July 03, 2010
Where are they from, 2010 edition
Each year, I take a look at where the Tour's riders are from, with special attention to the traditionally English-speaking countries.
Here's this year's rundown:
Australia
Cadel Evans, BMC
Simon Gerrans, Sky
Adam Hansen, HTC-Columbia
Brett Lancaster, Cervelo
Matthew Lloyd, Omega Pharma-Lotto
Robbie McEwen, Katusha
Stuart O'Grady, Saxo Bank
Mark Renshaw, HTC-Columbia
Luke Roberts, Milram
Michael Rogers, HTC-Columbia
Wesley Sulzberger, Française des Jeux
Eleven! Up from 6 last year, and it's largely a return of the “Lone Australian” phenomenon -- only HTC-Columbia, with Hansen, Renshaw, and Rogers has more than one Aussie on the squad. Every 2009 Aussie returns, and add Gerrans and Hansen, alternates last year, plus Roberts, Sulzberger, and perennial sprint threat McEwen.
US
Lance Armstrong, Radio Shack
Brent Bookwalter, BMC
Tyler Farrar, Garmin
George Hincapie, BMC
Chris Horner, Radio Shack
Levi Leipheimer, Radio Shack
Christian Vande Velde, Garmin
David Zabriskie, Garmin
Eight is up from seven last year, and four in 2008. First-timer Bookwalter is here, Garmin's Danny Pate is not, and Chris Horner returns. The excellent showings of both Farrar and Bookwalter at today's prologue are great news for US cycling, which has a glut of over-30 Tour riders, essentially everybody else on the list above.
Canada
Michael Barry, Sky
Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin
Canada climbs from one to two, and long-suffering Michael Barry finally gets a Tour start at 34.
Great Britain
Mark Cavendish, HTC-Columbia
Stephen Cummings, Sky
Jeremy Hunt, Cervelo
Daniel Lloyd, Cervelo
David Millar, Garmin
Geraint Thomas, Sky
Charlie Wegelius, Omega Pharma-Lotto
Bradley Wiggins, Sky
Great Britain doubles up, with eight riders versus last year's four. Cavendish and Wiggins have dreams of winner's jerseys.
New Zealand
Julian Dean, Garmin
Hayden Roulston wasn't invited by HTC-Columbia, Greg Henderson wasn't invited by Team Sky.
Ireland
Nicolas Roche, AG2R-La Mondiale
Roche repeats as the only Irish rider.
South Africa
Robbie Hunter, Garmin
Up from an unusual zero last year.
Other countries (2009 in parentheses):
35: France (40)
31: Spain (doesn't count Florencio, pulled by Cervelo before start) (28)
17: Italy (16)
15: Germany (15)
12: Belgium (11)
11: Australia (6)
8: Netherlands (11), USA (7)
6: Russia (8)
5: Denmark (3), Switzerland (3)
4: Slovenia (1)
3: Austria (2), Belarus (2), Kazakhstan (1), Portugal (2), Ukraine (2)
2: Canada (1), Luxembourg (3), Norway (2)
1: Czech Republic (1), Estonia (0), Ireland (1), Japan (2), Lithuania (0), Moldova (0), New Zealand (2), Poland (1), South Africa (0), Sweden (1)
Also:
TdFblog.com | Where are they from, 2009 edition
TdFblog.com | Where are they from, 2008 edition
Posted by Frank Steele on July 3, 2010 in About the Tour, Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Chris Horner, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, George Hincapie, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Robbie Hunter, Robbie McEwen, Top Stories | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 07, 2009
Tour de Twitter
This is the third Tour de France I've Twittered. In 2007, it was pretty lonely. Last year, we had a core group of fans using the service. This year, Twitter has exploded. Lance Armstrong has been one of the top celebrities to adopt Twitter, alongside Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher (I almost typed “Astana Kutcher”), and Barack Obama.I've developed quite a list of riders, journalists, bloggers, and photographers in preparation for the Tour, and thought I would share it with you.
I started with Carlton Reid's massive, 600+ strong list of “Bike Trade Tweeps”. As I've found more, I've been adding them. I left off a few that appear inactive, like @carlossastre, who has nearly 4,000 followers awaiting his first tweet (what pressure!); likewise Denis Menchov and Robert Gesink, and a few fakes.
Also, these are all in English. Please send me additions, either on Twitter (@TdFblog) or by commenting this post. Thanks!
