The Gorilla Delivers

Even though a crash took out most of his rivals, big Andre looked pretty happy when he took out his first stage win for this year’s tour. The Lotto train delivered him to the line perfectly and he did the rest. It will be interesting to see how his rivals (Cav ,Renshaw, etc) recover from their time on the ground. As stated before by this writer, I think Cav will be doing it pretty tough this year without his normal lead out, so this crash will only add to that. Given all that is happening at Sky, with their focus on Wiggins for the GC, I really wonder why Cav signed with them. Obviously he was offered a pretty big pay incentive, but to leave the fastest rider on the planet to fend for himself in the year that he wears the rainbow jersey is a big ask. Surely he would have been better going somewhere else – Rabobank with Renshaw is an obvious choice. The big attraction for him (apart from the Pounds) was riding in a UK based team. Once the Olympics are over and his focus changes, we’ll see how happy he is.

How good was the scenery along the coast last night? Some of the shots of the limestone cliffs were spectacular. If French beaches weren’t full of dodgy Frenchmen wearing even dodgier Euro-style budgie-smugglers, then you’d consider holidaying there. You’d obviously need to find that $20,000 mentioned in yesterday’s post. Speaking of which, I haven’t had any interest in donations as yet. If you don’t act soon, I may miss out on a spot and then there’s no “live” blog. Lose-lose for all of us, so put your hands in yopur pockets people.

Podium Girls. Don’t we love ’em. George Hincapie certainly does – he married one. Since I’ve learned how to post photos, I figure I might use a few of my mate Wade Wallace at Cycling Tips’ photos to demonstrate just what’s required to get a gig up on the stage every day. The (long suffering) wife’s just going to love this. She’s already pretty happy with me for coming to bed late each night (after she’s been asleep for 3 hours) muttering on about the lack of performance of riders in my Fantasy Tour team, and the consequent great form of riders NOT in my team (f*^#ing Petacchi). This will just top it off. People think my reference to “long suffering” is humorous and tongue-in-cheek. It’s not. She suffers.

It will all be over in a few seconds….

Speaking of Fantasy Tour, some minor moves overnight with yours truly moving to the top (only just). Reed plays his bonus stage tonight and Stewart tomorrow night, so by the weekend we’ll know who the “serious” players are this year.

Enjoy the sprint tonight. Greipel again I reckon.

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Easy, Peasy

Whilst nearly every other rider in the peleton was either a) nursing broken bones in the back of team cars; b) trying to get through the latest wall of riders lying on the ground; or c) gasping for any available oxygenated air in their vicinity going up the final hill; young Peter Sagan was doing his latest “running man” impersonation as he crossed the finish line well clear of anybody. This kid is good. To dominate a tough finish with that much ease is remarkable. It’s not like he’s riding a B Grade Masters race either (although the quality of field racing those races these days is extremely high). He’s up against the best bike riders in the world and they all would give their spleen to win a stage. No wonder they’re making comparisons with Mr Mercxx already.

There certainly was some carnage last night. If you were watching the “mainstream” news channels on TV this morning you’d be forgiven for thinking that the race didn’t even have a finish. Not a mention of the winner of the stage or his class and dominance. Just reels of footage of the the numerous bingles that occurred, complete with “expert” commentary as to who hit who in each crash. Despite Australia having the current TDF winner and their first ever pro team at this year’s race, we have a long way to go before we are a serious cycling nation. Thank God for SBS. Although, with Sunderland’s shirts and Tomalaris’ ramblings, even they could do with a clean-out. If they let Matt Keenan run the show, it would be a good start.

I got an email this morning telling me that spots on the Bikestyle Tours 100th TDF trip (next year) are filling up, and that if I wanted in I had to pre-register, which got my mind a-thinking. A trip to France for the  Tour would be amazing enough. For the 100th edition, would be something else. I even had my father call me a couple of days ago, suggesting that we (he, my brothers & I) should go. If anybody out there can come up with a way for me to get a hold of $20,000 in a hurry, let me know. Here’s an idea: My blog had 20 views yesterday. If all of those people put in $1,000 for the pleasure of reading my blog next year “live” from the event in 12 months time, then I’d be home & hosed. I’ll provide my bank account details in my next post if people are keen….

