Headline Heaven

Lets look on the bright side. Sure, Mayo is goin down Spanish style and ominous clouds have formed over kid contador, but at least we can think of some great headlines out of it all. Try these on for size:

• Mayo headin' to the clinic
• Oh-Oh: The Mayo is off
• Knock-knock-knockin on the Contador
• More mellow yellow
• Cycling is full of drugged up frauds ripping the sport to shreds

Ok, so that last one was a bit off par but you get the cadence.

Oh, and in other (more positive (heh) ) news, the new Slipstream team seems to be taking shape, with a few ex-CSC riders and sun-shy ex-con Millar joining the outfit. What's with that whole Millar thing anyway? So he admitted doping? When? When the cops were hauling him to jail? Wow. The bravery. Now the English press treat him like he defacates union jacks each morning and he's suddenly given some moral high-ground on drugs. I don't get it. I mean, sure, give a guy a second chance, but don't lets over-react. The elephant in the room with Millar is that we have to suspect anyone who hasn't been accused, so we can only really trust the word of guys who we KNOW were on the strong - Millar, Jaksche, Zabel, Aldag ... where will it end?

Out of the Blue

The post-Lance years were meant to mean the end of the Disco boys - especially in the big one, but this race has been anyone's to win since they rolled out in London 3 weeks ago. I guess the big stories of the last week have shifted our attention from the racing, but those Disco boys look like they are going to get all the major prizes - and better any of their efforts during the Armstrong years. Yellow jersey, white jersey, 2nd and 3rd in the polka dot jersey classification, 2 riders in the top 3, 3 in the top 10, and winner of the teams classification.

With all the hype and then deflation around Basso the saviour earlier this year, this team has shown that a team of champions is not as good as a champion team. We may not have seen the last days of Disco.

Digestion

We've all had a couple of hours to digest the news regarding Rasmussen but we shouldn't feel too upset, lets look at the facts:
Michael told the team and UCI he was in Mexico but was actually in Italy. He's not been charged with any doping offence (yet) and the only reason for his expulsion was cause he lied of his where-abouts.
Put it in context, if you told your missus you were somewhere but then she found out you lied and were somewhere else what do reckon would happen to you?

I think Michael got off lightly......

For Sale

1 road bike - 5 years old, carbon forks and seat post, fitted with full Ultegra system, brand new tyres just added.

I'll also throw in 1 human heart. Once fond of cycling, however now worn and torn, heavy scarring evident due to recently being trodden on by ASO, UCI and peleton. Would suit loving home, preferably of a canasta enthusiast.

$0, ONO.

And we will all go down together

In breaking news, Rasmussen - yes the UNEXPECTEDLY STRONG current leader of the Tour - has been pulled by Rabo. Bang. What a joke. What's next? With the current attrition rate maybe Tom will be leading the Tour as they roll up the boulevard on the weekend...

This of course leaves Contador on top of both the yellow and white jersey comps with only a few flat stages and a pancake time trial between the young spaniard and Paris. The curse of the yellow, started in Spain '05 and continuing through France '06 to '07 might cause Contador to reconsider putting the fleece on in the morning.

It's not you, it's me

Cycling, we need to talk. I'm breaking up with you. No, no (david) don't cry. It's for the best. You see, I just can't trust you any more. This Vino thing- yeah, I know I should have seen it coming, but it's just too much. First you went off with that French team, then came the little American guy, and who can forget your antics last year. Every time I summon the strength to believe a word you say you seem to turn and kick me in the face. I can't take it any more. I know I only have myself to blame, I should have kept my distance until things were cleared, but I so wanted to believe it when you said you were definatly mine this time, that we could put the dirty past behind us. Dammit, what did I ever do to you - except support you when others were smearing your name and stand by you in the dark Spanish nights? I should have listened to my friends. They said you were up to no good I've even heard rumours of another American. Arrgh - enough. Don't try to call, I've changed my number. B*tch.