Riders/Teams
Astana
- @TeamAstana : The official team ID
- @lancearmstrong : The 7-time Tour winner
- @johanbruyneel : Team director Johan Bruyneel
- @levileipheimer : Levi Leipheimer (He finally lost the underscore)
Garmin-Slipstream
- @TeamSlipstream : The official team Twitter feed
- @Vaughters : Team Director Jonathan Vaughters (Newly unshackled from the official team Twitter ID)
- @dzabriskie : David Zabriskie
- @christianvdv : Christian Vande Velde
- @Bradwiggins : Bradley Wiggins
- @thedpate : Danny Pate
- @allencolim : Team physiologist Allen Lim
Columbia-HTC
- @TeamColumbiaHTC : Team updates
- @ghincapie : George Hincapie
- @mickrogers : Michael Rogers
- @markrenshaw1 : Mark Renshaw
- @isleofmanhood : “Cav” (??)
Silence-Lotto
- @cadelofficial : Cadel Evans
- @wegelius: Silence-Lotto's Charlie Wegelius, author of my two favorite rider tweets of the Tour so far
Cervelo Test Team
- @cervelotestteam : Official team feed
- @carlos_sastre : Carlos Sastre
- @bdlancaster : Brett Lancaster
Quick Step
- @stevendejongh : Steven De Jongh
Skil-Shimano
- @Fumybeppu : Ex-Discovery rider Fumy Beppu
- @koendekort : Koen de Kort
Saxo Bank
- @fschleck : Frank Schleck
- @andy_schleck : Andy Schleck
- @kaarvesen : Kurt-Asle Arvesen
Rabobank
- @laurenstendam : Laurens Ten Dam
Press
- @bicyclingmag : Official Bicycling feed
- @julietmacur : NYTimes Tour reporter Juliet Macur
- @velonews : VeloNews official feed
- @cyclingweekly : Cycling Weekly
- @cyclesportmag : UK's CycleSport magazine
- @cyclingnewsfeed : CyclingNews official feed
- @neilroad : Neil Browne of ROAD Magazine
- @eurohoody : Andrew Hood of VeloNews
- @rupertguinness : Australia's Rupert Guinness
- @johnwilcockson : VeloNews correspondent emeritus
- @bonnie_d_ford : Bonnie D. Ford, ESPN's Tour reporter
- @jeremyschaap : Jeremy Schaap, ESPN reporter
VS broadcasters
- @vscycling : the official feed of the US Tour TV network
- @philliggett : Phil Liggett
- @paulsherwen : Paul Sherwen
- @bobkeroll : Head schlug Bob Roll
- @h2o007 : Craig Hummer
- @RobbieVentura : Robbie Ventura
Photographers
- @GWcom : Graham Watson
- @lizkreutz : Liz Kreutz, who's been photographing Lance Armstrong's comeback
- @kwc - Ken Conley of Spare Cycles
Pros not racing this year
- @allandavis27 : Allan Davis, the 181st rider in the 2009 Tour
- @ivanbasso : Ivan Basso
- @hornerakg : Chris Horner
- @robbiehunter : South African sprinter Robbie Hunter
- @mcewenrobbie : Katusha's Robbie McEwen
- @janibrajkovic : Astana's Jani Brajkovic
Bloggers
- @TdFblog : That's me!
- @cyclingfans - Pete Geyer of CyclingFans
- @cyclelicious - Fritz at Cyclelicious
- @steephill - Steve from Steephill.TV<
- @_gavia_ - Gavia from Steephill.TV
- @bikehugger - Main feed for Bike Hugger
- @TDFLanterne - Nancy Toby's TdF Lanterne Rouge
- @lambsimon - Simon Lamb of La Gazzetta dello Bici
- @cyclingfansanon - cycling fans anonymous.com
- @cyclocosm - Cosmo from Cyclocosm
Posted by Frank Steele on July 7, 2009 in About the Tour, Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre, Chris Horner, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, George Hincapie, Ivan Basso, Janez Brajkovic, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Robbie Hunter, Robbie McEwen, Tour news, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack
July 03, 2009
Garmin-Slipstream: Blood, Sweat + Gears
Sundance Channel | Blood, Sweat + GearsThis month, Sundance Channel is showing a documentary by Nick Davis on the 2008 campaign by Garmin-Chipotle. It focuses on Magnus Backstedt, Mike Friedman, David Millar, and Christian Vande Velde, as they prepare for their season goals.
