he'll run hard for 60m and cruise to a decisive victory.
Lots more that I didn't get to, including the return of Michael Phelps, the latest uproar over swim suits, and lots of triathlon news (including Ironman Lanzarote this weekend). I'll update everything next Friday...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The long awaited Dopey Wednesday!
Hi All,
With so many dumb athletes cheating and getting caught for doping violations, it appears to be time for a new edition of Dopey Monday. The odd thing is although the 7 athletes that I'll cover in this edition are all superstars in their respective sports, there has been very little media attention around their violations. Perhaps it has to due with the fact that none of them are Canadians or Americans...
The Cyclists
Not surprisingly, 6 of the 7 doping headliners are cyclists. And how sad is it that no one really gets surprised anymore? Anyhow, let's look at some of some of the accomplishments of some of these athletes.
* Overall winner, Paris-Nice
* Overall winner, Tirreno-Adriatico
* Bronze Medal, 2000 Olympics Road Race
* 2-time 2nd place overall, Tour de France
* German National Road Race Champion
* Spanish National Road Race Champion
* Twice second and once third in World Championship Road Race
* Twice UCI ProTour Champion
* Twice Winner, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
* Second place (and third place), Vuelta d'Espana
* Winner, Fleche Wallone
* Overall Winner, Dauphine Libere
* 3 stage wins, Tour de France
Ok, I tricked you, those are only the notable accomplishments of 2 cyclists; Alejandro Valverde and Andreas Kloden. The list would be simply unreadable if we included the accomplishments of the other 4.
Anyhow, let's begin with Kloden. Like many of the cyclists who have been embroiled in doping controversies, his problems stem from years ago. Way back in 2006, after the first stage of the Tour de France, it is alleged that Kloden and two of his T-mobile teammates (Matthias Kessler and Patrik Sinkewitz) went to a doping clinic at Freiburg University where they received blood transfusions. With three teammates involved (allegedly), it does raise the question whether all the T-mobile riders were involved in some team-wide doping (other team members include Jan Ullrich...oops). Anyhow, this report just broke at the end of April, and since then, Team Astana decided to not have Kloden start in the Giro this week. It is unclear what his status is currently, but it appears he could be in for the ole 2-year ban!
Okay, Tom Boonen is a not really a doper, just more of a general dope. For the second time in less than a year, Boonen has failed an out-of-competition drug test for cocaine. Whoops. The first time he avoided a lengthy UCI or WADA suspension (since it was not competition-related) but his team punished him by not letting him compete in the 2008 Tour de France. Last year, he claimed that someone spiked his drink at a cafe. This year, he claims he doesn't remember but may have taken something when he was out drinking on a night that he ultimately blacked out. Life was good for Tom Boonen! Unfortunately for him, this time he will not get off with a severe warning. Just today, the UCI has announced that Boonen will be suspended "for one to six months for unacceptable behavior that could harm the reputation of cycling or UCI". Ha. Methinks the UCI has bigger problems than him. The Tour de France also announced today that Boonen will not be welcome in 2009...
A new name to the Dopey ranks is Austrian Christian Pfannberger. A rider on Team Katusha, he was supposed to start the Giro when news broke last Friday that he failed a doping test for EPO in March. He is obviously suspended indefinitely while they wait for the B sample result. Pfannberger has already served one 2-year ban for a EPO positive test back in 2004, which means this positive could result in a lifetime ban. Of course, he denies any wrongdoing. Righhht.Another one bites the dust...
Alejandro Valverde has seen his name surrounded by doping allegations all the way back to the first days of Operation Puerto. Just this week, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that they will not allow the Spaniard Valverde to race on Italian soil for 2 years. This goes back to a test that was taken during last year's Tour de France when the Tour came into Italy for a brief stop. Apparently, Valverde's blood sample matched a suspicious Italian sample, blah blah blah...I'm getting very tired of the politicking of these two cycling organizations. Anyhow, right now Valverde can't legally race in Italy (which includes this summer Tour which once again comes into Italy). However, Valverde might have some legal recourse (appeals, etc) which has already started as he has sued the Italian head anti-doping prosecutor. Sigh...I'll let you know if he Valverde is going to race the Tour the day before it begins...until then, who knows? In case you wondered, Valverde also wore the Yellow Jersey in the 2008 Tour.
Next up on the hit list is Stefan Schumacher. Yep, he has also been a very consistent contributor to the Dopey posts, but this one takes the cake. Schumacher first tested positive for EPO during the 2008 Tour de France (where he won two time trials and wore the yellow jersey for a few days) but the test results didn't come in until October. He then started a lawsuit against the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) in December that claimed "blood contamination and other mixups could have distorted the results". Really Stefan? He also filed an appeal with the Court for Arbitration in Sport in April 2009, claiming that he has never doped. Well, now the IOC has announced that Schumacher failed a test during the Beijing Olympics by testing positive to CERA. Oops. Can't blame this one on the AFLD. Anyhow, regardless of what happens with this last report, the German Cycling Federation is ready to throw the book at the 27-year-old Schumacher, even going as far as to say "his career is over". Awesome news!
When the IOC announced that Schumacher had failed the re-test for CERA, his name was not alone. Davide Rebellin, who awed us all this spring with his triumphant climb at the end of Fleche Wallone, might have done so with some extra juice in his veins. The IOC announced the positive results and then allowed the athlete to have their B-sample tested. Not surprisingly, Rebellin "denies every accusation". That is not exactly unexpected. What makes this a big deal is that Rebellin was the Silver Medalist in the Beijing Road Race! Yep, take away his medal and Fabian Cancellara moves up to the Silver, with Russian Alexandr Kolobnev now getting the bronze medal. (Canadian Michael Barry would now be 8th overall!) Interestingly, Kolobnev just got the 4th spot (now 3rd) in a close finish with Andy Schleck. Schleck is also directly involved since Rebellin beat him at this years Fleche Wallone, and if Rebellin gets suspended as expected, Schleck will have two huge wins in late April to his credit (he also won Liege-Bastogne-Liege). Too bad he only got to celebrate one of them...