Vino sours to Spumante

As my friend Cartman would say, "Mummy! Cyclings being a dildo!". Contrary to my earlier post it seems Vino WAS Floyding all along. Yes the sport can say they are pulling no punches and cleaning up the sport looking after the future but really, once again into the mountains controversy reigns.

The answer is simple. Don't turn off the Tour and start calling it "Tour de Farce" (as already being touted bymorons in the mainstream press), but just let them all do it. that's right. Let em all do homologous, autologous, heterologous anylogous transfusions and then we'll be on a even footing. Hey - Cadel might even have a chance then of winning the whole thing!

A good Vino ages with time

What did we say? huh? Only 24 hours ago we told you to watch out for Vino, he wasn't done for yet.

In what is being named "doing a Landis" or "Floyding" (around the MIT water-cooler anyway) he cracked on one mountain stage only to come back the next day and take control. However unlike the name-sake, this Khazah does it spectacularly and often it's just the way he rides - no enhancements required. In other "i told you so" news - Cadel lost more time - this time blaming he didn't have the team to go with the flurry of attacks and was all alone. Told you so.

So on this rest day ponder this: Could Contador take the rare double in a week, white and yellow jersey?

Race of dare or game of chicken?

The first stage in the Pyrenees lived up to it's billing and made a total mockery of the peleton and commentators alike, luckily for you the MIT team take each way bets and there was no way we were going to lose. Disco came out and shook things up but it seems Vino has had enough and couldn't keep up with the leaders. Don't be surprised if he attacks tonight (subject to his knees holding up) and see if the peleton react - is 30 minutes enough not to worry about this guy????

Rabobank has a cosy situation here, usually the team must protect the yellow and control the pace but on these vertical roads they don't need to. Rasmussen looks far ahead of anyone in the mountains and will increase his lead over the next two stages not only control it.



Finally we may find out in the next day or so why the chicken did cross the mountain range....

Predictor(ble) Astana

Kazakh's can't read. Vino just hasn't read the script and even threw the book out today as he and his two comrades took control of the TT and made a liar of the experts in the race of truth. Practically everyone who has fallen has abandoned but not Vino, he just gets better and better, and now has a really good shot at taking this race - sort of makes Rogers look like a sissy. So we head into the Pyrenees tomorrow and we have no idea what will happen, never in recent memory has the race had so much suspense.

Astana are the vultures of the peleton, the three of them circling and waiting to pick off carcasses. The only trouble is if they turn on themselves - it's not out of the question.
Discovery have also played well and find themselves well in contention without really doing much all Tour, this could be to their benefit or hindrance. Caisse d' Epargne are thereabouts but yesterday's bad day by Valverde could be an omen. Then again it could be his 1 bad day and he's ready to attack.

Whatever is going to happen, today's TT didn't make it any clearer. We'll have to wait for the next couple of days and what I call the "race of dare".

Stage 11: Montpellier Mashup

For a 'sprinters' stage, this one had the lot. A big break (nice work Heinrich), a Cancellara sprint, a big crash, and most interestingly: a resurgent Vino. For Hunter and Barloworld it was another good day, forcing me to eat my earlier suggestion that they should not be at the tour.

News of the day was all aqua, as the Astana boys replayed that scene in Overcoming ("..this is not a suprise, guys. This is not a suprise.") In true (ex)Russian style, a few foreign diplomats were expelled, including the goateed Moreau and a few of the chicken's helpers. The day was made (for me) when at 4km to go Vino jumped out of the bunch for one of his trademark solo grabs for glory. Yeah! Go Vino! Didn't last more than about 200mtrs, but damn it felt good to watch the bandaged kamikaze put the wind up the mob a la Paris '05.