The rider selection is interesting, showing the breadth of the team (Friedman is a track specialist, Backstedt best in classics), but maybe shortchanging the development of the Tour team as a result (If the team's Giro is mentioned, I don't remember it). The only road races in the film are the Tour of Qatar, Tour of California, Paris-Roubaix, and the Tour de France.
And I would have enjoyed more Zabriskie.
Still, if you're a fan of the Tour, and especially if you're a Garmin fan, you need to check it out.
The show's scheduled to run 6 more times this month, with the next showing Saturday night at 8 p.m. Eastern. You can see a preview here.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 3, 2009 in 2008 Tour de France, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, David Millar, Magnus Backstedt | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 02, 2009
Where are they from, 2009 edition
Every year, I run down the riders' countries of origin, with special attention to the English-speaking countries. Here's last year's, for comparison.
USA
Lance Armstrong, Astana
Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Slipstream
George Hincapie, Columbia-HTC
Levi Leipheimer, Astana
Danny Pate, Garmin-Slipstream
Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Slipstream
David Zabriskie, Garmin-Slipstream
Seven is up from four last year. Gone is Will Frischkorn, left off the Garmin team, but back are Armstrong, Zabriskie, and Leipheimer. Tyler Farrar starts his first Tour. Not just more riders, but riders with more chances -- 3 guys with Top 5 hopes, and Farrar stage-hunting.
Australia
Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto
Brett Lancaster, Cervelo
Matthew Lloyd, Silence-Lotto
Stuart O'Grady, Saxo Bank
Mark Renshaw, Columbia-HTC
Michael Rogers, Columbia-HTC
Allan Davis, Quick Step
Down from 9 last year, with Robbie McEwen recovering from surgery, Baden Cooke riding for the Continental Vacansoleil team, Trent Lowe home, and Simon Gerrans and Adam Hansen alternates. Michael Rogers is back. Matthew Lloyd makes his first Tour start. 7/3 Update: With Tom Boonen back in the Tour, Allan Davis stays home, reducing Australia's count to 6. And a half, given Heinrich Haussler, who lives and trains in Australia.
Great Britain:
Mark Cavendish, Columbia-HTC
David Millar, Garmin-Slipstream
Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream
Charly Wegelius, Silence-Lotto
Chris Froome's Barloworld squad is not in the Tour this year, back is Bradley Wiggins, and Wegelius returns thanks to Dekker's EPO positive. Cavendish has to be the pre-Tour favorite for green, and his success or failure will be one of this Tour's major plotlines.
New Zealand
Julian Dean, Garmin-Slipstream
Hayden Roulston, Cervelo
Tour rookie Roulston joins the returning Dean.
Ireland
Dan Martin, Garmin-Slipstream
Nicolas Roche, AG2R
With Martin's tendinitis, Roche will be the first Irish participant since Mark Scanlon in 2004. Roche is reigning Irish road champion, having dethroned Martin last weekend.
Canada
Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Slipstream
After ending a 10-year Canadian drought last year, Hesjedal returns.
With no Barloworld participation, Robbie Hunter and John Lee Augustyn won't make the start for South Africa.
All nations breakdown:
40: France (2008 count in parentheses: 40)
28: Spain (30)
16: Italy (21)
15: Germany (16)
11: Netherlands (10)
11: Belgium (12)
8: Russia (4)
7: USA (4)
6: Australia (9)
4: United Kingdom (3)
3: Denmark (1), Luxembourg (2), Switzerland (4)
2: Austria (2), Belarus (2), Colombia (3), Japan (0), New Zealand (1), Norway (2), Portugal (0), Ukraine (2)
1: Canada (1), Czech Republic (1), Finland (0), Ireland (0), Kazakhstan (1), Poland (1), Slovakia (1), Slovenia (1), Sweden (2)
Posted by Frank Steele on July 2, 2009 in About the Tour, Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, George Hincapie, Julian Dean, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Robbie Hunter, Robbie McEwen, Stuart O'Grady, Top Stories, Tour de France 2009, Will Frischkorn | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
June 24, 2009
Garmin-Slipstream makes Tour squad announcement
Garmin-Slipstream has announced their Tour squad.
It's:
- Julian Dean
- Tyler Farrar
- Ryder Hesjedal
- Dan Martin
- David Millar
- Danny Pate
- Christian Vande Velde
- Bradley Wiggins
- David Zabriskie
Martijn Maaskant has been announced as the alternate. NOT riding the Tour are Tom Danielson, who also missed out last year; Will Frischkorn, who made it last year; or Canadian TT champion Svein Tuft.