Why we love Le Tour

Not a lot of movement in the Fantasy Tour last night. The cream should come to the top after all the bonus point stages have been played in the next few days. 7 more transfers on Friday night, which always make things very interesting. Remember how serious this is people. You do have to do some moving of riders every now and again. Mind you, if you stuck with Sagan for every stage, you’re probably doing OK.

Enjoy tonight. My tip – Gringo Greipel to turn the tables on Cavendish.

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Sprinters Reign, Helmets Insane

It was pretty standard stuff in the first real sprint stage last night. The strong lead out teams set up things well, leaving the big boys to do the last bit of work. As expected, it came down to a massive battle between Greipel & Cavendish. Cavendish took this one, but it took every ounce of his strength & energy and without a train I expect him to struggle from now on. There’s a very good chance he’ll abandon before things get too hilly anyway, which will be a relief for Bradley Wiggins, who is having trouble sharing his men with Cav. Young Sagan realised that winning pure sprint stages against the best in the world is not as easy as he expected. He will learn though, and should win one before the end.

Has anybody else noticed the hideously bad helmets getting about in the peleton at the moment? The one that Mark Renshaw is wearing looks like the Stackhat my mum made me wear to school back in the day. For the last 10 years helmet manufacturers have been producing helmets that are still Standards approved, but as light as a feather. The number of vents has been an indicator of how “good” your helmet was, i.e. 28 vents was really flash. In an aerodynamic obsessed world though, we are turning back the clock and removing vents for the expense of speed. We’ll see where this one takes us – eventually. Not only that, but the Tour organisers’ idea to make the leading team all wear yellow helmets has resulted in a ridiculous look for the Sky men this week. Poor old Wiggins had to wear a green jersey with black knicks and a yellow helmet. This is breaking so many Rules (http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/) it is not funny.

Jo has kindly provided a link in her comment about “that” shirt that Sunderland wore 2 nights ago. The photo is below. He has copped a heap of stick, and rightly so. He reverted back to a standard green polo for last night, which was clearly a damage-controlled move.

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There was a bit of moving and shaking in the Fantasy Tour last night. My little bro has gone to the top of the table, with yours truly following him to 2nd spot. A few wiley characters have bonus stages coming in the next couple of nights, so things will definitely get interesting soon. My points would have been better last night if poor little Marcel Kittel had hardened up a bit. An sore tummy is no excuse for not contesting the sprint at the Tour De France – especially if people (me) are promoting you to their team for a bonus stage. I am cursing him almost as much as I cursed that Norwegian pretty boy, Boasson Hagen from last year.

Enjoy tonight. My tip – Simon Gerrans for Orica-Green Edge’s first TDF stage win.

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The Young Rooster Crows

Whilst 22 year old Peter Sagan showed what a class act he is, Spartacus again demonstrated what real power is all about on the final couple of kilometres in last night’s stage. Although he’s probably sick of guys sitting on his wheel and pipping him on the line, at least he hangs onto yellow for another day. Radioshack Nissan Trek controlled the race perfectly, with Big Jens & Popovych being the only 2 riders we saw on the front until the final 30km. Gilbert would have been disappointed with his 4th placing, but the race was really out of his hands once Chavanel charged out of the pack. Looking at the damage that final climb did to the rest of the peleton, it must have been nasty, so the sprinters will be happy to get on flatter ground tonight.

When I started doing this blog a couple of years ago, the (long suffering) wife suggested I try and get something out of it by reviewing some cycling products. How she envisaged it would be: someone like Zipp send me some wheels for me to try for a few weeeks; I write a (favourable) review and they let me keep the wheels. It could be done with all sorts of gear – bikes, tyres, handlebars etc. Even a Skoda car could be included, given their close ties with cycling. I’ve no doubt that her motives were purely to stop me from spending anymore of the household budget on (in her words) “cycling crap”. Whilst watching the coverage last night the usual ads  came on and after seeing the ReadyAnytime ad (For the 18th time), I suggested that I get in touch with them and ask for them for some “product” for me to try and review. Funnily enough, she’s now changed her mind about product reviews. I wonder if this means she’s happy for me to continue spending?

