Hi All,
Another huge week as we deal with 3 big classic cycling events in the Ardennes, a review and a preview of 2 of the biggest marathons on the planet, but we lead off with a bit of triathlon news this week...
First off, I do want to make a big Bikey deal about what happened last weekend in Monterrey, Mexico where the ITU World Cup made a quick stop on this side of the world. The World Cup circuit is now the second-tier of ITU races, one step below the World Championship Series. On the women's side, Edmonton's own Paula Findlay won her first ever World Cup title in remarkably, her first ever World Cup start. (She did race in two World Championship events in 2009). Findlay, who twice finished in the Top 10 at World Junior Championships and last year finished third at the Under-23 Championships, is poised to become the latest Canadian woman to take on the world. Although Findlay faced very few women who raced the week before in Sydney, she beat the entire field with a great run for an easy 80 second victory. It will be interesting to see if Findlay can become 2010's breakthrough year! Good luck Paula!
This weekend the ITU athletes have moved on to Ishigaki, Japan for the next stop on the World Cup circuit. Unfortunately, with the bigger WCS event in Seoul in two weeks, most of the big names are skipping this week's event. There are actually zero Canadians in the field, and only 2 of the world's Top 20 athletes are participating.
The 70.3 world is in the midst of a very good stretch of events. Last week was Ironman New Orleans 70.3, this week is Ironman 70.3 Texas, and next weekend is Wildflower. Last weekend, Andy Potts showed his strength in his first start of 2010, using the fastest swim to get ahead early and the fastest run to pass Terrenzo Bozzone to win by a whopping 4 minutes. Look out for Potts, who might this year will race Kona for the third time. If he can improve his cycling, he could be a podium contender...Sam Warriner won the women's event by outrunning Linsey Corbin. Warriner didn't go into the race as an overall favorite, but she can never be counted out in big races and showed why with a 1:21 run split.
The weekend ahead in triathlon features the Ironman 70.3 Texas event, which also doubles as the US Pro Championships. This results in a great field as Americans Andy Potts, Chris Lieto, and Tim O'Donnell will all compete against foreigners such as Terrenzo Bozzone and Richie Cunningham. The woman's race features Michellie Jones, Joanna Zeiger, Leanda Cave, and Pip Taylor. The men's race should be a great event, and it will be interesting to see if Lieto can get enough of a gap on the bike to hold off Potts.
This weekend also features Ironman South Africa and an Olympic non-drafting event in Florida (St Anthony's Triathlon). South Africa features a fairly weak pro field (although ironman.com called it star-studded), but the event in Florida includes Craig Alexander, Greg Bennett, and Matt Reed on the men's side and a super women's race that features Mirinda Carfrae against Julie Dibens stepping down in distance to take on Olympic stars Sarah Haskins and Laura Bennett. I'm sorry, but this race is much more worthy of a star-studded label than any other race this weekend...
Cycling - we are almost at the end of the spring season, with Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege being both the third of the Ardennes week of classics (after Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone) and the fourth Monument of the year (behind Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix). The best part of the three Ardennes races are the great fields they attract. Last Sunday, the Amstel Gold race kicked it off with a hilly 260 km challenge, and Belgian Phillippe Gilbert took charge on the final climb to win the first race for his team (Omega Pharma -Lotto) this year. Gilbert managed to hold off a group of riders including the Schlecks, Cadel Evans, Roman Kreuziger, and Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who had a terrific final climb and sprint for an amazing second place finish! I believe the last Canadian to finish this high in a major one-day European race was Steve Bauer's second place at Paris-Roubaix in 1990. Ryder is becoming quite a weapon for Team Garmin in these difficult one-day races that finish with a tough climb. Here's an interview with Hesjedal from Pedal Magazine...
Hesjedal then rolled into Belgium for Wednesday's Fleche Wallone, which is known for its ferocious finishing climb that touches 20% elevation over its 1.3 km length. It featured most of the big names from the Amstel Gold, plus added a few Spanish stars including Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde. Take a look at the final kilometer...
