Olympic Rumblings

Posted on July 27, 2012 by norbs

I woke up this morning and Twitter was going off like an Aussie road cyclist in golden knicks!

Plenty of cycling fans seem miffed that Cadel Evans or Stuey O’Grady aren’t going to be the official flag bearer at the opening to the Olympic games. Don’t get me wrong, I thing Lauren Jackson is a great choice, but it seems slightly odd to me that a sport that is hardly at the forefront in the minds of most Australians, much like cycling it has to be said, has jagged two Official flag bearers (Andrew Gaze being the other one) in the last four Olympics. I said so on Twitter this morning and have had quite a few people telling me basketball is more popular and international than I realise. Whether that is a fact or not, I don’t know, but it certainly doesn’t rate like the more popular team sports in this country.

As for the cyclists missing out. I am pretty sure the fact that Evans and O’Grady are racing the day after the opening ceremony probably means neither of them will even be at the opening. Bit hard to wander around carrying a huge flag if you aren’t even going!

The second firestorm surround NPC’s favourite cycling commentator, Phil Liggett. He made the following remarks at a press conference in London.

“It is absolutely disgraceful what they have done. They have devastated the track with the new events and taking out the iconic events of the Olympics,”

“We have never had a good mountain biking event. Thousands will watch them but they are not Olympic gold medal events. They weren’t meant to be in the Olympic Games,”

“They introduced BMX. Great, but I am sure [Olympics founder] Pierre de Coubertin would have laughed his head off if he found out it was an Olympic discipline. It might be exciting but we are talking the Olympic Games.”

So, mountain biking wasn’t meant to be in the Olympics? I was thinking about some other sports when I saw Bridie O’Donnells next two Tweets…

Nice one Bridie. I’ll add to that list. Rugby. Football (soccer). Synchronised Swimming. Artistic Gymnastics. Dressage. Table Tennis. Badminton. I could go on.

Might I suggest that Phil is just expressing his opinion. And you know what they say about opinions. Also, Phil, there is a huge amount of cycling fans of the opinion that you have no place in a commentary box. Most people I know would have been sacked long ago if they had performed as poorly at their jobs as you have the past few years!

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Olympics Road Race Course.

Posted on July 25, 2012 by norbs

Thanks to Nic O’Donnell for the heads up on Twitter. A good look at the Olympics Road Race course that will be used this weekend at the London Olympics.

I have no idea what sort of coverage the free to air station will have, but I have been told Foxtel will be showing the whole race starting at 6:50PM on London Channel 2.

Start time in Australia is Saturday, 28 July 2012 at 7:00PM, which is 10:00AM in London.

Looks like Steephill have some coverage here (CONFIRMED). Not sure if cyclingfans.com are covering it as well.

Thanks to Mark Gunter, there is also this paid option. http://olympicsstreamlive.com/watch/index.htm

Complete start list here.

I am not sure who collated this, it has been on Twitter and FaceBook. Thanks to whom ever is resposible. All the local times (AEST) for the cycling events.

Click image for larger

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A Cool Bike Animation

Posted on July 24, 2012 by norbs

This is very cool. Short and sweet.

VELO from MOTIONLAB on Vimeo.

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Congrats Cav. Congrats Wiggo.

Posted on July 23, 2012 by norbs

Nothing to say, just this pic.

Cav Gets #4 in Paris

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Highs and Lows of the 2012 Tour de France (Part 2 The Highs)

Posted on July 22, 2012 by norbs

Picking up from the last post on the Tour lows, here are my top 5 Highlights of this years Tour de France.

Highlights

#5 Team Sky’s clinical display

The Sky Train

Dave Brailsford got a lot of giggles when he announced that Team Sky wanted to win the Tour de France with a British rider within 5 years of the launch. Look who is laughing now. It took them 3 years. As much as this years parcours suited them, you still have to win the race on the road and they smashed their opposition. This really was a clinical display. I don’t know how often I have heard the term marginal gains in the past 3 weeks. All those small gains have combined to make a formidable team. Where BMC, the other “Super Team” have spent up big as well, it really looks like a case of a Team of Champions (BMC) vs a Champion Team (Team Sky). As much as I have been critical of this years race as a spectacle, the sheer dominance of team Sky has been something to respect. Kudos to them.