Garmin's phenom Tyler Farrar will have one of the great lead-out men trying to put him in front of Mark Cavendish at the finish line, and Irish champion Dan Martin, nephew to 1987 Tour and Giro champ and world champion Stephen Roche, makes his first Tour start.
It's a team with great TT riders: Zabriskie, Millar, Vande Velde, Pate, Wiggins, and Hesjedal. As with Farrar, you have to wonder if they'll be fast enough to take revenge on Columbia-High Road, which beat Garmin by six seconds at the Giro d'Italia team time trial in May.
More:
Slipstream Sports | Team Garmin-Slipstream announces Tour de France roster
CyclingNews.com | Garmin-Slipstream names its nine for the Tour
Posted by Frank Steele on June 24, 2009 in 2009 Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, Julian Dean, Tom Danielson, Will Frischkorn | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2008
Stars and Stripes on offer this weekend in Greenville
The 2008 US Pro Cycling championships are this weekend in Greenville, and organizers have made a few changes I think will improve the fan experience. I've been to each of the Greenville championships, and had a great time at each -- if you're in the Southeast or mid-Atlantic, you should definitely consider the drive.
In 2005, the time trial championship (Dave Zabriskie's first title) was run on Friday, with the road race on Sunday. This had the advantage of a rest day between hard efforts for the riders, but the Friday TT drew crowds on par with a neighborhood swim meet.
Last year, organizers switched to a Saturday/Sunday alignment, which is probably best for fans (I might argue for Saturday/Monday, which would fill more Greenville hotel rooms and give riders trying to double a rest day). The TT course was a modified point-to-point, so there were only a few points on the course where you could see riders more than once. Additionally, access to the finish line was somewhat controlled by the community that hosted the finish, which ran satellite parking with shuttle buses to the finish.
This year, time trial action moves to Clemson University's International Center for Automotive Research, where the 20.7-mile course is 3 laps of 6.9 miles. Because of looping and turnarounds, there will be spots on the course where you'll be able to see each rider 6 times, and parking and course access are reportedly far more open.
For Sunday's road race, organizers didn't monkey much with a successful formula, again bridging early and late laps of downtown Greenville with 4 longer loops that include the race-making climb of Paris Mountain.
Unfortunately, defending US champ Levi Leipheimer (left, with '07 2nd place Hincapie and 3rd place Neil Shirley) will be across the pond, racing in the Vuelta with Astana. Almost all the other usual suspects are penciled in: Zabriskie, George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde, Fred Rodriguez, Tyler Hamilton, Tom Danielson, Danny Pate, and more, more, more. Two notable exceptions are Chris Horner and Bobby Julich.
I'll be there, as will Byron from Bike Hugger, Briggs from Euro Peloton and James from Bicycle Design. We're planning a meetup at Barley's Taproom Saturday at 5.
Look for live-blogging here and on Twitter, and for photos through the weekend in my Flickr photostream.
Also:
VeloNews.com | US Pro start lists
Time Trial course map (PDF version) | Road Race course map(PDF version)
Podium Cafe | Preview: USA Cycling Pro Championship
The PdC preview is intensely entertaining -- don't miss it.
podium in sight | US Pro Preview
Posted by Frank Steele on August 29, 2008 in 2008 USA Cycling Pro Championships, Bobby Julich, Chris Horner, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Tyler Freaking Hamilton | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 05, 2008
Where are they from?
I always review the nationalities breakdown for the Tour, with a special eye toward the English-speaking countries. Here's last year's, for comparison.
USA
George Hincapie, Team Columbia
Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle
Will Frischkorn, Garmin-Chipotle
Danny Pate, Garmin-Chipotle
This is the least in years, with Freddie Rodriguez riding in the U.S., Bobby Julich not selected, Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer barred with Astana, and David Zabriskie nursing a back injury.
Australia
Baden Cooke, Barloworld
Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto
Simon Gerrans, Credit Agricole
Adam Hansen, Team Columbia
Brett Lancaster, Milram
Trent Lowe, Garmin-Chipotle
Robbie McEwen, Silence-Lotto
Stuart O'Grady, CSC-Saxo Bank
Mark Renshaw, Credit Agricole
Baden Cooke is back; Adam Hansen, Trent Lowe, and Mark Renshaw are new, and Michael Rogers is out.
Great Britain:
Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia
Christopher Froome, Barloworld
David Millar, Garmin-Chipotle
Out are Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Charlie Wegelius. I've got Christopher Froome as being from Kenya, which isn't in the list below. Put him there, and Great Britain drops to just a pair.