Das Bubble ist Burst

Pat Sinkewitz tested positive a few weeks prior to Le Tour and the news is sending a wierd sort of shockwave through the sport. A lot of people (myself included) had finally overcome their deserved suspicion around doping, and now the effort has been rewarded with YET ANOTHER big-arse kick in the face. Sure Pat is a bit of a no-name - not like he was in yellow - but still, it's bad, and especially from a 'new page' team like T-Mobile. What'll happen next? Who knows. One things for sure - the Germans won't!

Stage 9 Bake-n-Shake in Briancon

We're a close knit bunch here at MIT, so when Lucien was telling us the merits of Barloworld in the Tour I just thought oh well they're just to make up the numbers. To my surprise they were the first to Briancon. A rest day can do so much, either rejuvenate the body or let the aches and pains come out in earnest, making you feel as if you've been hit with a wrecking ball repeatedly for a couple of hours.

But now the Alps are over and the pack has sorted itself out. All the big names were at the front today, and Valverde was seen for the first time in the tour - now ready to pounce. Draw a line under 14th place Oscar for the overall I say, 6.36 is a large deficit even if it's only the start of the second week.

Aussie hopes rest with Cadel now in 4th. He can climb, has been known to TT but will his team be up to helping him? will he ever learn to attack on his own? and that voice!!

Stage 8: Aussies Down, Danish Delight

Stage 8 and the mountains were the real winners. Sure, the chicken made his now-predictable bid for spots in the first 'real' mountain day, but with Rogers, O'Grady and Robbie all leaving (some more dignified than others) in the one day the demise of the Aussie challange is the story of the day.

What did we learn?

• Mayo is back. The weedy little man from the north of Spain took it to the players on the final climb.
  
• Rasmussen is still here. He won in a stunning display of power, unlike anything we've seen since ... oh... no, best not mention it.
  
• Evans and Moreau are looking good.
  
• Kloden knows who's paying the bills.
  
• And t-mobile STILL chase their leaders in a break.

Stage 9 has more climbing, and surely an even bigger sort-out, with the guys all juiced-up after the rest day. The chicken now has 2 1/2 minutes on the rest of the contenders, and if he can hold on over the Galibier he'll be holding that shirt at least until the first time trial.

Slap-down in Le Grand-Bornand

Cyclingnews has Valverde stating his aim to loose Vino tonight in a nice piece of boxing-style talk-up. Should cycling take that route? Pre-race weigh-ins and a panel of fired up fighters held back from brawling by their trainers. I can already see it: Cadel spitting at Sastre, who turns and decks Rogers with one blow, Kloden diving in between and sinking the knee into Moreau...

But really, who's going to hit it tonight? My money (figuative) is on a few digs from Vino in a vain attempt to counter the relentless pressure C'dp and AG2R will be applying. Remember, Caisse are still smarting from the loss at last years Vuelta, so a smack-down is in order.

Stage 7: Gerde-the-mann

The first day that the tour got serious, saw some predicable behavior - sprinters lagging behind, struggling, the main contenders riding within themselves waiting for the harder days to come, and it was a perfect stage for some up and comers to show their metal. Linus Gerdemann is one that took his chances and it paid off - no doubt sleeping in the yellow tonight.

And is this the man the tour (and cycling) has been looking for? the new poster boy for the sport- a clean sport. You see Linus is a very vocal anti-doper which begs the question, did anyone tell him that the magenta mob have a history of being up to it to their eyeballs? Lets hope he's not all talk and didn't read the Floyd book of riding hills.

Anyway the next two stages will see the big men come out, only 4 minutes down on GC most of the expected names are ready to pounce. I reckon the Maillot Jaune will be Linus' security blanket for tonight only.

Stage 5: Astanas house of cards

Things are not well in Astana. The two-headed serpent which threatened to swallow the tour whole has tripped on a stick and grazed it's elbow. With Kloden now questionable for tomorrows start and Vino missing more skin than an 80's rapper, the fashion-bereft squad might have to turn to the tried and true tactic of teams with no leader - shoot for stages.