The non-Cyclist
Back to that good old IOC re-testing of Beijing samples...they found a cheater in the most unlikely of places. The freaking Gold Medalist in the men's 1500m race, Rashid Ramzi, also tested positive for CERA. Ramzi, who was born in Morocco but raced for Bahrain, was the country's only medalist in Beijing. Ramzi had previously been criticized for not racing very often outside major championships (which some say raised suspicions). Again, we have to wait for the B sample to come back, but if it is positive, Kenya wins another gold medal (Asbel Kiprop) while Mehdi Baala from France would get the bronze and Nick Willis would be upgraded to the silver.
Okay, as i press the "publish post" button i'm not aware of any new doping positives...I'll keep looking though!
Talk to you on Friday!
With so many dumb athletes cheating and getting caught for doping violations, it appears to be time for a new edition of Dopey Monday. The odd thing is although the 7 athletes that I'll cover in this edition are all superstars in their respective sports, there has been very little media attention around their violations. Perhaps it has to due with the fact that none of them are Canadians or Americans...
The Cyclists
Not surprisingly, 6 of the 7 doping headliners are cyclists. And how sad is it that no one really gets surprised anymore? Anyhow, let's look at some of some of the accomplishments of some of these athletes.
* Overall winner, Paris-Nice
* Overall winner, Tirreno-Adriatico
* Bronze Medal, 2000 Olympics Road Race
* 2-time 2nd place overall, Tour de France
* German National Road Race Champion
* Spanish National Road Race Champion
* Twice second and once third in World Championship Road Race
* Twice UCI ProTour Champion
* Twice Winner, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
* Second place (and third place), Vuelta d'Espana
* Winner, Fleche Wallone
* Overall Winner, Dauphine Libere
* 3 stage wins, Tour de France
Ok, I tricked you, those are only the notable accomplishments of 2 cyclists; Alejandro Valverde and Andreas Kloden. The list would be simply unreadable if we included the accomplishments of the other 4.
Anyhow, let's begin with Kloden. Like many of the cyclists who have been embroiled in doping controversies, his problems stem from years ago. Way back in 2006, after the first stage of the Tour de France, it is alleged that Kloden and two of his T-mobile teammates (Matthias Kessler and Patrik Sinkewitz) went to a doping clinic at Freiburg University where they received blood transfusions. With three teammates involved (allegedly), it does raise the question whether all the T-mobile riders were involved in some team-wide doping (other team members include Jan Ullrich...oops). Anyhow, this report just broke at the end of April, and since then, Team Astana decided to not have Kloden start in the Giro this week. It is unclear what his status is currently, but it appears he could be in for the ole 2-year ban!
Okay, Tom Boonen is a not really a doper, just more of a general dope. For the second time in less than a year, Boonen has failed an out-of-competition drug test for cocaine. Whoops. The first time he avoided a lengthy UCI or WADA suspension (since it was not competition-related) but his team punished him by not letting him compete in the 2008 Tour de France. Last year, he claimed that someone spiked his drink at a cafe. This year, he claims he doesn't remember but may have taken something when he was out drinking on a night that he ultimately blacked out. Life was good for Tom Boonen! Unfortunately for him, this time he will not get off with a severe warning. Just today, the UCI has announced that Boonen will be suspended "for one to six months for unacceptable behavior that could harm the reputation of cycling or UCI". Ha. Methinks the UCI has bigger problems than him. The Tour de France also announced today that Boonen will not be welcome in 2009...
A new name to the Dopey ranks is Austrian Christian Pfannberger. A rider on Team Katusha, he was supposed to start the Giro when news broke last Friday that he failed a doping test for EPO in March. He is obviously suspended indefinitely while they wait for the B sample result. Pfannberger has already served one 2-year ban for a EPO positive test back in 2004, which means this positive could result in a lifetime ban. Of course, he denies any wrongdoing. Righhht.Another one bites the dust...
Alejandro Valverde has seen his name surrounded by doping allegations all the way back to the first days of Operation Puerto. Just this week, the Italian Olympic Committee announced that they will not allow the Spaniard Valverde to race on Italian soil for 2 years. This goes back to a test that was taken during last year's Tour de France when the Tour came into Italy for a brief stop. Apparently, Valverde's blood sample matched a suspicious Italian sample, blah blah blah...I'm getting very tired of the politicking of these two cycling organizations. Anyhow, right now Valverde can't legally race in Italy (which includes this summer Tour which once again comes into Italy). However, Valverde might have some legal recourse (appeals, etc) which has already started as he has sued the Italian head anti-doping prosecutor. Sigh...I'll let you know if he Valverde is going to race the Tour the day before it begins...until then, who knows? In case you wondered, Valverde also wore the Yellow Jersey in the 2008 Tour.
Next up on the hit list is Stefan Schumacher. Yep, he has also been a very consistent contributor to the Dopey posts, but this one takes the cake. Schumacher first tested positive for EPO during the 2008 Tour de France (where he won two time trials and wore the yellow jersey for a few days) but the test results didn't come in until October. He then started a lawsuit against the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) in December that claimed "blood contamination and other mixups could have distorted the results". Really Stefan? He also filed an appeal with the Court for Arbitration in Sport in April 2009, claiming that he has never doped. Well, now the IOC has announced that Schumacher failed a test during the Beijing Olympics by testing positive to CERA. Oops. Can't blame this one on the AFLD. Anyhow, regardless of what happens with this last report, the German Cycling Federation is ready to throw the book at the 27-year-old Schumacher, even going as far as to say "his career is over". Awesome news!
