UCI WorldTour and other pro cycling nonsense 2011

btw NBS if youre still after a recording of the zoncolan stage, cyclingtorrents.nl have it along with highlights

I managed to catch the last three kms yesterday watchig RAI in Italian via the Steephill website, but it's not really the same if you already know the result.

Just watched today's EPIC stage. God, that looked tough. Nibali's not really as strong as I thought he was. He reminds me a bit of Wiggins in the 2009 TDF - a steady climber, unable to put in savage attacks, good enough for a high placing but nowhere near to winning. His thing is descending, whereas with Wiggins it's time trials.

there was a guy the other day dangling a steak at the end of a fishing line in front of Contador. good times.

Sherwin and Ligget talking about where you can get to on US 101 is proof, if proof were needed, that the end of the world didn't happen yesterday.

I really like how a couple of these ToC stages end with Crit-esque finishing circuits. A nice nod IMO to American style racing, and cool for amateur racers like me to see the pros riding similar circuits to what we do.

yeah crits really aren't a thing in europe huh

For reals, sprint finishes on nice flat wide California roads are really nice, gives all the sprint trains plenty of space to do their thing and levels the playing field nicely. None of the silly road furniture in the last 1km that you see in a lot of races.

Crit racing is becoming more popular in the UK thanks to the Halfords Tour series.

I know logistics prevent it but I'd love to see crits that were less like NASCAR and more like F1. Like empty street alleycats. Monaco style.

Also are gravel centuries a thing outside the Midwest? The Almanzo 100 is huge thing here now, and it looks to be as brutal as some of the euro spring classics.

Also the amount of work that the race organizer puts into it is pretty astonishing.

http://cycleture.photoshelter.com/gallery/2011-Almanzo/G0000gJ8g8tTETok

take your filthy gran fondo talk over here:

For nary all of us can be Cat2 cutiez: the gentleperson's weekly sportif / randonnée / brevet log

Another death - did you guys see this? http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23052011/58/tondo-killed-garage-door.html

Bloody hell

that is horrible! rip tondo.

poor guy :(

wrt grand tours, uphill time trials are stupid, redundant, and should be banned. #foodforthought

Awful about Tondo... such a well respected rider.

Part of me suspects may be a retaliation though, he blew the whistle on the Girona juniors doping program not that long ago, ya?

Didn't a garage door fall on him? Haven't read any of.the stories in full yet, but nobody suspects foul play, right?

Mafia always makes it look like an accident right, that's the point?

/dons tinfoil hat

Flashback to Vaughters' kudos article on Tondo just 3 months ago
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/jonathan-vaughters/connecting-the-dots

yeah i thought about that as soon as i heard about his death. wow, i thought that was like a month ago.

uh-oh

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian-police-search-radioshack-vehicles-on-giro-ditalia-rest-day

Team boss Johan Bruyneel left the race last night and was unavailable for comment.

quelle surprise

was gonna post on that, but got all distracted by the idea of lance asking popo to submit to jurisdiction by coming to ride for the roses, lol.

w/r/t giro: *yawn*

YO DAWG! HEARD YA LIKE HILLS SO WE PUT A HC TT IN YO HILLY SR!

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2011/05/23/1306146491331-wq26aplvgz2w-670-75.jpg

swine in the news

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/verbruggen-says-armstrong-never-never-never-doped

someone stick a syringe in it, this race is done

whats wrong with hill TTs btw? just rubbish?

they encourage risky behavior, like running with atlatl-propelled hypodermics

Hill climb TTs are good equalizers if the parcours of the other stages tilt the advantage to the fat mantis TT/sprint/breakaway artists.

But in mountainous stage races like the Giro which already favor the climbers, the selection through the mountains has been made over and over again and again x7 to the tune of about 10 minutes for the leader. Why add further to that? The final results are even further cemented now than they were a stage ago.

wrt grand tours, uphill time trials are stupid, redundant, and should be banned. #foodforthought

― the entire premise of your tweet is incorrect (Hunt3r), Monday, May 23, 2011 7:08 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark

is conty planning on riding the tdf?

so...

I guess he can now

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cas-postpone-contador-hearing

Although ASO might not let him ride if there is no CAS decision.

so dominant, but nice gesture. i woulda thought tiralongo had a major win before this, its not like he's totally obscure.

Today's stage make me miss living in Torino. I shall have to buy a bottle Barolo to celebrate.

just switched over from F1 qualifying - beautiful looking roads. Have had a cheeky 2 quid on Menchov, he's going to win one, and at 30-1 couldn't not.

it sure isn't protour, but 55 y/o ned overend won iron horse for the 5th time today. *bows down*

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/527272/millar-wins-giro-s-final-time-trial-overall-result-in-doubt.html

Cycling Weekly not exactly overjoyed at Contador's victory.

Yesterday was all about the football and excessive alcohol consumption. I've only just discovered that Bradley Wiggins won a time trial stage and beat Cancellara in the process, and Geraint Thomas won the overall, and David Millar won the Giro time trial today.

dear lazynets,

is there anywhere to catch video highlights of the US Pro Championships? or is USA cycling coverage restricted only to sketchy dopers coming out of the closet?

Have you tried steephill?

Yeah, i actually chatted with them and they said that Versus (shitty us "alt sports"? network) will be showing recaps this coming weekend. 1 week delays in the '11, good stuff.

Jealous of britishers, aussies and le euros...

lol, i remember back when the tdf was 1/2 hour first weekend, 1 hour second and third weekends on abc, and they cut away all the time to like, world lawn darts champs.

Just saw this:
http://neilbrowne.com/2011/06/opportunity-for-versus-to-increase-cyclings-ratings/

eh, dunno. i just don't see the future of pro cycling video in usa being distributed cable programming. the interests just don't align, no matter how much mr. browne wishes that an educated viewership could be created and fostered. i can think of programming/scheduling that that might help achieve that end, but...good luck finding a cable venue for it.

i don't think it would hurt to "teach the controversy" wrt cycling, esp now that ppl know how pervasive doping is. i don't mean to have guys being all cynical about doping and who's gonna pop next (that's what the internets are for), but yeah, have commentators be really real about it.

i haven't followed universal/nbc too closely, but what do ppl think of universal's model? they seemed to do web based shit in addition to cable.

looking at that, i dont mean teach the controversy, i just mean, don't gloss over it when the dude in the pink jersey could be suspended and stripped in the near future. maybe they did a good job with that on tv, i don't know- i didn't watch! ha maybe i should talk about something i know about. *crickets*