After a spectacular Worlds weekend, the bike racing fans and racers of the world were given one weekend of non-huge bike races to recover and prepare for the two big October dates: Paris-Tours and the Giro di Lombardia. Even without the big'n races, there was more than enough racing to account for, so let's get down to the proverbial nitty gritty.
Farrar Goes All The Way
Garmin's Tyler Farrar took his second stage race win of the season along with two stage wins at the Circuit Franco-Belge this weekend. The four-stage race resulted in bunch sprints everyday. Farrar took half of them, Boonen swiped a quarter, and Saxo Bank's JJ Haedo got the last 25 cent piece on Sunday.
Farrar's overall victory was almost laid to waste by a puncture with 5k to go on the final stage. Farrar managed to regain the peloton to keep on equal time with the leaders and salvage his overall win.
Up next for the Franco-Belge boys? Paris-Tours next weekend. Tyler Farrar has to be feeling good about that.
Final GC
1 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 18:27:33
2 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 0:00:08
3 Roger Hammond (GBr) Cervelo Test Team 0:00:14
4 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank 0:00:20
5 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Quick Step 0:00:21
Brutt Batters Em In The Vendee
Pavel Brutt managed the first win of his 2009 season with a stellar move in the final 10k to take the race by the proverbial balls and win it in fine solo fashion. Brutt had been part of a large 16-rider group that dictated the race. Brutt's Katusha squad and Agritubel both had three riders apiece in the group, but there was no touching the Katushans when it came time to decide the bike race. The Tour de Vendee was the final race in the Coupe France series - Jimmy Casper won the overall going away, literally. He didn't even have to show up for the final race. He raced the Circuit Franco-Belge in preparation for next weekend's Paris-Tours.
1 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha 4:38:40
2 Mathieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0:00:10
3 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom
4 Florian Vachon (Fra) Roubaix Lille Metropole
5 Lilian Jegou (Fra) Bretagne - Schuller
6 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Agritubel
7 Steven Van Vooren (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly Team
8 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
10 Alexandre Botcharov (Ltu) Team Katusha
Happy With 8th
Just a couple of lines above where I'm currently typing, you'll notice Martin Elmiger in 8th place in the results from the Tour de Vendee. By itself, 8th place isn't anything to write home about, but when it's your first race back after a THREE month forced vacation from racing due to the narrowing of an artery in his right leg. After the Swiss Championships in June, Elmiger had decided to call his season quits to focus on fixing his problem. Apparently the healing process after the surgery went much faster than previously expected, and voila, here he is racing again.
Elmiger was very content with his return: "I really had to go flat out just to ride the finale. I rode full on all day long, so when it came to the uphill finish at the end of the day - I was more than happy with 8th place."
Cross Compote #1!
Oh Cross Compotes, I have missed thee. Maybe you haven't, but I have. Anyhow, we'll get the 'cross season going with the year's first World Cup in Treviso. There's honestly not too much to report on save for utter dominance. Both the men's and women's races were underlined entirely by their respective winners, who both bid adieu to the field on the second lap.
On the women's side of things, American Katie Compton got away with Dutchwoman Daphny Van Den Brand on the second lap, but Van Den Brand couldn't cope with Compton's outrageous pace, and soon saw the win ride away. Compton eventually crossed the line with almost half a minute in hand.
1 Katherine Compton (USA) 0:37:37
2 Daphny Van Den Brand (Ned) 0:00:28
3 Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Fra) 0:00:34
The men's race got a brutal shellacking from World Champion, Niels Albert. The World Champ, who's running an unbeaten streak so far in 2009/2010 at 4-0, left the field behind midway through the second lap and never looked to be in under any kind of duress as he ploughed to the win by nearly three quarters of a minute on a very, very fast course (the average speed was in the neighborhood of 30 kph!).
The question now is: who can rival Albert? Last year, when everyone was on, there were three racers head and shoulders and legs above the rest: Nys, Albert, and Boom. Nys is not looking anywhere close to his best and Boom is still on the road, leaving Albert to rule uncontested. Looks like a good time to be Niels Albert.