When the IOC announced that Schumacher had failed the re-test for CERA, his name was not alone. Davide Rebellin, who awed us all this spring with his triumphant climb at the end of Fleche Wallone, might have done so with some extra juice in his veins. The IOC announced the positive results and then allowed the athlete to have their B-sample tested. Not surprisingly, Rebellin "denies every accusation". That is not exactly unexpected. What makes this a big deal is that Rebellin was the Silver Medalist in the Beijing Road Race! Yep, take away his medal and Fabian Cancellara moves up to the Silver, with Russian Alexandr Kolobnev now getting the bronze medal. (Canadian Michael Barry would now be 8th overall!) Interestingly, Kolobnev just got the 4th spot (now 3rd) in a close finish with Andy Schleck. Schleck is also directly involved since Rebellin beat him at this years Fleche Wallone, and if Rebellin gets suspended as expected, Schleck will have two huge wins in late April to his credit (he also won Liege-Bastogne-Liege). Too bad he only got to celebrate one of them...
The non-Cyclist
Back to that good old IOC re-testing of Beijing samples...they found a cheater in the most unlikely of places. The freaking Gold Medalist in the men's 1500m race, Rashid Ramzi, also tested positive for CERA. Ramzi, who was born in Morocco but raced for Bahrain, was the country's only medalist in Beijing. Ramzi had previously been criticized for not racing very often outside major championships (which some say raised suspicions). Again, we have to wait for the B sample to come back, but if it is positive, Kenya wins another gold medal (Asbel Kiprop) while Mehdi Baala from France would get the bronze and Nick Willis would be upgraded to the silver.
Okay, as i press the "publish post" button i'm not aware of any new doping positives...I'll keep looking though!
Talk to you on Friday!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Canucks = Maglia Rosa!
Hi All,
I watched the team time trial on Saturday morning that kicked the 100th Edition of the Giro d'Italia, and once it was half over, I thought, of course Team Columbia HighRoad could win this stage. After all, between Mark Cavendish (8 wins already in 2009 including Milan-San Remo)and the rest of the teammates (including the Norwegian Hagen who surprisingly won Gent Wevelgem), this team seems to win at will. After dodging the final Astana bullet, the race lead belonged to the 9 members of Columbia, including our own Michael Barry. Sweet! For the second year in a row, a Canadian has helped a teammate win the first maglia rosa (pink leader's jersey) of the Giro. You might remember that last year Team Garmin won the Team Time Trial with Ryder Hesjedal as one of the 9. This year, Hesjedal was passed over, and despite being the fave, they came up 6 seconds short. Astana finished 3rd, only 13 seconds back.
What makes this more amazing is that Mark Cavendish, who crossed the line first and now is the official leader of the Giro, got into it with Team Garmin before the Giro started. He took a couple of shots at Garmin's fixation on winning the time trial, criticizing them repeatedly and calling them "disrespectful" for only concentrating on one of the 21 stages of the Giro.
Anyhow, despite a very nice effort today, Cavendish got beaten at the line by Alessandro Petacchi, who once held Cavendish's current belt as the best sprinter in the peloton. Today's Stage 2 was actually fairly boring as anticipated, with a lone getaway being the only effort of note until a late crash cost a few of the top contenders (including Leipheimer and Basso) 13 seconds at the end of the race. It's not a lot, but could make a difference down the road. It's also interesting (and fortunate) that Lance missed the crash, and now ends up in 10th overall, with the only other real contender ahead of him being Christian Vande Velde. Could Lance end up in pink this week? It's possible, since Tuesday's and Wednesday have uphill finishes that should get rid of the non-climbers. I still think Lance is a to win the Giro, but a solid start doesn't hurt.
Okay, tomorrow's Stage 2 should be fairly routine(I'll predict Cav will keep the pink jersey), and I'll try to be back with a report after Tuesday or Wednesday. Look for a Dopey Monday to be published late tomorrow night...
Friday, May 8, 2009
Vive le Giro...and cheering for Canadians!
Hi All,
Crazy week behind us, and crazy weeks ahead, but the majority of this week’s post will be about the gigantic Giro d’Italia, which begins on Saturday. So if you don’t care about Pro Cycling, scroll to the bottom where I’ll recap a whole bunch of triathlons, make another promise about a Dopey Monday to come, and maybe show a fun video or two…
Ok, the Giro. The second biggest cycling race in the world starts this weekend with an epic Team Time Trial in Venice. How cool is that? More on that in a bit, but there are lots of stories about this race, including Lance’s first Grand Tour in 4 years. Lance is indeed back, and after pacing his buddy Levi Leipheimer to the overall win at the Tour of the Gila (a minor pro cycling event in New Mexico) where Lance, Levi, and Chris Horner competed as Team Mellow Johnny’s. Lance finished second overall (after finishing second behind Levi in the time trial) and showed decent fitness in his first race in a month. His comeback (from both retirement and his broken collarbone) continues in Italy, where he will probably not challenge for the race lead, but he has stated that he wants to win one stage. Lance is so far 0-for-2009 and probably wants to break the goose egg before Le Tour.
So if Lance is not going to win the Giro, who will? I think most cycling pundits would agree that the two main contenders will be Astana’s Levi Leipheimer and Liquigas’s Ivan Basso. Basso has NEVER won his home country’s race, and is out to make his claim as one of the very best stage riders in the world. Basso vs. Leipheimer will come down to Levi’s time trialing advantages to Basso’s excellent finishing kick at the end of mountain stages. But add in Levi’s uber-domestique Lance Armstrong to help him in the mountains, and I think Levi might have enough to pull it out and be the first American winner since Andy Hampsten in 1988. For those of you who want to read about an epic stage win, you can read about the unbelievable decisive stage in the 1988 Giro, where Hampsten rode away from the peloton through a blizzard here!
There is a pretty deep field in place this year. Besides Lance, Levi, and Basso, big-time cyclists like Damiano Cunego, Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov, and Gilbero Simoni are all competing. For Cunego (the 2004 winner), this is the biggest race on his calendar, and he would love to upstage the Americans and his compatriot Basso. Sastre is using the race to get into race shape to defend his title in the Tour, so probably won’t be a top contender. You can get an official start list here...
So my predictions for 2009: Leipheimer, Cunego, and Basso, with Lance ending up in 4th. Anybody else want to make a guess? Please be aware that my predictions are never right...