The same thing happened to a strong-ish Casse-de-Pagne in 06. Remember AV dropping it on stage 3 and snapping his collar? The resulting push for stage glory sent Pireiro to the front on a crazy-hot day, and ended up landing him a potential tour win (pending court action).

The tour is certainly starting to take shape overall though. We saw our favourite break fodder in the form of kamikaze specialists Gilbert and Chavanel, (who seems to be benefitting from the axing of his 'distinctive' pony-tail) a great grab for glory by Popo, the Yellow on the front of the chase, then off the side of the road, and Pipo crossing the line. Yes, the tour is back. No more 'piano' I expect...

Stage 4 - back to reality

The last few stages have thrown up some pretty bizarre racing, with Tom's lead-out man taking St2 and then that wierd, sleepy 'Giro-esque' stage 3 finishing with a monster dive by Fabio. Today it was back to Tour business as usual though with a Chavanel break, the big chase, and an all-in sprint worthy of the Olympic 100mtrs. The god of thunder took the stage over a VERY disappointed-looking Rob Hunter.

So what did we learn?
CSC are looking strong, but should they be wasting all those beans pulling back Flecha and co just to save the fancy t-shirt? Robbie is looking wrong, rolling across the line 16th today and frankly no-where near the pace of the big men. Barloworld have thrown up a decent sprinter just to spite me. When it comes to closing gaps, Jens is The Man.

In other news, the women's Giro has just polished off stage 5, with the ever dominent Nurnburger team holding pink. After Le Tour's slow stage 3, the average speed of the women's tour would have Edita Pucinskaite leading the men by 24 seconds....

Fabian or Fabio?

Stage 3. Long, flat, predictable.... well not at the finish line. Cancellara jumped 500 to go and took the stage from all the major players, just showing that wearing the yellow makes you do extraordinary things.

But the best analysis of the day came from Christian Vande Velde. Read it here from our good friends at VeloNews. Sums it up really.

Who's the boss

Stage 2 of the Tour and we have our first suprise winner. The prologue and stage one would have kept the bookies happy, but stage 2 saw big Belgian Gert Steegmans cross the line a few inches in front of his boss, Big Tom.

My opinion? Best thing that's happended so far. Sure, robbie made it back from going bush with 20 to go, but to have Gert take a stage takes the cake. Of course we all remember him trying the same move during the classics - that time he slammed on the brakes to let boonan pass - so 'Cheers' Gert.

Great ride. Tony Danza would be proud. Lets see how everyone recovers from that stack...

Ho Hum?

The sporting eye's of the world were on England this weekend, but did we have to be looking? It seems nothing has changed in the world - Ferrari wins at Silverstone, a guy named Federer wins 5 in a row, and Le Tour started on the open road with the fast sprinters again flexing their quads.
Hmm, let's see; Maillot Jaune stays well hidden in the peleton while his team control the tempo; the local boy goes on a suicide mission and ends up with red dots all over his bod; and Robbie beats out the usual suspect - Thor and Tom for his 12th stage win at the Tour.

Yes it was a day of firsts - first time the tour started in London, first time a British rider was in the spotlight (while on a bike) and looked like they could actually ride, and first time Robbie fell 25kms out and still somehow took the win in a classic sprint. But it was still predictable - maybe being such a wide open tour the peleton is looking over their collective shoulder, maybe they're waiting for the side show of England to finish and when they get on French soil then the racing will start in earnest - who knows but at least Robbie has taken first blood.

On my Honour....

So to combat the circus that was the eve of last year's Tour, the UCI has created the anti-doping agreement that all rider's must sign - without your John Hancock, no Tour for you!! But does it mean anything?
Sastre and Klöden are the latest to put their name to paper but both have openly admitted it's only so they can start in London. So does the new measure ensure a clean Tour? There seems to be a wave of skepticism of the actual testing and results, wouldn't making sure that these are correct and have a tolerable false-positive rate make more sense?