How bad was Scott Sunderland’s shirt in the post race interview with Tomalaris last night? Surely he just stole that off a French hippy’s 13 year old daughter, he met on the side of the road. If I knew how to post photos on this thing, I’d show you if you missed it.

No real big movers in Fantasy Tour news. Mikey Stewart is having a fantastic first few days. The Rock is still on top, but with a few of us playing our Bonus Stage over the next few nights the order could change considerably.

Keep enjoying.

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Tony Terrible, Fabian Phenomenal

It has begun. All the waiting has ended and we’re into it. The Prologue presented us with some dramas that are almost expected in an event as huge as this. First, we saw the brilliant wonder kid – Peter Sagan just about come off his bike as he pushed beyond his limits. Then we saw poor Tony Martin standing at the side of the road in his World Champion’s jersey waiting for a spare bike after suffering a puncture. How unlucky is that? Tragic stuff. Wiggins was very good, Cadel did enough to be “in there” and then came Spartacus. This guy is a machine. Some were saying that he’d lost his power and his days were over, but in a race that had guys being split by thousandths of seconds, to win by 7 seconds is freakish. He’ll wear yellow tonight, and don’t be surprised to still see him wearing it for a few days yet.

Tonight’s stage is a funny one. Many experts are saying that the finish will be too hard for the pure sprinters to win it. If this is the case, expect to see someone like Gilbert, or even Cancellara (again) take the chocolates.

The SBS coverage looks to be what we’ve come to expect over the years. Matt Keenan offering expert (probably more so that Phil & Paul) commentary until later on, Mike Tomalaris bumbling through his introductions and live crosses, the plethora of ads from BikeForce, AvantiPlus, Skoda and ReadyAnytime -what the?! Did anybody else think it extremely odd that an erection problem company is placing ads on repeat during the Tour De France? Do me a favour. I’m sure all us cyclists have exeprienced a little numbness in the nether regions after a few hours in the saddle, but to make us ReadyAnytime’s target market – yikes.

In Fantasy Tour news, The Rock has shot to the lead after nominating the Prologue as his bounus stage and some shrewd selections. Dark horse Mike Stewart scored a massive 131 points. Had he selected the Prologue as his bonus stage he would be placed top 20 worldwide! Yours truly was woeful, but as I stated to the Rock this morning, it is a 3 week race. A hell of a lot will happen between now and July 22. Let’s see how we’re going then.

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Tick, tock

Well, it’s only hours away now. What promises to be a thrilling contest right until the end is all about to start. Tonight sees the big boys roll out for the Prologue. At only 6.5km, the race isn’t going to be won tonight. If somebody has a shocker, this could make it really hard for them to win though. Cadel will be going off last, and in yellow due to his victory last year, so at least he’ll get to see how fast he’ll have to go to limit his losses. Expect Wiggins to go out hard. This is right up his alley. He probably won’t want to get yellow, as this will put too much pressure on his team to control the race, but it’s unlikely he’ll cruise either. It’s hard to look past Spartacus in any race against the clock, but Tony Martin has beaten him on a few occasions now, and he’s made it clear that individual stages are his goal this year, so you’d have to think he’s targeted this one. And of course there’s usually a bolter as well, so it’s going to be a thrilling night to kick it all off.

Overall winner? I’m liking the fact that an immense amount of pressure has fallen on Wiggins’ shoulders. You know what the poms are like. If they think they have a slight chance of winning something (anything!), the nation (and their press) just goes nuts. Ask Andy Murray how much expectation is on him every Wimbledon. Meanwhile, Cadel has just been cruisng under the radar. He handles the press and the associated pressure so much better these days. He’s almost “likeable”. I think he can do it. His team would all give their left one for him, and they have a united cause – unlike Sky.

Polka Dot? Maybe Frank Schleck. He’s not going to threaten for the GC, and he doesn’t have to ride for Andy this year, so he’s in with a chance. Jelle Vanendert is another contender. He’s a long, skinny looking thing with shoulders like a black snake, so he’s got the right genetics. He had a big crack at it last year too, so he knows what’s involved to win. Pierre Rolland is another possibility. If he stops listening to the desparate French press and realises that he can’t time trial to save himself, he might give up his (and his country’s) dreams of wining the GC and concentrate on stage wins.