One more pro cycling note. This could actually be the last time that Team Astana starts a race. Why? Because they’re broke. Yep, those crazy Kazakhs that own Team Astana have been having some money issues, and the riders have not been paid for some time (this isn’t an issue for Lance, since he’s riding for zero salary). But the UCI is paying close attention, and could be close to pulling the team’s license. If this happens, the team might compete under a new banner in France, and Lance has even recently mentioned the possibility of starting his own team. I doubt that the Kazakhstan government will allow the team to outright fold (the cycling team is a national treasure, despite the doping issues related to Vinokourov and ….) but I’ll be paying attention.
Speaking of my favorite ex-Astana racer Vinokourov, he is coming back this year! His suspension from 2007 ends in mid-July, and he is planning on gunning for the 2009 World Championships, where a victory there would let him wear the rainbow jersey for the entire 2010 season. His other goals include winning the King of The Mountains competition in the 2010 Tour. Somebody will probably take a chance on the ultra-agressive Vinokourov later this year, and I'm hoping he can come back, stay clean, and win a couple of races in his typical swashbuckling fashion.
For the second year in a row, Team Garmin is aiming to win the opening TTT of the Giro and get the maglia rosa for one of their cyclists. Last year, the team put Christian Vande Velde into the leader’s jersey, and kept him there for (a couple of days). This week they picked their team for 2009, and ridiculously did not pick a Canadian to rally all 500 pro cycling fans in Canada. Ok, earlier this year, it was widely assumed that both Ryder Hesjedal and Svein Tuft would be part of the Argyle Armada (love that nickname) in the Giro. Both riders were sent to Italy early in the season to prepare (remember Hesjedal skipped the Tour of California for this reason). Hesjedal had a pretty amazing 2008, with his participation in both the Giro and the Tour, and seemed set up to improve on both performances in 2009. Tuft, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Worlds after his amazing performance in the Olympics (finished 7th), seemed to be a perfect addition for the Garmin time trial squad. Apparently, the news came as a shock to Hesjedal, since in an interview from 2 days before the team was announced, he mentions how “excited he is to be a part of the Giro blah bl;ah blah”. I have no idea what happened with Tuft, except that I haven’t been overly impressed with his 2009 results. Apparently Jonathan Vaughters and Team Garmin are not either. Some good news though – Hesjedal is apparently going to be the right-hand man for Christian Vande Velde at the Tour. So Hesjedal is skipping Italy in order to be well-rested for a trip around France in July. But Vande Velde is not. I’m confused. Team Garmin is still my fave team (cmon, they have 3 Canadians on their roster!) but they are starting to stretch my loyalty.
Oh yeah, that reminds me. The Team Garmin website actually sells beautiful autographed posters of the 3 Canadians on the team (Hesjedal, Tuft, and our Road Race National Champ Christian Meier). You can check out the posters here, but I’m not buying until they start adding some more Canadian to their Grand Tour rosters.
Canada will have a presense in Italy. Michael Barry from Columbia-Highroad will be competing, and his job will be as an experienced domestique and do-it-all as he tried to keep teammates Michael Rogers, Thomas Lokvist, and Kanstantin Siutsou in the Top 10 and help Mark Cavendish win some sprint finishes. The other big Canadian, Dominique Rollin, will not be in Italy because of his extensive racing schedule this spring. I have no idea if they have any plans for Rollin in France, but because of his great work in setting up Heinrich Haussler and Thor Hushovd for big wins, I think he has a decent shot. Here’s hoping! Good luck to Michael Barry as he represents the Maple Leaf Nation in Italy!
This could be the last great chance for awhile for an American to win the Giro. Why? Because next year most top American cyclists will be staying home in California. The Tour of California, which has prospered the last couple of years despite terrible weather, is moving from February into May for 2010. This means that Lance, Levi, Vande Velde, and the rest of the boys will probably skip the Giro next year to compete in front of the fans in the biggest American cycling race. I guess my travel plans for February have changed…
Moving to triathlon world, the Canadian women did us proud last week in Korea, where in the first ITU World Championships Series race, Kathy Tremblay and Kirsten Sweetland fought at the front of the race before succumbing to finish 4th and 5th in the race. The top spot went to Emma Snowsill(she wins about 90% of her races) who passed her teammate Emma Moffatt in the last few minutes. Japanese star Juri Ide outsprinted the Canadian girls in the last 200m to get third, with Tremblay 2 seconds and Sweetland 9 seconds back. Fellow Canadian Lauren Groves finished 10th, which makes Canada the best team in the world (at least after one event). So Canadian to the girls, who did us proud and are now getting prepped for the next race in Madrid.
The Canadian boys did not do as well. Simon Whitfield, despite being in great shape, could not find another gear on the run and ended up 14th. This put him in well ahead of teammates Brent McMahon and Kyle Jones. McMahon, who won Ironman 70.3 New Orleans about three weeks ago, was racing an ITU race for the first time in a long while, so can be excused a bit. I do have high expectations for him later on this year…
Whoops, haven't even mentioned the outstanding finish in the men's race. Just watch the first 30 seconds of this video!
A photofinish in triathlon? Yep, and despite an appeal by Kahlefeldt, Bevan Docherty did get the win. Pretty cool race indeed. If the rest of the races in the series come anywhere close to this one, we are in for a treat in 2009.
The other two races last weekend included a bunch of surprise winners and a only one favorite coming thru. Andy Potts used an amazing bike and an equally amazing run split to destroy the field at Wildflower. He won by over 3 minutes over Eneko Llanos. In the women's race, Virginia Beratasegui won going away (over 5 minutes) ahead of Leanda Cave of Great Britain. The women's field was supposed to be very competitive, but late scratches (McGlone, Dibens, Corbin, Macel, and Lavelle) left very few top contenders out in the California desert.
Moving to the Carribean, Catriona Morrison passed Mirinda Carfrae very late on the run to win the 70.3 St Croix event. Her 1:23 run split was enough to win the race by 3 minutes. The men's winner was Tim O'Donnell, who beat equally unknown pro Igor Amorelli by over a minute. The bigger names (Bryan Rhodes, Michael Lovato, etc) were well back.