#4 Aussie Team in the TdF.

Aussie Team, Orica GreenEDGE

As an Australian cycling fan, it has been a hell of a site to see an Aussie team at the Tour de France. Even 5 years ago I wouldn’t have thought it possible. What Gerry Ryan and Matthew White have achieved is fantastic. They didn’t quite acheive their dream of the green jersey with Matthew Goss, but they were right up there, and that is a hell of an effort for their first Tour de France. Lets hope Gossy can snag a win on the Champs-Élysées. Well done to all the riders involved.

#3 The Youngsters

Tejay, A Bright Future

Check out this list of names. TeJay Van Garderen, Peter Sagan, Thibaut Pinot, Rein Taaramae and Edvald Boasson Hagen. All of them under 25 years old. There are exciting times ahead for cycling when you have the calibre of riders like that lot and they are still to peak. Sagan lit up the first week winning stages people weren’t really expecting him to win. TeJay caught his team mate and reigning champion in last nights ITT, Cadel Evans. More on Pinot shortly.

#2 Cav storming home Stage 18

I can’t put into words this sprint from Cav. This was my #2 highlight of the 2012 Tour de France, it really is that good. Watch this video.

#1 FDJ teamcar in win

This seemed all very surreal when I watched the highlights the morning after it happened. Out front on the bike was a 22 year old, Thibaut Pinot, about to take a stage win for FDJ and for France. He looked composed and calm, crossing the line with arms raised. How could he be so composed. Not more than a few minutes earlier, a 53 year old marc Madiot, directeur sportif of FDJ-BigMat, was hanging out of the car screaming “allez allez allez!!!” at the top of his voice and all but French (see what I did there?) kissing another passenger in the back of the team car. It truly was a magic moment. A moment when you really see how much a stage wins to one of the smaller teams. Even when I watch it now I still get a lump in the throat. Chapeau Marc, chapeau Thibaut. Truly a great moment and my favourite in this years Tour de France.

Disclaimer : Photos and videos Copyright of their respective owners.

As usual, I would love to hear what people think. Do you have a favourite highlight or lowlight. Let me know in the comments below. And thanks for taking the time to read this blog.

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Highs and Lows of the 2012 Tour de France (Part 1 The Lows)

Posted on July 22, 2012 by norbs

As I listened to the rain falling into the gutters this morning, meaning I missed my planned ride, I started to put my highlights and lowlights of this years Tour de France together in my head. For such a dull race, I thought it was going to be a lot tougher. I have actually chatted to a few people about it online on FaceBook and Twitter. There are a surprising array of suggestions made, some reflecting my thoughts, others I hadn’t even considered.

I will start with the lowlights. From the 5th placed to 1st, in this post and then do the highlights, again from 5th to 1st in part 2 later today.

Lowlights

#5 The parcours.

The Race Route

I applaud Christian Prudhomme for trying something different. I imagine it must be a very difficult job trying to create a route that will provide an exciting race as well as a spectacle. Looking at the course, it seems like Prudhomme was hoping the climbers would have to attack the ITT specialists in the mountains and build up a buffer before the final long ITT. Sadly for Prudhomme and his team, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, the two most people would expect to be able to animate a race in the mountains were both missing from the start. With Wiggins dominating the first ITT, all was left was for Team Sky control the race in the mountains and the race was over. To say they managed that is a slight understatement. We will never know what sort of race it would have been, but I am sure a lot of people would agree, it was a pretty dull affair.

#4 The normal Rest day drug busts/news

Frank Schleck Confronts the Media

I know it is usual for the rest day to be dominated by scandal, but it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach. The first rest day was dominated by USADA vs Armstrong and his buddies. Rest day 2 and we have Frank Schleck’s A sample testing positive to diuretics.