And it's been announced that Bjarne Riis has been "Overcome" with all the doping allegations that he has decided not to take an "active" role at the race, a true loss for the Tour. The voices in his head are now saying "CSC without me, CSC without me......"

Le Tour 07 Preview: Episode 2

The second week of this years french epic takes us into the Alps, as we continue the clock-wise lap of the home of cheese, and should be the first shake-out for riders dreaming of wearing something other than their team jersey up the Champs. While the green will be well on it's way (out the back on every climb), and with the yellow still hiding in the pack, it will be the skinny contenders for the polka-dots coming to the fore in these hills.

So who's looking good for the second week?
Bouygues Telecom may have declared their ambition to throw down when the road goes up, but I'd be lookin for the lads from Rabo and Saunier to liven up proceedings. The chicken is due to renegotiate his contract after the race, so expect him to put on a decent show, and after last year no-one will be letting de la Fuente away on the incline. AG2R might be the dark horse for the alps after a great '06 and you can never count out disco's more junior members Popo and Contador, or pretty much any member of CSC.

The second week, like any second in a trilogy, is where the important story work is done, the gloves come off and the roads go up. It often ends with the dark side on top, with the goodies looking decidedly whipped. But who are the goodies? And how will they get out of this one...

Barloworld: who's who of TDF

Team Barloworld have announced their tour lineup for TDF 2007. The veritable who's who of world cycling includes such luminaries as Mauricio Soler, Giampaolo Cheula and Geraint Thomas, and a few others known only to their mothers. The team hope to emulate the inspirational performances of past Tour 'filler' teams like Agriturbel, RAGT and Domina Vicanze (once Cipo gave up on stage 3). It's clear that the ASO were thinking of the future when they selected TB over Unibet even though the latter have a protour licence (written on the back of a napkin), a former green jersey winner, and more wins in 07 than Milram...

Le Internet

Well obviously the organisers of le tour (ah, the ASO - classy bunch, eh Baden?) have been reading our fine site and took inspiration from the efforts of their American counterparts. I say this because I have just been checking out the new letour.fr site and it's not half bad.

Sure, there's no TOC live vid backgrounds and trackable maps, but its a huge step up on last years piss-poor effort - a site which looked like it had been created by a 12 year-old using Word.

Le Tour 07 Preview: Episode 1

As with all good things, episode one is where the law gets laid down, the goodies rock the baddies, and those boring walk-ons get shot out of the emergency hatch screaming until their heads blow up in the vacuum of space. Nuff said. Only a week out from our favourite race of the year - le tour - and things are hotting up. No big doping scandals this year, no prologue no-shows, late night press conference denials, pr, flak or spin. This is it, where the skinny rubber hits the soft french road for some teeth-clenchin, thigh pumping action.

The Route (also available in 3d)
Kicking off in the fair town of London (great site guys) this years tour is a gift to us anglophones. English-speakers have been notoriously slow to take up the two-wheeled gladiatorial action, and starting the grande boucle in England is for me a final 'cheers' from the boys in France whose cycles owe their sheds to the Poms, Yanks and Aussies. But this act of recompense may be spat back if Mr Millar has anything to do with it. The guy has been lookin good ever since he bounced his addiction and started riding like a real man, and it's a no-brainer that he'll be one to watch when the skin-suits get pulled up.

From there I think we have the usual first week of tour 'action' with sprint after failed-breakaway sprint. Lots of good money is already resting on the shoulders of Robbie Mac, though word is Big tom is thinking he may look ok in green (obviously his brush with yellow wasn't inspiring enough last year). Sure, these may not have the drawn out tension of a big day in the mountains, or even the sheer guts of a one-day classic, but the thrill of seeing 200 burly lads rocking a corner at over 60 is enough or me, so don't phone.

Seems you can't write about the race these days without mentioning the 'd' word, so smart money is on a few more revelations this week, though Valverde and Vino are both trained up and expecting to start come the weekend...

Bring it on, I say.