What happened to Sam McGlone? I was very excited last week about the supposed impending return to racing at the Wildflower Triathlon. Alas, it was not to be. She didn’t start the race (still not ready to race) and thus continues my rare talent of reporting incorrect news (cyclingnews is infamous for having wrong start lists, which is why I often report that Canadians are going to start races but don’t eventually make it to the start line). Anyhow, Sam is hoping to begin her 2009 season in June at the Honu 70.3 race in Hawaii.
What else is happening out there? The spring marathon season (Rotterdam, Paris, Boston, and London) is over, the IAAF Golden League hasn’t begun yet (not UNTIL) and I think the triathletes are off until mid-May (ITU and Ironman). So enjoy the Giro (cyclingfans.com is the only way for us Canadians), I will try and keep close tabs on what happens here!
Next week, lots on our favorite runners (Bolt, Radcliffe, Goucher) and lots on the Giro!
Have a good weekend…
Crazy week behind us, and crazy weeks ahead, but the majority of this week’s post will be about the gigantic Giro d’Italia, which begins on Saturday. So if you don’t care about Pro Cycling, scroll to the bottom where I’ll recap a whole bunch of triathlons, make another promise about a Dopey Monday to come, and maybe show a fun video or two…
Ok, the Giro. The second biggest cycling race in the world starts this weekend with an epic Team Time Trial in Venice. How cool is that? More on that in a bit, but there are lots of stories about this race, including Lance’s first Grand Tour in 4 years. Lance is indeed back, and after pacing his buddy Levi Leipheimer to the overall win at the Tour of the Gila (a minor pro cycling event in New Mexico) where Lance, Levi, and Chris Horner competed as Team Mellow Johnny’s. Lance finished second overall (after finishing second behind Levi in the time trial) and showed decent fitness in his first race in a month. His comeback (from both retirement and his broken collarbone) continues in Italy, where he will probably not challenge for the race lead, but he has stated that he wants to win one stage. Lance is so far 0-for-2009 and probably wants to break the goose egg before Le Tour.
So if Lance is not going to win the Giro, who will? I think most cycling pundits would agree that the two main contenders will be Astana’s Levi Leipheimer and Liquigas’s Ivan Basso. Basso has NEVER won his home country’s race, and is out to make his claim as one of the very best stage riders in the world. Basso vs. Leipheimer will come down to Levi’s time trialing advantages to Basso’s excellent finishing kick at the end of mountain stages. But add in Levi’s uber-domestique Lance Armstrong to help him in the mountains, and I think Levi might have enough to pull it out and be the first American winner since Andy Hampsten in 1988. For those of you who want to read about an epic stage win, you can read about the unbelievable decisive stage in the 1988 Giro, where Hampsten rode away from the peloton through a blizzard here!
There is a pretty deep field in place this year. Besides Lance, Levi, and Basso, big-time cyclists like Damiano Cunego, Carlos Sastre, Denis Menchov, and Gilbero Simoni are all competing. For Cunego (the 2004 winner), this is the biggest race on his calendar, and he would love to upstage the Americans and his compatriot Basso. Sastre is using the race to get into race shape to defend his title in the Tour, so probably won’t be a top contender. You can get an official start list here...
So my predictions for 2009: Leipheimer, Cunego, and Basso, with Lance ending up in 4th. Anybody else want to make a guess? Please be aware that my predictions are never right...
One more pro cycling note. This could actually be the last time that Team Astana starts a race. Why? Because they’re broke. Yep, those crazy Kazakhs that own Team Astana have been having some money issues, and the riders have not been paid for some time (this isn’t an issue for Lance, since he’s riding for zero salary). But the UCI is paying close attention, and could be close to pulling the team’s license. If this happens, the team might compete under a new banner in France, and Lance has even recently mentioned the possibility of starting his own team. I doubt that the Kazakhstan government will allow the team to outright fold (the cycling team is a national treasure, despite the doping issues related to Vinokourov and ….) but I’ll be paying attention.
Speaking of my favorite ex-Astana racer Vinokourov, he is coming back this year! His suspension from 2007 ends in mid-July, and he is planning on gunning for the 2009 World Championships, where a victory there would let him wear the rainbow jersey for the entire 2010 season. His other goals include winning the King of The Mountains competition in the 2010 Tour. Somebody will probably take a chance on the ultra-agressive Vinokourov later this year, and I'm hoping he can come back, stay clean, and win a couple of races in his typical swashbuckling fashion.
For the second year in a row, Team Garmin is aiming to win the opening TTT of the Giro and get the maglia rosa for one of their cyclists. Last year, the team put Christian Vande Velde into the leader’s jersey, and kept him there for (a couple of days). This week they picked their team for 2009, and ridiculously did not pick a Canadian to rally all 500 pro cycling fans in Canada. Ok, earlier this year, it was widely assumed that both Ryder Hesjedal and Svein Tuft would be part of the Argyle Armada (love that nickname) in the Giro. Both riders were sent to Italy early in the season to prepare (remember Hesjedal skipped the Tour of California for this reason). Hesjedal had a pretty amazing 2008, with his participation in both the Giro and the Tour, and seemed set up to improve on both performances in 2009. Tuft, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Worlds after his amazing performance in the Olympics (finished 7th), seemed to be a perfect addition for the Garmin time trial squad. Apparently, the news came as a shock to Hesjedal, since in an interview from 2 days before the team was announced, he mentions how “excited he is to be a part of the Giro blah bl;ah blah”. I have no idea what happened with Tuft, except that I haven’t been overly impressed with his 2009 results. Apparently Jonathan Vaughters and Team Garmin are not either. Some good news though – Hesjedal is apparently going to be the right-hand man for Christian Vande Velde at the Tour. So Hesjedal is skipping Italy in order to be well-rested for a trip around France in July. But Vande Velde is not. I’m confused. Team Garmin is still my fave team (cmon, they have 3 Canadians on their roster!) but they are starting to stretch my loyalty.