1 Niels Albert (Bel) BKCP-Powerplus 1:04:50
2 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Telenet-Fidea Cycling Team 0:00:42
3 Klaas Vantornout (Bel) Sunweb Pro Job Cycling Team 0:00:52
4 Martin Bina (Cze) 0:01:00
5 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0:01:04
What Of Sven Nys?
Cyclocross demigod Sven Nys has been very quiet so far this year. His first race ended with Nys in an eyebrow raising 9th place, his second race a much better 3rd, and the Treviso World Cup? A big, fat DNF.
"This is the first time in 5 years I'm experiencing such an off day. I could simply not better myself today. From the start I already knew today I'd be racing on character. It simply didn't work out well for me today and I even had to let go the peloton."
"As I wasn't able to make it into the points, I decided to abandon altogether. I can probably forget all about the World Cup anyway. I want to find out what's going on. I'll do so calmly and I hope to be back again soon."
Worried about Nys? Don't be. Only one race looks to matter for Nys in the 2010 cross season: the Worlds. If anything, this could be a good thing. Remember Niels Albert's horrible injury that caused him to miss most of last season? That seemed to work out for him in the end.
Cross Compote American-Style
If you think cyclocross in America, it's hard not to think of two names: Katie Compton and Jonathan Page. Katie Compton belongs at the very top of women's cyclocross, whilst Jonathan Page has long fought to get to that point, and after achieving that status following his podium finish and near win at the Cross World Championships a few years back, it has been a struggle ever since it seems.
Page hopes to get things back on track for the 2009/2010 season and showed just how strong he's going this weekend at the New England World Championships: that's Gloucester.
In horrible, rainy, muddy conditions, Page went for a romp and butchered all comers. Cross Vegas winner, Jamey Driscoll finished a distant 2nd, almost 2 minutes in arrears.
1 Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) 0:55:44
2 Jamey Driscoll (Bikereg.Com / Cannondale) 0:01:47
3 Christopher Jones 0:02:16
4 Timothy Johnson (Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld.Com) 0:02:27
5 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissell Pro Cycling) 0:02:54
Sunday's race wasn't nearly as neat of an affair - and it was dry mind you. Outnumbered 3 to 1 in the day's selection, Jonathan Page had nary a chance of coming out with a victory. The break ended up as Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers, and Jamey Driscoll vs. Jonathan Page. That's just the way the feta crumbles sometimes, but the execution of Tim Johnson's winning move is what brought the polemics well to the fore after Johnson's impressive solo win.
Page, coming across as pretty bitter and pissed off, but perhaps he has a point, we'll never know - claimed that Johnson took out his front wheel through a sandy corner when he made his race winning move. He said this move came with a 'you did the same thing to my teammate' comment as he did it. Either way, it didn't look like anyone was terribly pleased or happy in the group. 3 on 1 just never leads to fair play, does it? The outnumbered one gets all badgery and wants to play up a few sizes, whilst the three just can't help but bully a bit, you know? Methinks this should get the dismissive conclusion: that's racing.
1. Timothy Johnson Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com in 0:58:50
2. Jonathan Page Planet Bike in 0:59:25
3. Jeremy Powers Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com in 0:59:28
4. Jamey Driscoll Bikereg.com / Cannondale in 0:59:30
5. Andy Jacques-Maynes Bissell Pro Cycling in 1:00:52
The Shack Has 23
According to El Diario Vasco, Lance Armstrong's new team has signatures from 23 riders.
Besides Big Tex, ten Astanans are making the Leap (along with SRAM!) to the Shack:
Chris Horner, Andreas Kloeden, Levi Leipheimer, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych, Gregory Rast, Jose Luis Rubiera, Thomas Vaitkus, and Haimar Zubeldia.
New names? Jason McCartney is returning to Lance Armstrong's squad following a couple year stint with Saxo Bank. From the American domestic ranks, 2009 American revelation, Matthew Busche (Kelly Benefits), will be making the huge jump up to Radio Shack for 2010.
And to finish up the fun: Gert Steegmans, Sebastien Rosseler, Ben Hermans, Ivan Rovny, Tiago Machado, Geoffrey Lequatre, Markel Irizar, and Daryl Impey.
Looking For The World Champ?