So a late attack by the world's best cyclist Contador got countered at the last moment by World Champion Cadel Evans, who is going to try and win the Giro in May. Evans looked strong with his late move, and proved he is not scared of the world's best cyclists. And how great was this list of finishers...Contador in 3rd, Cunego in 5th, Gilbert in 6th, Chris Horner in 7th, Valverde in 8th, Andy Schleck in 9th, and yes, Canadian Ryder Hesjedal in 10th! Another incredible race, and another article on Hesjedal, this time from cyclingnews.com.
So far only 4 riders have managed Top 10 finishes in both of the first two races, including Hesjedal, Gilbert, American Chris Horner, and Damiano Cunego. Pretty elite company for Hesjedal. Can he add to his great week on Sunday at Liege-Bastogne-Liege? The favorites are expected to include Evans, Gilbert, and the Schleck brothers (Andy won in 2009), while Spanish stars such as Contador, Valverde, and Samuel Sanchez will attempt to be first to reach the finish line. It should be a great race...
By the way, here is that great finish from the 1990 Paris-Roubaix featuring Steve Bauer...
Running...Monday's Boston Marathon proved how hard it is to defend a major marathon title. Both 2009 winners, Deriba Merga and Salina Kosgei, were factors but were not able to counter the race's decisive moves. Merga managed to push the pace throughout and thin the lead pack, including getting rid of American hopes Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi, but could not shake 21-year old Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, who ran away for a decisive win. The Boston Marathon has previously been won 4 times by Robert Kiproech Cheruiyot, who apparently is not related to this year's winner. Even more impressively, the newest Cheruiyot broke the course record by an impressive 82 seconds. Ryan Hall finished strongly to finish 4th, one spot behind Merga and one spot ahead of fellow American Keflezighi. Will Cheruiyot be the next dominant Kenyan at Boston?
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The women's race was almost a blowout. Ethiopia's Teyba Erkesso took charge around the 17-mile mark, as she simply found the pace too slow and slowly pulled away. She had a huge one minute lead and was pulling away from the entire field, except a late surge by Russia's Tatyana Pushkareva made for great drama over the last mile. Unfortunately for Pushkareva, she ran out of race course and finished 3 seconds behind Erkesso. The rest of the field was lead by Kosgei, but she finished over 2 minutes back...
Boston Marathon is known for it's history and slower times due to the Newton hills...this week's London Marathon is known for it's world record and elite fields. This year is no exception, as one preview calls it "arguably the best field ever for a marathon" and another calls it "a heavyweight battle for the ages". The men's race has 5 men with PB's under 2:05:30 plus the world record holder in the half-marathon (Zersenay Tadese) who is making his marathon debut! Unbelievable...check out these brief bios courtesy of Letsrun.com
'08 Olympic, '09 London and Chicago champ Sammy Wanjiru. (2:05:10)
Reigning world champion Abel Kirui. (2:05:04)
Fukuoka record-setter and '08 OG and '09 WC bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede. (2:05:18)
2nd-fastest marathoner of all-time in Duncan Kibet. (2:04:27)
2009 Worlds silver medalist Emmanuel Mutai. (2:06:15)
2009 London 3rd-placer and former world champ Jaouad Gharib. (2:05:27)
The women's race is shaping up as a rematch between German Irina Mikitenko (2009 London winner) and Russian Liliya Shobukhova (who beat Mikitenko in Chicago last fall). Of course, there are plenty of fast Chinese, Ethiopian, and American runners, including Deena Kastor, but I think it will come down to the two first women who normally end up at or near the top of every marathon podium.
Unfortunately for me, both of my picks to win Boston (Abderrahim Goumri and Dire Tune) finished tied for last with matching DNF's. Hopefully my London picks (Wanjiru and Mikitenko) fair better...
See you next week...
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