The Greatest Cyclist Ever

Damn!!! Jeannie Longo misses Bronze by 2 seconds!!!  The French legend sports 50 years old, racing age. She’s won it all. Olympics, World Championships, Road, Track….and she’ll win more. One of the most painful races I’ve ever watched was a US race (I can’t remember which) where Longo was riding alone against a very strong Saturn team. They gang fucked her, but she still finished second or so for the stage race. She was pissed. The Saturn women were elated. But, it was sickening. It took 9 strong women to beat her, and they just barely managed.

No surprise to see Armstrong pull out the Gold for the red, black, and blue. How about Fabian Cancellara hitting 50mph on the flats? Wow!! No CSC rider has ever tested positive….

Mistakes of Olympic Proportions….

Let’s see, on Sunday, Team Mack’s Mark Tank scored second place at the Masters Crit in Elk Grove. Then, later in the day, Robert Kron took 2nd in the Masters 40+ at Elgin, and Mark McGeen took second at the Masters 50+ race at Elgin, and Clark Priebe lapped the field and took 2nd in the pro-1-2 race at Elgin! Woh….we must be sponsored by the Number 2 this week, just like on Sesame Street.

Mistakes are often made. Leaving Chris Horner off the Olympic team, for example. Jesus Fuck. Jason McCartney? I’ve heard he’s a nice guy..but, ah…you really think he’s gonna follow Rebellin’s wheel? We have a guy who was 8th at Liege–the race most similar to the Olympic course in terms of demand and contour–who now has a broken collarbone because he was racing bullshit American crits because he wasn’t going to Beijing.

It’s a bit humorous to see American political activists protesting the Chinese Games. Ah…dudes, we torture people, have kangaroo court trials, execute foreigners over the protest of their home governments, and are engaging in two illegal wars (by definitions of international law). Who fucking cares about China? Why fly 10,000 miles to protest fascism? If the Olympics were held in a civilized nation this year (Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland), there would have been protests against US involvement.

Elk Grove…blood for money.

This about sums up the Elk Grove Experience, Ask Chris Horner

 

Sometimes, maybe, you just gotta listen to Uncle Gary….But, with so much money on the line and a Masters 3-4 race on the schedule, a few of us cat-3 Mackers took the bait. Fortunately, none of us were eaten by a shark or anything. But, many others didn’t fare so well. I counted six crashes in the Cat 3 race. We were trying to keep our new young gun, Danny Robertson (14th overall with several podiums at Superweek) up near the front for the finale. Robo and I went on a few bids for primes, but both of us backed off in the face of stupidity. Ricardo was really hanging in well, and also looked primed for the final…Danny has serious talent, and has a clean head for hanging in fast packs and sprinting out of them. Danny was 4th wheel when 3rd wheel went into the barriers….then there was another huge crash which almost claimed all of us. Jeff Williams and Robert Kron were on the sidelines shaking their heads, Tammy was looking at us like were were nuts, and Uncle Gary got in an “I told you so” or two. Fortunately, the arrival of Robert Kron’s mother made us all feel safe again.  We stuck around to watch the pros crash out. It was pretty sickening to see Chris Horner go down and out for the season on the Jumbotron. Great Jumbotron. Not great course.

So, we got up the next day and raced at Elk Grove again. Only worse, on the 1.7 mile course. At least there were no crashes in the Masters. Jeff did a great job controlling the pace in the late laps (heading off the front with two laps to go), and Mark Tank and Ricardo Otero held perfect position. Mark got nipped at the line taking second, and Ricardo was scored 8th. Former Macker and great guy Dan Verner was third. I should have followed Dan when he moved up. I needed another 20 minutes or so. Jeff went to see if he could make the Elgin masters race, but I decided to call it a weekend and get home before dinner.

Great to see young Steve Kot from SIU at Elk Grove! Steve was hanging in the front of the 5’s race, but got caught out on a crash in the finale…gee, that seems to be a thing at Elk Grove…5’s to pros…

Next year, I’m going to Elgin if I head north in August….I should have listened to Uncle Gary….

Big Race Over.

 

Another Superweek has come and gone, and Team Mack put 3 guys in the top 10, with Clark Priebe, Robert Kron, and Mark McGeen keeping it up for a superweek! Mark took today’s stage in Whitefish Bay, which may have been the same stage he took last year…and I think these same two guys were on the podium with him….

and…..ALEX VOITIK WINS SUPERWEEK!!!! Wow. Alex was scrapping in every stage, and managed to pull out the overall victory by a couple of points! Congratulations!

Over in the civilized world, the Tour de France concluded. The finish looked pretty much staged, since the only major team who hadn’t won a stage somehow miraculously got their shit together. Bjarne Riis was putting serious champagne in the water bottles. Cancellara would do well TT’ing back from Von Jacobs. He had several bidons, and was still thinking about going for it with 2k. Great to see Carlos Sastre finally win the tour after being so close for so long.

