2006 Cycling Worlds

All I have to say about Bettini winning the WC is that we don't have to hear all the whining that traditionally follows an Azzurri failure. Perhaps it's due to them actually caring, you really never hear any of the other countries bitching so much. I'd feel a little better about him winning if he wasn't talking shit about Boonen beforehand, but I guess crossing the line first is a good back up for that.

When I woke up this morning I had the feeling that given the course that Zabel would be up there in the end. It looked as though he hadn't poked his head out for the entire race, but damned if he wasn't contesting another freaking 2nd place!! My heart truly goes out to Erik. He's one of the few riders that actually races the ENTIRE year, and is competitive throughout. I though for sure that this was going to be the year; 4 man split and only Sanchez, Valverde, and Bettini to beat. Not that those are names that should be dismissed, but none of them are true sprinters.

I wish the race had the same luster it had in the past. Although w/ two top riders wearing the jersey we may have brought it up a notch. All respect to Oscar Freire (none to Vainsteins) but he really doesn't ride all year, so he doesn't show off the jersey too much. You need star riders showing all year to bring the force of the rainbow jersey back to prominence.

I still can't get over David Millar being there in the end as well. If he's truly clean, this is a great step for cycling.

Lastly, U23 winner Gerald Ciolek is a bad ass!

Oh, and then there's this:









Team USA all ready for great hydration using their Camelbacks... Who is the idiot that designed these jerseys? Why does team USA ALWAYS have the worst looking jerseys? Who cares if they're referencing TRON; as a cycling jersey it's hideous!!

Technorati Tags: cycling, cycling worlds, Paolo Bettini, Erik Zabel, Tom Boonen, David Millar, 2006 Cycling Road Championships

Images courtesy of Cyclingnews.com and VeloNews.com.

back from the team car.

highly remiss in my duties.
With all my talk about wanting to take this blog to the next level, I sure post like I don't. Anyway, it's the red-headed stepchild of the Grand Tours and I'm learning how to make the web a better place through CSS! Okay, very quickly...

-It's been a torrid past month for Discovery. Big George Hincapie lost the Eneco Tour in the last 100 meters being taken out by eventual winner Schumacher, then won the US Championships ahead of return Disco signee Levi Leipheimer, plus Max Van Heeswijk won a stage in the Tour of Poland, Janez Brajkovic wore the golden Vuelta jersey, T-Dan cracked, then came back and won a mountain stage ahead of the future golden man Alexander Vinokourov, Egoi Martinez won the KOM classification, and 25 (not really) people have decided to leave for different pastures. Oh, and some jerk-off named Frankie admitted using EPO during the '99 TDF while riding for Postal and Lance. Good job!

-Victorious Vino and the troubled Astana team are guaranteed at least a spot in one of the Grand Tours next year. Unfortunately, since the UCI and the Tours haven't started playing together yet, this doesn't guarantee them a ProTour license for the upcoming season. This after signing Andreas Kloden, and Paulo Salvoldelli (from Discovery) among others. They would be the greatest Continental team of all time!!! That sure would suck.

-Vino deserved the win more than most considering what he went through at T-Mobile. Alejandro Valverde also deserved it after breaking his collar-bone in the TDF, but it looks like he flat out didn't have it at the end. Hopefully a sign that there wasn't any doping making a mess and a mockery out of the GC results. Vino attacked like a true pro from yesteryear lighting the blue touch paper and throwing caution to the wind (thanks Phil and Paul!). Well taken.


Technorati Tags: cycling, Vuelta a Espana, Discovery Team, Vinokourov, Astana Team, Grand Tours, ProTour