Green Jersey? This will be a cracker. Unfortunately the timing of the Olympics means that a lot of the guys who would normally be going all out to win green will be keeping one eye on the gold medal in London. Try giving the likes of Cavendish, Petacchi, Goss etc. a sniff of a win though, and expect them to save themselves. I reckon it will just mean less emphasis placed on the intermediate sprints, which is good news if you’re a breakaway rider. I really don’t know who will win it. I’ll go with Goss though – because he’s an Aussie and a good bloke too (he did talk to me on a ride in Adelaide one day).

The Fantasy Tour is all up & running. It’s not too late to get involved. There’s only points awarded for Individual Stages this year, which means that your “garden variety” cycling fan can still do very well. Only the OCD fans like yours truly had a chance in previous years, so it evens out the playing field. Does this mean I’ll take it any less seriously than previous years? Highly unlikely.

Enjoy it people. There’s 49 other weeks in the year when you can go to bed early. Just think how bad you’d feel if you decided to “have an early one because it’s a flat stage tonight” and a breakaway stayed away, or Jens Voigt won a stage in his 41st year. You wouldn’t be able to look your work colleagues around the water cooler in the eye. Yeah, I know SBS do a great highlights package, but can you really put the full emotion, action and excitement of a 200km stage into a 25 minute show? Of course you can’t. HTFU, drink some coffee and stay up.

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It Approaches

Well, all the Europeans have run and won their national titles over the weekend. No real surprises, and therefore no real “bolters” for the Tour. It appears more than ever that it’s going to come down to whoever rides the fastest whilst leaning on their elbows. Unless Cadel can put some time into Wiggins in the mountains, he’s going to have to time trial better than he ever has before. The chances of BMC hurting Sky is pretty unlikely, so I think we’ll see a man-on-man battle all the way to Paris.

The Fantasy Tour closing date is also getting closer. The rules this year make it far less tactical, which means I might actually get some sleep next month. I got some practice in last weekend when I stayed up to watch Black Caviar ride to glory inthe UK. Let’s hope another little Aussie has similar success over the next few weeks. 

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I’m Back…

After much umming & ahhing I’ve decided to cover the Tour again in the blog. The (long suffering) wife actually encouraged it, so if it gets the green light from her, there’s no other option really. As usual, it will focus heavily on the real contest – the Avantiplus Tour Fantasy. I’ve only just had a look at it this evening and it seems to be pretty similar to other years, so if you’re reading this, feel free to join my Mini-League here: http://cysb.silentmanager.org/league.aspx?page=join

Mini League Name: Rotund’s Roadies

Mini League Password: star2012

More posts as the race approaches.

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Now what?

Well first of all, I’ll be having an early night for the first time since the last rest day. The tension of the time trial and then the emotion of the final stage made the last couple of nights even more tiring than the rest. Gee whiz it was worth it though.

The Time Trial. I found myself getting more and more nervous as the start times of the big favourites approached. The (long suffering) wife asked me why I was so jumpy and I had to admit that I was incredibly anxious about Cadel’s ride. Surely he could hold himself together for this one, last, hour-long ride. He may have never had a better opportunity. To stuff it up now would have been unbearable to watch. And plenty of other guys were getting the yips. Gilbert couldn’t keep his chain on, Alberto nearly rolled off the ramp and a few others were taking some “interesting” lines through the corners. Once he started though, there was no question that he was going to win it. The focus he showed as he belted himself down the straights, and over the lumps was chilling. In contrast was poor old Andy as he rolled through corners, floated across the road and he just looked defeated. It was a little bit sad. For a great rider such as he to look so uncompetitive was a shame. But everybody who rocks up to start the race each July knows that at some stage they’ll have to race against the clock. In some recent Tours they’ve had to do a prologue and then 2 other time trials. Christian Prudhomme has cleverly manipulated the last few Tours to eliminate these time trials (and time bonuses) to ensure closer racing, but for the Schlecks to seemingly disregard the discipline is certainly a detriment to their chances of ever winning the Tour. Surely they’ll be scheduling a few sessions on the TT rigs over the next 12 months.

