On the podium finally!

Thanks to the spidermonkey leadout train of Bryan "I only do classics" Witry and Danny "just throw the damn bottle" Pollard I was able to claim a spot on the podium at the Parkview Classic in Fort Wayne Indiana. They delivered me fourth wheel to the last corner and I was able to take down one rider to finish 3rd. Dan held on for 6th and Bryan claimed 8th after a lap of dragging the field at a blistering tempo. Huge thanks to the teammates today, I did the easy part!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Parkview Cycling Classic 1.0

Criterium: Check
6 Turns: Check
3/4 at 2:45pm: Check
Cat4 at 6:30pm: Check
Shoes: Check

A few lone wolves are heading to Indiana tomorrow in search of strippers and cocaine 2 races of fun. Its my first race back, and i'm excited.

Boogity Boogity Boogity, Lets Go Racin'!!

Saturday's Race

Myself, Bryan and Dan are heading to Fort Wayne Indiana to tackle the Parkview Cycling Classic. We will have an opportunity to race twice on Saturday which was attractive to us. The course is 1k long with 6 turns, updates to come.


Note to fellow racers, when planning to race in Indiana consider the effect of time zones in your travel plan.

 

Its transfer season!

We have reached one the the most interesting parts of the pro-cycling season, transfer season. With the biggest names in the sport likely on the move prior to the 2011 season including the entire 2010 TdF podium this could be one of the most important transfer seasons in years.

Over next couple weeks I'll look at the options available to the top riders on the transfer market. Today I will focus on the biggest name on the market Alberto Contador.

Word out of the Contador camp is that negations with Astana are stalled (according to velonews), and El Pisterlo is ready to ride for a new team in 2010. So where will he end up?

Quick Step

Patrick Lefevre, Quick Step Director, was hot after Contador last year. So we should assume the same will hold true this year. Quick Step showed at the Tour they could compete at the biggest race of the year without its biggest star, Tom Boonen. With the addition of a few climbers, namely Navarro and Noval, this team could be capable of defending Alberto's back to back tour titles. Not to mention this Alberto would take some pressure off Boonen and allow him to focus on the classics, where he truly shines.


Riis Team (old Saxo Bank)
Next season Andy and Frank Schleck will be riding for a new team out of Luxembrog built around them. They are most likely going to take a bunch of the Saxo guys with them. So this leaves a large hole in the Bjarne Riis lead team. With Saxo Bank ending its title sponsorship after this season some new sponsors will be filing the void and the team will go on, at least that's the word on the web. One of the rumored title sponsors for next season is Specialized (along with Sunguard), Contador has a personal contact to ride Specialized next season, hmmmm......  And Rhis is the type of director who can lead the second half of Contador's career, seems like a really good fit.

Garmin - Transitions

Jonathon Vaughter has openly gushed about Contador for years and rumors are that he would have signed him prior to the the 2009 Tour had Astana folded. So will Vautghers be able to sign him this time around? It seems unlikely. This team is influx, with CVV in the twilight of his career it looks as if the team is putting its resources behind Tyler Farrar. The fit wouldn't be great, but some pieces could be brought in to make a GC push for Contador. Not to mention they have a lot of money from the sale of Wiggo and you could always throw Ryder "weight of a nation" Hesjedal on the open market and fetch a pretty penny for him while his stock is through the roof.

Radio Shack

This isn't going to happen, but it would make the most sense. He is familiar with the team and the director, even if they don't always see eye to eye. This team doesn't have a true GC rider for the 2011 season (do you really want to go into 2011 with 36 yr old Andres Kolden as your top rider?) The team would be solid and the management would be steady. But then again if you read Bill Strickland's book Tour de Lance you would be lead to believe that all of Contador's ex-teammates don't really care for him. (And there is that whole investigation into the team's owner and director)

I think these are the only legitimate options for Contador now lets see what happens, my bet is on the Riis Team (Sunguard - Specialized). Let me know where you think Contador will end up next season in the comments section.

The tour is over, what does a cycling addict do?

Now that the tour is over I am not sure what to do. So here is what I came up with, a poll of sorts. I think it would be interesting to find a little bit about the people who read this blog. So I am going to list my favorite riders in pro cycling, and then I am going to ask you post your favorite riders in the comments. Lets see how it works.

Favorite Domestique - A rider whose main job is to help the team leader win the day's stage, or the entire race. A domestique may pull the leader up to a breakaway, or pace them up a steep climb. If a team leader gets a flat, a domestique may even be called upon to give up their front or rear wheel and wait for the team mechanic, saving the leader precious seconds. (via Tour of Americas Dairyland website)

Jens Vogit - The only true hardman of cycling!





Favorite Sprinter - The guys who bang all the way to the line, they battle for space and explode out of gaps and make it look easy.

Tyler Farrar - Its great to have an American sprinter for an American team and they are building a rice leadout train for him too. He really came into to his own at the Giro this year.


Favorite Team  - No explanation needed, right?

Radio Shack, I really like Johan Brunyeel. He is a master tactician and succeeds a lot more than he fails. I like the American angle of the team too. Horner, Lance, Levi, Matt Busche and Taylor Phinney is on his way up too. They also did a nice job winning me some rouleurderby points in the Team Classifaction (now I can payoff my debt!)

Favorite Classic Rider - The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. In the last few years, the five most revered races are sometimes described as the 'Monuments'.(Via wikipedia.com)

Big Tom Boonen, the three time Paris Roubiax winner hammers the cobbles like no other. He abuses other riders when the days get tough and if it comes down to a bunch sprint he is still one of the fastest wheels in the pack.









Favorite Grand Tour Contender - The guys who compete for the overall at the biggest events in cycling. .

Andy Schleck showed me something this year. He brought it this past Saturday in the Time Trial even pushing Contador to his limits. If it had not been for a slipped chain and a terrible prologue the tour may had ended differently. Better days are ahead for Andy Schleck, I will even predict that yesterday was the last day Alberto Contador will ride into Paris in Yellow. 2011 the Year of Schleck!






So Copy and Paste this list into the comments and fill it out.

Name
Chicago Cycling Team
Favorite Domestique
Favorite Sprinter 
Favorite Team 
Favorite Classics Rider 
Favorite Tour Contender   

The Office at Le Tour

Did you guys know that Steve Carell actually won stage 9, not Sandy Casar, (FDJ).... He apparently isn't leaving the office to pursue movies...

pic: velonation.com/sirotti

Race free weekend

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry