Search This Blog

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

...and a little bit of that.

We're not the only one paying attention to Jakob.
boo and my biceps are larger then Andy Schlecks. (boo put picture here).
The US Open has begun and almost perfectly, except Maria Sharapova pulled out the win. Welcome back James Blake. We've missed you. And Mardy Fish won, too.
-Star
Ahem....boo....picture....up there...

Monday, August 29, 2011

A little bit of this....

OK, so it's been awhile and actually a lot has happened in cycling. So a quick update:
In the Vuelta's opening stage Leopard-Trek won the Team Time Trial, putting Jakob Fuglsang in the leaders jersey. I believe he was a rider to watch for in the Tour. FYI: keep an eye out for him in Spain, too.
It's really hot in Spain, so Cav quit.
Tyler was all geared up for the first real sprint stage in the 7th stage, but got tangled up 100 meters from the finish and wend down HARD. At the finish line he went straight to the hospital, but was cleared after xrays showed nothing broken. So the next morning Tyler coughs up some blood, the team sends him back to the hospital, still nothing shows up so he starts the stage. After about 35 K he coughs up some more blood, so the team pulled his from the race. Still don't know if he was hurt more seriously then they thought.
Heinrich was in a break for a long time on one stage.
Dan Martin wins a mountain top finish with Wiggins making a big move up the GC.
In the ITT today Sky has ended up putting 2 riders in the top 3 on GC, and we saw it all on the telly.
Rest day.

In the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, for those that aren't on a rocky mountain high, Tour of Colorado, much happened.
Some young German on HTC won the downhill prologue.
Levi took it the next day.
Tejay took it the following day, whole Gorgeous George won the stage. Tejay said the Levi doesn't have the balls and can't go downhill very fast.
Levin brings the hammer the following day in a uphill time trial and make Tejay look like the young kid that he is. I guess not having balls makes it easier to ride uphill fast.
The last 3 stages were pretty uneventful, no change in the GC.
On the stalking side of the USAPCC, we got the #1 goal we set for ourselves, Ivan Basso, except I don't' think he really wanted to be photographed, maybe because I grabbed his arm to get his attention.
We wanted to get Pieter Weening, except we took a picture with Robert Gesink and some other hairy Dutch rider for Rabobank.
Dave Z was wandering around without a shirt. He has the Chris Evans/Captain America look pre-super shot down pat.
Flex had a run with the peloton up Wolcott Pass and then got yelled at by the Mavic motorcycle guys, so he stopped running.
Jude had a good ol' time in Breckenridge post race. She invited Danny Pate to Thanksgiving, shook hands with Fankie Andreu, didn't remember who Danny Summerhill was despite seeing him about 4 times within 5 minutes. We eventually made her take a picture with him so she would remember who he was. She got autographs from Tommy D, Christian and George Hincapie. She would have gotten Levi's too, but didn't have a pen.
Now we all need a rest after that vaca.
-Star

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Post Tour

I know this is late, but better then never. Besides the Vuelta a Espana starts on Saturday.
Winners:
Cadel Evans - Seriously, the guy is do. He crashed out last year after riding several stages in yellow and a broken elbow. He's been second a couple of times. And he's old. Cadel is the winner the Tour needed while dealing with this Alberto mess.
Garmin - After the second stage, Garmin was already having the best Tour they've ever had. Those 3 other stage wins, multiple days in yellow, top ten rider AND tops in the team competition....stupid awesome.
Big George Hincapie - He has ridden in 16 tours, finishing 15 and leading the race leader onto the Champs-Elysees 9 times. George = best ever domestic.
Crazy throwback attacks for 70k out - That makes the races exciting, not the lack of race radios.
Mark Cavendish - After looking at the route, he said that he'd win 5 to 7 stages. He got 5, plus the green jersey and keeps climbing the list of riders with most stage wins. The boy is fast.
The Dutch Corner - Loud drunks dressed in orange....everybody's a winner.
Tommy V & Tommy D - The future of French and American cycling delivered. Both finishing in the top ten.
Female crazies represented on the mountains - It's not just guys being stupid anymore! Whoo!
Norwegian cyclists - Two riders got 4 stage wins. While compared to the French, where 45 riders won 1 stage.
Losers:
People who hate Cav - Yes, he's a d-bag, whether he wins or loses. He just won a lot this year.
Cyclists thrown in to fences by cars - Totally not cool, the tour is hard enough, try doing it with 33 stitches in you backside.
Alberto Contador - I know that it's his job to ride a bike, but he seriously struggled to stay upright during the first week. But at least he got to punch a schlug dressed as a doctor on Alpe D'Huez.
Vino's Pelvis - He is strong like ox, unfortunately he needed to be strong like tree to stay in the tour. He's crazy, nonsensical attacks will be missed by the spectators, but not really by the peloton.
Uninspired road paintings - What? No ball? Or curse words? Maybe I need to learn Dutch.
Radioshack - I've rarely seen a rider drop out from a concussion, but that you lose 2 riders from the same team within days of each other.... your karma sucks. Yes, Johann, this is directed towards you.
Niether here or there:
Schlecks - Finished 2nd and 3rd, but was 1 day from finishing 1st and 2nd....maybe someday the Tour will come out with a route that has no time trials or descents. Cross your fingers, Andy.
Jokes about cheese - They are funny, it's just the punchline that gets to you. Whew.
-Star