Oh yeah, that reminds me. The Team Garmin website actually sells beautiful autographed posters of the 3 Canadians on the team (Hesjedal, Tuft, and our Road Race National Champ Christian Meier). You can check out the posters here, but I’m not buying until they start adding some more Canadian to their Grand Tour rosters.
Canada will have a presense in Italy. Michael Barry from Columbia-Highroad will be competing, and his job will be as an experienced domestique and do-it-all as he tried to keep teammates Michael Rogers, Thomas Lokvist, and Kanstantin Siutsou in the Top 10 and help Mark Cavendish win some sprint finishes. The other big Canadian, Dominique Rollin, will not be in Italy because of his extensive racing schedule this spring. I have no idea if they have any plans for Rollin in France, but because of his great work in setting up Heinrich Haussler and Thor Hushovd for big wins, I think he has a decent shot. Here’s hoping! Good luck to Michael Barry as he represents the Maple Leaf Nation in Italy!
This could be the last great chance for awhile for an American to win the Giro. Why? Because next year most top American cyclists will be staying home in California. The Tour of California, which has prospered the last couple of years despite terrible weather, is moving from February into May for 2010. This means that Lance, Levi, Vande Velde, and the rest of the boys will probably skip the Giro next year to compete in front of the fans in the biggest American cycling race. I guess my travel plans for February have changed…
Moving to triathlon world, the Canadian women did us proud last week in Korea, where in the first ITU World Championships Series race, Kathy Tremblay and Kirsten Sweetland fought at the front of the race before succumbing to finish 4th and 5th in the race. The top spot went to Emma Snowsill(she wins about 90% of her races) who passed her teammate Emma Moffatt in the last few minutes. Japanese star Juri Ide outsprinted the Canadian girls in the last 200m to get third, with Tremblay 2 seconds and Sweetland 9 seconds back. Fellow Canadian Lauren Groves finished 10th, which makes Canada the best team in the world (at least after one event). So Canadian to the girls, who did us proud and are now getting prepped for the next race in Madrid.
The Canadian boys did not do as well. Simon Whitfield, despite being in great shape, could not find another gear on the run and ended up 14th. This put him in well ahead of teammates Brent McMahon and Kyle Jones. McMahon, who won Ironman 70.3 New Orleans about three weeks ago, was racing an ITU race for the first time in a long while, so can be excused a bit. I do have high expectations for him later on this year…
Whoops, haven't even mentioned the outstanding finish in the men's race. Just watch the first 30 seconds of this video!
A photofinish in triathlon? Yep, and despite an appeal by Kahlefeldt, Bevan Docherty did get the win. Pretty cool race indeed. If the rest of the races in the series come anywhere close to this one, we are in for a treat in 2009.
The other two races last weekend included a bunch of surprise winners and a only one favorite coming thru. Andy Potts used an amazing bike and an equally amazing run split to destroy the field at Wildflower. He won by over 3 minutes over Eneko Llanos. In the women's race, Virginia Beratasegui won going away (over 5 minutes) ahead of Leanda Cave of Great Britain. The women's field was supposed to be very competitive, but late scratches (McGlone, Dibens, Corbin, Macel, and Lavelle) left very few top contenders out in the California desert.
Moving to the Carribean, Catriona Morrison passed Mirinda Carfrae very late on the run to win the 70.3 St Croix event. Her 1:23 run split was enough to win the race by 3 minutes. The men's winner was Tim O'Donnell, who beat equally unknown pro Igor Amorelli by over a minute. The bigger names (Bryan Rhodes, Michael Lovato, etc) were well back.
What happened to Sam McGlone? I was very excited last week about the supposed impending return to racing at the Wildflower Triathlon. Alas, it was not to be. She didn’t start the race (still not ready to race) and thus continues my rare talent of reporting incorrect news (cyclingnews is infamous for having wrong start lists, which is why I often report that Canadians are going to start races but don’t eventually make it to the start line). Anyhow, Sam is hoping to begin her 2009 season in June at the Honu 70.3 race in Hawaii.
What else is happening out there? The spring marathon season (Rotterdam, Paris, Boston, and London) is over, the IAAF Golden League hasn’t begun yet (not UNTIL) and I think the triathletes are off until mid-May (ITU and Ironman). So enjoy the Giro (cyclingfans.com is the only way for us Canadians), I will try and keep close tabs on what happens here!
Next week, lots on our favorite runners (Bolt, Radcliffe, Goucher) and lots on the Giro!
Have a good weekend…
Friday, May 1, 2009
Another Giant Bikey Week!
Hi All,
Where do we start this busy Friday? With news about dopers, plus triathlon, cycling, and marathon news, it's going to be a busy one, so grab your Starbucks and settle in...I will leave the doping stuff for a Dopey Monday so as not to poison the whole column...so come back Monday for that!
I'm going to lead off with triathlon, since this weekend is a huge one (finally). The long-course guys and gals are busy in St Croix and in Wildflower, but finally we should see a top flight ITU race. This week's race in Tongyeong, South Korea, is the first in the new-for-2009 World Championship Series, which is a series of 7 races from now until September that will ultimately decide the 2009 World Champion. This race has a great field, and although some top Europeans like Javier Gomez and Vanessa Fernandes (injured) are sitting out, it will feature a great field. The men's race will feature Simon Whitfield's first race since Beijing, with lots of great competitors like Brad Kahlefaldt, Bevan Docherty, Courtney Atkinson, Tim Don, and Frederic Belaubre all in the race. The women's race is also stacked with Emma Snowsill taking on World Champion Helen Jenkins (Tucker) from Great Britain, with Emma Moffatt, Sam Warriner, Kate Allen, and Canadian star Kirsten Sweetland. The Canadian team also includes Kyle Jones and Brent McMahon on the guys side, and Kathy Tremblay and Lauren Groves on the female team. The ITU also did a nice interview with Simon Whitfield where he states his 2009 goal of winning the ITU World Championship for the first time. Good luck Canada!