I’m almost ready for Elk Grove/Elgin, I guess. Today I did a hard solo around Hutchinson Creek and ran into Alan and Carol Brandenburg while I was watering up at Von Jacobs. That was a pleasant surprise!

Kookaburra: Skinny Australian turkey with an irritating voice

Looks like Cadel Evans choked! Wow! Not even that “Ridley” TT bike could help him. I’m a bit surprised, but it’s good to see Sastre finally get it.  The more Evans whines, the more I like Sastre. After losing the ITT and taking less than a half a minute out of Sastre, Evans complains that CSC has a better team…ah, it was an ITT, dude. If in the same spot, Vandevelde would have won it….

Superweek update: Alex Voitik, Former SIU standout and Team Macker, now racing for Turin is still sitting on the leader board in the Cat-3 with two races left! In the Masters hunt, Clark Priebe stands in fourth, while Robert Kron is 7th and Mark McGeen in 10th. Two races left to go!!!

Have Mercy.

Lampre Limps in Together

Not surprisingly, the break held today. Markus Burghardt and Carlos Berredo did a fine job holding off a larger chase group, and then did an epic 8k match sprint! You gotta hand it to Berredo, he didn’t have any choice. It was his only chance. Didn’t work.

The big story was pretty boy Damiano Cuenego face planting in the French asphalt. Lampre sent almost half the team back, and they finished 20 minutes down and twelve from the nearest group. Still, you can’t DQ that, can you?

Hey! Wait!!!

Gee, for a stage that went over the highest paved climb in all of Europe, nothing much happened today. Well, except that VandeVelde got dropped on the climb and then crashed on the descent, and Menchov got dropped on the descent and then crashed. Nobody really seemed to attack Evans. The pace was high, but you ain’t gonna drop Evans just by maintaining a high pace. I’m not sure what’s on Bjarne’s mind. Maybe he didn’t want to give Evans a second chance, and wants to play all of the cards tomorrow. Or, maybe everyone was just at their limits.

No question though, the best moment was when young South African climber John Lee Augustyn made a viscious attack to take the last climb, then crashed spectacularly on the descent. He’d have definitely been in the top 10 if not for the crash. But what was so cool was that his bike slid down into the canyon, while a spectator pulled him back up to the tarmac. Then, just as he got his feet on the road, the Mavic Neutral Support Vehicle rolled right past him. He sat on the mountain for who knows how long before he got a bike.

Superweek!

Clark Priebe takes the first stage of Superweek!!! Robert Kron is up there in the top 10, and more racing to come! I wish I could have been there. Maybe in a few years when the baby is not. And, How About That Alex Voitik!!! Young Alex won another stage and has been a fixture in the top 10 in the cat-3 race. He was running WAY up in 1st for the overall.

In Tour news…..Oscar Pereiro didn’t die, which was something of a surprise to most of the peloton. Poor Danny Pate got outlasted by Simon Gerrans, and I’m no longer certain that Cadel Evans can hold off the ensuing clusterfuck of legitimate contenders. How about that Kohl? He’s so ugly the podium girls didn’t want to kiss him. Menchov looked really dangerous. If Evans falters, Menchov’s the guy who can hold him off in the TT.

Pantani’s Children

Tour de Fuckin’ France. First time this has happened in a while. Actual climbers, who win stages. This is Pantani’s legacy. Diminutive bike racers from throughout the world (but particularly from Italia) have been honing their skills for this moment. Ricco is the shit. I didn’t like him at first, but this year he’s not only won races, but been a true class act. Yesterday was exemplary, with Ricco sitting in to let Piepoli take the stage with Cobo. It was perfect. Next year, Ricco may be the first true climber to take the tour since Pantani.

Still, at this point, I don’t see anyone beating Evans. He not only hung on after his crash, he attacked a bit. Next week, Evans will be going well and nobody on GC will be anywhere close to his last TT. Sastre, Menchov, and Vandevelde look to be fighting for the second spot. I just can’t believe in Schleck or Kohl for the long run.  

Congrats to Young Alex Voitik, former Mack and SIU racer,  on taking Stage 1 at Superweek in the 3’s!!! Alex added a 3rd and 5th and sits on top the leader board after 4 stages!

UPDATE:

True to form, Pantani’s kids tested positive and exited the Tour. Shit. Can’t these guys get their med’s straight? How come some teams can dope to the gills and never test positive, while others get popped every time they walk into the WADA tent? Good doctors trump good riders every time. Still, some of this could be individual riders disobeying the team docs. Basso got fired from CSC for lying, not for doping. He took unapproved drugs from unapproved doctors. Maybe Ricco was slipping in a little extra, or maybe Sanier Duvall has (had) a bunch of Spanish gynecologists instead of serious sports doping doctors.

Workin’ it….

 

See what happens when your team doesn’t make the tour? Astana’s Chris Horner is schlepping for extra cash at Cascade, whoring himself out for rides to the finish. Rumour has it that Santa Claus Botero was selling snow in the parking lot, but hey, he’s on Rock Racing…