You'll be seeing a fair bit of Cadel Evans soon enough. He's racing the Coppa Sabatini this Thursday, October 8th, the Giro dell'Emilia, on the 10th, then the Giro del Piemonte the next Thursday (October 15th), along with the Giro di Lombardia on October 17th.
After that? No rest for the weary. Cadel Evans will embark on a book tour to promote his new book co-authored by Ride's Rob Arnold.
A little about the book:
Cadel Evans is arguably Australia's greatest cyclist, but he is by no means a typical sporting hero. Born in Katherine, he became one of the best mountain bike riders in the world. A master of one of the most solitary sports, Cadel has contested the most sophisticated cycling team sport in the world, finishing second by less than a minute in the 2007 and 2008 editions of the Tour de France.
In his first ever book, co-written by Rob Arnold, Cadel Evans: Close to Flying, Cadel talks candidly and philosophically about his sport. He speaks with love, respect and also frustration at its imperfections including his many rivals caught on drugs. His drive and focus and frustrations are as candid as are his love of his sport and his belief in charities and political causes.
Ready Or Not, He's Back
Michael Rasmussen's two year hiatus from bike racing has come and gone. He made headlines before the Vuelta, as he was searching desperately for a team to race the Vuelta with. His quest came to naught, however, and then he seemingly disappeared. He went to that infamous land that ultimately caused his top level demise: Mexico. He hopped across the pond and took to racing in Mexico (the country from which his wife hails) with the Mexican continental squad, Tecos. He immediately got down to business, won the Vuelta a Pueblo, then continued to the big time North American stage race, the Vuelta Chihuahua. Rasmo took the uphill prologue TT by less than a second over Daniel Moreno of Caisse d'Epargne and the Rock Racing duo of Mancebo and Sevilla. Rasmussen hopes to keep his leader's jersey from start to finish, and if that does in fact happen, I can bet you one thing: he won't be racing for Tecos in 2010. He'll probably race with Rock. Haha, just kidding, no, but seriously.
All Rock jokes aside, but of all of the returning dopers, it seems we hold Michael Rasmussen in the lowest esteem. What is it about the guy? Of all of the returning 'dopers,' he was the only one never to have actually tested positive, correct? Ok, well, there's Millar and Basso to go with, but both ended up admitting to it, with Millar admitting to it only under the needle sharp evidence of empty EPO vials in his house. Rasmo still denies any wrongdoing, and so far as I can tell, they have nothing on him, which leads me to believe that it's a pretty solid practice to continue denying. I'm not saying I love the guy, frankly, I don't, but it still stands - Rasmo has never turned a positive.
Here's Another One For Rock
Emanuele Sella also returned to bike racing this year after serving out his suspension for using CERA and bullwhacking the poor Giro field through the mountains back in 2008. His return has also been of the quiet sort, but he did in fact manage to find a team in Italy: the modest, best logo'd team on the planet: Carmiooro/A-Style. Sella managed the stage win on the final day of the three-stage race, 2.2, Cinturo de l'Emporda. His teammate, Francisco Ventoso took the overall to round out an uber-successful weekend for the men in black.
Next stop for Sella? He wants another go at the Giro. I can hear the Pez groaning in the background.
Hey, It Worked For Basso!
In an effort to salvage his career for the forty-eighth time, Frank Vandenbroucke is going the route of the supposed clean cyclist. He hopes to demonstrate his cleanliness through Mapei's Aldo Sassi. In a program much like Ivan Basso's, VDB will post his blood values to the net, no one will ever look at them, and we'll just assume that he's clean. Isn't that how this works?
Anyhow, VDB is looking for a team, and he figures this will make him a wee bit more marketable and perhaps help him to get over the stigma of doper.
"Sassi will accompany me now. He will also regularly test my blood. Maybe that's the only way to convince everyone."
I for one would like to see VDB get a season or two of clean, problem-free racing before he packs it in. You can't deny it, he was a thrilling bike racer to watch when he was on point. Maybe I'm just a sappy sucker who likes comebacks.
The Pez's groans are sounding more pained now.
Questions? Comments? Happy? Sad? Send me an email.
There's always the trusty JeredGruber.com if you ever get really bored.
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