#3 TackGate and WoofGate

Black Tacks

The more I think about this the more annoyed I get. What do they think they are going to achieve? Then again, how do you stop idiots when there are millions of people lining the road? One thing you can do is stop people bringing dogs to the roadside. If the Gendarmerie see a dog, they should frog march, no pun intended, the owner and dog out of the way.

#2 Stage 17 Farce

Click for larger.

I have covered this on the blog already, so I won’t rehash it here, but it was huge disappointment to see the maillot juane treated so badly.

#1 Wiggins Tantrums

Wiggins Dealing with the Media

Again, I have been over this before, here and here. I have said it before, but up until this tour, I was a fan of Wiggins. I loved the fact that he spoke honestly and without fear. But surely there comes a point where you are letting people down. I think even he realises that he went to far.

I can nearly forgive him when you hear him talk like this at the stage 19 press conference.

I expect his outbursts had a lot to do with the pressure he must have been under, something I can never understand, but surely he must know that he is going to be asked the often repetitive and sometimes stupid questions. Sadly, these outbursts were the low point of this years Tour de France for me.

I will collate the highlights and post them this afternoon.

 

As usual, feel free to comment below.

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Stage 17, A Farce!

Posted on July 20, 2012 by norbs

Forgive me if I go all Bradley Wiggins in this post folks. I wont, but I would love to! I have had 10 hours to sleep on it. 10 hours to calm down. 10 hours to mull over last nights stage, and I am still pissed off. If you watched the stage, you, like me, may be slightly annoyed. For a number of reasons.

We had a stage winner who is still unrepentant about doping. I know he has done his time, but it is hard to like some one who doped and doesn’t seem to regret it. His comment after the stage says it all.

“This is a very special victory for me: I’m back in the squad and I’m winning again, like I did before. For two years I had to stop competing but I never stopped working. And now this is the fifth victory of the season for me.”

“Like I did before”? surely a poor choice of words. A stark contrast to David Millar’s comments after his stage 12 win.

Ok, so I have a bug up my arse about a doper winning the stage. But, surprise surprise, that wasn’t what wound me up the most last night. No prizes to the one that guesses what did tip me over the edge.

Team Sky. What the hell is going on there? It galls me to say it, but they are undoubtedly the strongest team. And not by a little bit, by a bloody mile. Sadly, the strongest rider in the field has been forced to play second fiddle to the anointed one. I know I am going to get caned on Twitter and maybe in the comments about this, but I think Sky and Wiggins have treated the maillot juane with complete contempt in the past fortnight. The foul mouthed tirades were one thing, but the way the race played out last night was a joke. Sky had the opportunity to stop a doper from winning the stage. Given their angelic posturing about being clean and anti doping, this was an opportunity to grab a win for the clean team! Froome was obviously champing at the bit. Numerous times he rode away from Wiggins with ease. And yet every time he looked back over his shoulder and sat up. We were obviously seeing a far stronger rider being told to wait for his team captain. He could have been let go and it wouldn’t have threatened Wiggins in yellow. He has 2 full minutes on Froome. Valverde ended up winning by 19 seconds. Nibali was cooked and about 20 seconds behind, never a threat to Wiggins. It seemed an obvious thing to do. A win for clean racing. Arghh! The frustration. F#@* #^@* %@&!*@###@@@@@!(*&&^^%^%&*&(( Ahh.

The to-ing and fro-ing between Wiggins and Froome made a mockery of the yellow jersey. Wiggins says he is a student of the sport, well show the jersey some respect. As if the foul mouthed rants weren’t enough to sully the yellow jersey, that rubbish on the climb of the Peyresourde showed just how little respect someone in Team Sky has for the jersey. I don’t know who was calling the shots last night, but who ever it was needs to take a long and slow walk through the hall of mirrors.