The Final Stage. There must have been some strange air in my living room last night because my eyes kept getting watery and my throat had a lump in it. I’ve been watching Cadel ride at the tour for a few years now, and I’ve seen him go from a whingey, whiney dude who I didn’t really like, to a guy who is probably as tough as I’ve ever seen in any sport. There’s no doubt he’s a different cat, and he says some odd things, but when it comes to riding his bike, he is awesome. When you watch him ride side by side blokes like Alberto & Frank, you realise that he doesn’t have the natural ability of them, or many others in the peleton. I think that’s why I like him so much. He’s put in an enormous amount of work over the past 20 years and to see it all pay off is a great thing.

There’s been a lot of chat amongst the cycling fraternity criticising the way in which the general public has got on the bandwagon and become overnight experts on all things cycling. This of course should be expected from cyclists. How dare anybody who doesn’t ride a $10,000 steed have an opinion on “their” sport? Good thing, I say. If it means one less bogan tries to run me off the road, or throw their choc mik at me, then I’m happy for them to get in on the act. We (all you educated blog readers and I) all know that they’ll never really get it.  After all, it is just a big bunch of guys riding their pushbikes around France for a few weeks…

The King is dead. Long live the King. That’s right trendsetters – I have been deposed at the top of the Rotund’s Roadies Mini-League in the Fantasy Team competition. Matt Reed has come in first by 43 points, placing him at 56 world-wide. Well done Matt. I hope you send a special cheerio to Mr Boasson Hagen.

The Rock and I made our way out to the Masters race yesterday to stretch our legs with the B-Graders. Clearly being inspired by Team BMC’s efforts over in France we set out to hit the peleton with the STAR one-two. My legs were bad, so most of the work out front was done by the Rock. He got away up the road with another dude at one stage, and when a fellow rider suggested that I help shut down the gap, I reminded him that I was a team-mate of one of the escapees and that as he was a world-class time-triallist, he would probably stay away for the rest of the race. That certainly stirred things up. With the chasing left to just a couple of guys, that sufficiently took enough out of their legs to enable me to sprint away from the bunch for the win. The Rock was legendary and managed to come in 3rd. As we rode through the finish line feeling pretty happy with ourselves, we were quite humbled when one of our competitors mentioned to us that he was 70 years old. That’s right – 70! I’d like to think I was still riding a bike when I’m 70, but after what I’ve done to my body over 40 years, I’d say I’ll be lucky to be riding a Smokey Dawson chair. One can dream though.

I’d like to say that I’ll keep the blog going now that the Tour’s over, but the truth is that I’ll actually be quite depressed for a couple of weeks. Yes, it means that much to me. I already miss the sound of the music as the SBS coverage begins each night. I will not miss the 7 ads that they’ve rolled on repeat in every break for the past 3 weeks, but that’s a small thing. It is an awesome event. There’s plans for a group of us to head on over for the 100th edition in 2013. This suggestion actually came from the (long-suffering) wife, so there’s actually a chance that it might happen. Anybody want to buy a kidney?

Ride safe.

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Oh Boy!

That was incredible sport last night. It had everything. Thank God it was only 109km, because I don’t think I could have handled the drama of a 200-odd km stage. There were attacks, counter-attacks, mechanical issues, dummy-spits, heated conversations, and good old-fashioned suffering by all. It has set up tonight’s time trial perfectly.

What Cadel has had to do for the last couple of nights made me proud to be an Australian. He very easily could have sat in and waited for somebody else to do some work. I’m sure he would have preferred that option, but when nobody else was clearly going to help out, he not only rode tempo, but put in efforts that pegged back the leaders considerably. To do that for two days in a row over mountains that make you cross-eyed was unbelievable. Let’s just hope he has left something in the tank for the TT.

It has been great watching the Housewife’s Favourite guts it out to hold his yellow jersey for 10 days straight. He has done the race, the jersey and his country proud. It was sad to see him falling down the rankings so much last night. It would have been good to see him get a podium spot. But this race is so close, that if you have one bad day, you lose big time on the rankings. He knew it too. To get so close and then see it all slip away would probably make me throw a bidon or two as well.

Set your clocks. Cadel rides at 10.12pm AWST. Frank goes 3 minutes later and then Andy rolls out last. They don’t call it the race of truth for nothing.

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