As I mentioned last week, the ITU did have a World Cup race last week in Ishigaki, Japan. And as expected, the extremely weak fields lead to predictable results, with Courtney Atkinson winning his 5th career race in Ishigaki, outrunning the Russian brothers Ivan and Denis Vasiliev. Canadian Kyle Jones could only manage 9th place. On the women's side, Kathy Tremblay had a great race, finishing second (by only 5 seconds) to pre-race fave and hometown fave Juri Ide. That is a great result for Tremblay, since Ide is a solid ITU race. Hopefully Tremblay can follow up this result this weekend in Korea. The other Canadian, Lauren Groves, had a decent race but finished over a minute back in 5th place.
Last weekend also included the big race in St Anthony's. Despite brutal swim conditions that turned the age group race into a duathlon, the pro race did produce some surprising results which almost included a huge upset. Sara Mclarty, who might be the best swimmer to ever compete in Olympic distance racing (i don't remember her ever being beaten out of the water) almost held on to her lead thru the whole race. She got passed in the final half-mile by Rebecca Wassner and by Sara Groff but still won $4000 for third place. Wassner won $10000! Ridiculous money. It was another great race for Sarah Groff, who also finished second at Oceanside...Joanna Zeiger, Joanna Lawn, Nina Kraft, and Becky Lavelle finished well back. The men's race had co-favorite Matt Reed flat with a 90 second lead on the bike, so then the other fave Andy Potts took advantage with a 31:38 10km to easily defeat Terrenzo Bozzone. Too bad the Canadians weren't there to shake up the American domination...
There are two big half Ironmans this weekend, with Wildflower on Saturday and St Croix 70.3 on Sunday. Wildflower has a great field, including the return of Sam McGlone to racing. McGlone has been out since August with Achilles tendonitis, but here's hoping she can return to her dominating form. She'll be challenged by Leanda Cave, Erika Csomor, and Becky Lavelle. McGlone has a great chance to win in her return to racing. The men's race is super-deep, with Bozzone looking for revenge on Potts while facing some top Ironman pros in Chris Lieto, Luke Bell, Torbjorn Sindballe, and Eneko Llanos.
Sunday is St Croix, which is known for its bike course and the hill known as The Beast. I love watching video of pros going up this hill (which averages 14 percent over a hellish kilometer), always makes me feel better about my cycling! The women's race will be between Joanna Lawn and the last two 70.3 World Champs, Joanna Zeiger and Mirinda Carfrae. The men's race will feature Cam Brown and a group of secondary pros. And everyone's favorite nun, Sister Madonna Buder, will even be racing! Good luck to her...
Have we been talking about triathlon for this whole time? Wow, triathletes who don't swim and run (ie. cyclists) have been busy as well. Last Sunday was the big race in Belgium, as Liege-Bastogne-Liege was held for the 95th time. Andy Schleck finally broke through and won a huge race, which came just days after losing out to Davide Rebellin at Fleche Wallone. Schleck made a huge move in the last 20 kilometers, and ended up winning by almost 90 seconds over the field. A huge win for Schleck, and he now moves back to the top of the list of non-Astana Tour contenders! Canadian Ryder Hesjedal had a great day, with an 11th place finish. Hesjedal is now getting ready for the Giro (and hopefully the Tour). Lots more on the Giro next week...
The other big news in cycling is Lance Armstrong's return to racing. And not with Astana! Well, not really. Lance and Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner have formed Team Mellow Johnny's (named after Lance's bike shop in Austin) and are competing in the New Mexico stage race Tour of the Gila. Not surprisingly, Levi won the first stage and still holds the race leaders jersey. But Lance is using this race to ride hard and get ready for the Giro. He probably won't be among the faves at the Giro, but knowing Lance he won't be far from the Top 5. I would suspect Levi and Ivan Basso would be the faves, but again, lots more next week...
A pretty good week for predictions for me last week, as I nailed both the men's and women's winners of the London Marathon. Well, the men's race got much easier to predict by raceday, since Martin Lel pulled out with a hip injury that he had been downplaying all week. This left Sammy Wanjiru as the clear fave. He didn't disappoint, but the big story was that the men's lead pack of 6 hit the halfway pack at 61:30 or so, well below world record pace. Ultimately, the pace slowed (the two graphs below show it very clearly) but Wanjiru took the race into his own hands, breaking the pack and soloing the last 8 miles to win in a course record 2:05:10. Afterward, Wanjiru blamed the pacemakers for eliminating his chance for a world record due to the uneven pace. Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede tried to stay close but finished 10 seconds back, good enough for a place on the top 10 all time list. Ridiculous. The women's race was good too, as Irina Mikitenko dropped the hammer at mile 20 and won by a minute in 2:22:11. Amazingly, 12 women broke 2:30 (versus none in Boston) which tells you how strong the elite field in London really is.
Ok, check out these two groups, courtesy of the sports geniuses Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas at sportsscientists.com These graphs show that the men's race was anything but even paced, with huge discrepancies early on, leading to Wanjiru having a 51 second edge over Geb's world record pace at 15K. But the quick early cost them later, as they quickly lost speed later on...the world record will probably fall again this year, but this graph does show how important even pacing probably will be in breaking it. And it shows how perfect Geb's run in Berlin (with unbelievable even pacing).
Okay, lots to come on Monday, with the Giro preview on Friday. Enjoy the weekend...
Where do we start this busy Friday? With news about dopers, plus triathlon, cycling, and marathon news, it's going to be a busy one, so grab your Starbucks and settle in...I will leave the doping stuff for a Dopey Monday so as not to poison the whole column...so come back Monday for that!