This tour, if Wiggins or Froome win it, will be a huge win for science, spreadsheets, marginal gains and unimaginative racing. I really, really hope this isn’t the way forward. It might be gaining results, but it is killing the sport for the spectators. Thomas Voeckler might be nominated for an Oscar, and his tongue a nomination for best supporting actor, but at least he is showing some character. Wiggins is certainly one of the strongest riders in the field, but he is yet to show any real initiative on the road. Two weeks ago I was a fan, now, not so much. Brad wouldn’t give a flying fornication, but I bet I am not the only one.

I am off to down load the latest Velocast. Those 2 Scottish bastards better give me a giggle!

Please feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree. I enjoy any feedback.

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Wiggins or Froome Stronger?

Posted on July 20, 2012 by norbs

I would love to see what people think. I expect Wiggins to come out and belt the lot of them in the ITT on Saturday, but you have to wonder if he would be able to negate the time Froome has looked capable of making up on the climbs. It was embarrassing at the end tonight. What says you dear reader?

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Sagan, Sagan, Can You Sign My ……..

Posted on July 19, 2012 by norbs

….. oh, ok!

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Evans is a Champion, Unless You Read Twitter!

Posted on July 19, 2012 by norbs

During last nights Tour de France stage, I grew continually frustrated by the constant stream of crap posted on Twitter about Cadel Evans being less than perfect. Soft, slow, unwilling to attack and a wheel sucker were just some of the claims. I actually had a few of them book marked so I could use them on the blog, but I decided this morning not to give the idiots any more air time by publishing them on the blog.

Just a disclaimer before I go any further. I am not a huge fan of Evans. I have a huge respect for him as a cyclist. I like that he is his own man. I just have some of his tantrums still burnt into my memory from years gone buy. Pre BMC days when he used to go off like a cracker at what seemed regular intervals. BMC seemed to have settled him down. Fatherhood might have as well. Who knows. Back to my point.

To the claims he is a wheel sucker. This is the biggest load of bullshit I have heard. Do people remember Stage 19 of last years Tour when he dragged a group up Galibier, doing all the work at the front?

Evans, a Wheel Sucker?

This year he has had a crack a few times. Sure, they might not have been the smartest moves at times, but at least he has had a go. A Twitter buddy, who is part of the Brad Wiggins fan club, was giving it to me via Twitter DMs last night. Claiming Evans was sitting on a wheel all stage. He got rather agitated when I called Wiggins the Yellow Caboose. Wiggins has been dragged around France, save for the ITT, sitting on the wheels of the Sky Train. He hasn’t had to animate the race. He is going to win it by racing smart. Good on him.

Then there is the claim Evans is soft. Another load of uber bullshit. Who could forget him racing on the 204.5km ninth stage from Morzine to Saint Jean de Maurienne in 2010 with a fractured elbow.

You can’t ride 200kms with a busted wing if you are soft.

The claim he doesn’t attack. Have these idiots been watching the same race as I have? His attacks haven’t set the race on fire, and have been launched at dubious times, but attack he does.

Slow. Really. Cadel Evans is slow? Again, are these people watching the same race as I am? Despite last nights stage where he was struggling with stomach issues, see Tweets below, he still sits in the top 10!

 

Not a bad effort to drag himself over 2 HC climbs and 1 Cat 1 climbs with a dodgey gut.

And one more thing for these people claiming he isn’t a champion. His palmarès.

Grand Tours

Tour de France

General Classification (2011)
2 Individual Stages (2007, 2011)

Giro d’Italia

Points Classification (2010)
1 Individual Stage (2010)

Stage Races

Critérium International (2012)
Tour of Austria (2001, 2004)
Tour de Romandie (2006, 2011)
Tirreno–Adriatico (2011)
Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali (2008)

Single-Day Races and Classics

World Road Race World Champion (2009)
La Flèche Wallonne (2010)

Mountain Bike

1st Overall Mountain Bike World Cup (1998, 1999)

Someone tell me that a cyclist with that record isn’t a champion!

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