I'm going to lead off with triathlon, since this weekend is a huge one (finally). The long-course guys and gals are busy in St Croix and in Wildflower, but finally we should see a top flight ITU race. This week's race in Tongyeong, South Korea, is the first in the new-for-2009 World Championship Series, which is a series of 7 races from now until September that will ultimately decide the 2009 World Champion. This race has a great field, and although some top Europeans like Javier Gomez and Vanessa Fernandes (injured) are sitting out, it will feature a great field. The men's race will feature Simon Whitfield's first race since Beijing, with lots of great competitors like Brad Kahlefaldt, Bevan Docherty, Courtney Atkinson, Tim Don, and Frederic Belaubre all in the race. The women's race is also stacked with Emma Snowsill taking on World Champion Helen Jenkins (Tucker) from Great Britain, with Emma Moffatt, Sam Warriner, Kate Allen, and Canadian star Kirsten Sweetland. The Canadian team also includes Kyle Jones and Brent McMahon on the guys side, and Kathy Tremblay and Lauren Groves on the female team. The ITU also did a nice interview with Simon Whitfield where he states his 2009 goal of winning the ITU World Championship for the first time. Good luck Canada!
As I mentioned last week, the ITU did have a World Cup race last week in Ishigaki, Japan. And as expected, the extremely weak fields lead to predictable results, with Courtney Atkinson winning his 5th career race in Ishigaki, outrunning the Russian brothers Ivan and Denis Vasiliev. Canadian Kyle Jones could only manage 9th place. On the women's side, Kathy Tremblay had a great race, finishing second (by only 5 seconds) to pre-race fave and hometown fave Juri Ide. That is a great result for Tremblay, since Ide is a solid ITU race. Hopefully Tremblay can follow up this result this weekend in Korea. The other Canadian, Lauren Groves, had a decent race but finished over a minute back in 5th place.
Last weekend also included the big race in St Anthony's. Despite brutal swim conditions that turned the age group race into a duathlon, the pro race did produce some surprising results which almost included a huge upset. Sara Mclarty, who might be the best swimmer to ever compete in Olympic distance racing (i don't remember her ever being beaten out of the water) almost held on to her lead thru the whole race. She got passed in the final half-mile by Rebecca Wassner and by Sara Groff but still won $4000 for third place. Wassner won $10000! Ridiculous money. It was another great race for Sarah Groff, who also finished second at Oceanside...Joanna Zeiger, Joanna Lawn, Nina Kraft, and Becky Lavelle finished well back. The men's race had co-favorite Matt Reed flat with a 90 second lead on the bike, so then the other fave Andy Potts took advantage with a 31:38 10km to easily defeat Terrenzo Bozzone. Too bad the Canadians weren't there to shake up the American domination...
There are two big half Ironmans this weekend, with Wildflower on Saturday and St Croix 70.3 on Sunday. Wildflower has a great field, including the return of Sam McGlone to racing. McGlone has been out since August with Achilles tendonitis, but here's hoping she can return to her dominating form. She'll be challenged by Leanda Cave, Erika Csomor, and Becky Lavelle. McGlone has a great chance to win in her return to racing. The men's race is super-deep, with Bozzone looking for revenge on Potts while facing some top Ironman pros in Chris Lieto, Luke Bell, Torbjorn Sindballe, and Eneko Llanos.
Sunday is St Croix, which is known for its bike course and the hill known as The Beast. I love watching video of pros going up this hill (which averages 14 percent over a hellish kilometer), always makes me feel better about my cycling! The women's race will be between Joanna Lawn and the last two 70.3 World Champs, Joanna Zeiger and Mirinda Carfrae. The men's race will feature Cam Brown and a group of secondary pros. And everyone's favorite nun, Sister Madonna Buder, will even be racing! Good luck to her...
Have we been talking about triathlon for this whole time? Wow, triathletes who don't swim and run (ie. cyclists) have been busy as well. Last Sunday was the big race in Belgium, as Liege-Bastogne-Liege was held for the 95th time. Andy Schleck finally broke through and won a huge race, which came just days after losing out to Davide Rebellin at Fleche Wallone. Schleck made a huge move in the last 20 kilometers, and ended up winning by almost 90 seconds over the field. A huge win for Schleck, and he now moves back to the top of the list of non-Astana Tour contenders! Canadian Ryder Hesjedal had a great day, with an 11th place finish. Hesjedal is now getting ready for the Giro (and hopefully the Tour). Lots more on the Giro next week...
The other big news in cycling is Lance Armstrong's return to racing. And not with Astana! Well, not really. Lance and Astana teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner have formed Team Mellow Johnny's (named after Lance's bike shop in Austin) and are competing in the New Mexico stage race Tour of the Gila. Not surprisingly, Levi won the first stage and still holds the race leaders jersey. But Lance is using this race to ride hard and get ready for the Giro. He probably won't be among the faves at the Giro, but knowing Lance he won't be far from the Top 5. I would suspect Levi and Ivan Basso would be the faves, but again, lots more next week...
A pretty good week for predictions for me last week, as I nailed both the men's and women's winners of the London Marathon. Well, the men's race got much easier to predict by raceday, since Martin Lel pulled out with a hip injury that he had been downplaying all week. This left Sammy Wanjiru as the clear fave. He didn't disappoint, but the big story was that the men's lead pack of 6 hit the halfway pack at 61:30 or so, well below world record pace. Ultimately, the pace slowed (the two graphs below show it very clearly) but Wanjiru took the race into his own hands, breaking the pack and soloing the last 8 miles to win in a course record 2:05:10. Afterward, Wanjiru blamed the pacemakers for eliminating his chance for a world record due to the uneven pace. Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede tried to stay close but finished 10 seconds back, good enough for a place on the top 10 all time list. Ridiculous. The women's race was good too, as Irina Mikitenko dropped the hammer at mile 20 and won by a minute in 2:22:11. Amazingly, 12 women broke 2:30 (versus none in Boston) which tells you how strong the elite field in London really is.
Ok, check out these two groups, courtesy of the sports geniuses Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas at sportsscientists.com These graphs show that the men's race was anything but even paced, with huge discrepancies early on, leading to Wanjiru having a 51 second edge over Geb's world record pace at 15K. But the quick early cost them later, as they quickly lost speed later on...the world record will probably fall again this year, but this graph does show how important even pacing probably will be in breaking it. And it shows how perfect Geb's run in Berlin (with unbelievable even pacing).
Okay, lots to come on Monday, with the Giro preview on Friday. Enjoy the weekend...
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