New Zealand
Julian Dean, Garmin-Chipotle
As last year.
South Africa
Robbie Hunter, Barloworld
John-Lee Augustyn, Barloworld
Adds Augustyn.
Canada
Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin-Chipotle
First Canuck since 1997. Maybe Michael Barry will join him one year.
Here's the official breakdown, according to the Tour website:
40: France (2007 count in parentheses: 35)
30: Spain (42)
21: Italy (18)
16: Germany (19)
12: Belgium (13)
10: The Netherlands (7)
9: Australia (6)
4: USA (6), Russia (6) and Switzerland (5)
3: Colombia (3), Great Britain (5) and Luxembourg (2)
2: South Africa (1), Austria (3), Belarus (2), Norway (2), Sweden (1) and Ukraine (2)
1: Brazil (1), Canada (0), Denmark (1), Kazakhstan (4), New Zealand (1), Poland (0), Czech Republic (0), Slovakia (0) and Slovenia (1)
Spanish representation drops from 42 riders last year to 30 this year, with France jumping from 35 to 40.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 5, 2008 in About the Tour, Baden Cooke, Bobby Julich, Bradley Wiggins, Cadel Evans, Chris Horner, Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, David Millar, Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie, Julian Dean, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Robbie McEwen, Stuart O'Grady, Tom Danielson, Top Stories, Will Frischkorn | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 04, 2008
Final rosters and race numbers released
Tour de France 2008 | Riders' list
Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans starts the 2008 with the big fat bullseye of race number 1 on his back. Evans was 2nd in last year's Tour, and organizers gave him the easiest number in the race to spot after prohibiting the Astana team of last year's race winner, Alberto Contador, from competing in this year's race.
Garmin-Chipotle's Danny Pate sits at the other end of the train, wearing rider number 199.
Mauricio Soler of Barloworld, the defending King of the Mountains, starts in “lucky” number 51.
Posted by Frank Steele on July 4, 2008 in Cadel Evans, Danny Pate, Mauricio Soler | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 16, 2008
Pre-previewing the 2008 Tour de Georgia
The countdown continues to the 2008 edition of the Tour de Georgia. It's great to see the race surviving, even if it has slipped to the 2nd-biggest US stage race, behind the Tour of California.
This year's edition adds a few interesting twists. First, the race starts all the way down on Tybee Island, near Savannah, taking the riders farther below the gnat line than ever before.
Second, there's no individual time trial, as it's been dropped in favor of a team time trial to be run as Stage 4 on Thursday on the fairly hilly road course at Braselton's Road Atlanta. It's a TTT, but no funny bikes are allowed, apparently to keep costs and complications down for teams traveling from Europe.
Two stages essentially repeat from last year: Stage 6 starts in Blairsville and runs up Brasstown Bald, which has become the craggy face of the race, and Stage 7 is again a circuit race beginning and ending at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. I drove through downtown on Sunday, and there are still signs of the tornado that hit the area around the park on March 14th during the SEC basketball tournament.
For your race planning, Medalist Sports has provided a Tour de Georgia Google Maps file that details KoM lines, bonus sprints and starts and finishes.
If you're in the Southeast, it's a fabulous show, well worth the drive. If somehow you can't make it, SportSouth will provide 30-minute daily race updates at 10:30 p.m. most nights (kicked back as late as 1 a.m. on Friday night/Saturday morning).
As for riders, there are no official start lists yet, but Team CSC has posted their TdG roster, including Jason McCartney, Bobby Julich, Iñigo Cuesta, Bradley McGee, and Juan José Haedo (at left).
Haedo has been the most successful sprinter in the TdG's history, and McCartney has absolutely torn up the hilly bits of two previous TdGs.
Cycling Startlists has defending champ Janez Brajkovic and José Luis Rubiera riding for Astana, with others coming from their full 2008 roster.
Slipstream/Chipotle will probably bring last year's race runner-up Christian Vande Velde, and 7 of Blake Caldwell, Tom Danielson (who himself was a close 2nd to Floyd Landis here in 2006), Timmy Duggan, Lucas Euser, Tyler Farrar, Trent Lowe, Danny Pate, and David Zabriskie.
Full startlists should be up in the next day or two.
Posted by Frank Steele on April 16, 2008 in Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, Janez Brajkovic, Tour de Georgia | Permalink | Comments (0)
September 04, 2007
Leipheimer rides away with US road championship
Levi Leipheimer took his first US national championship on Sunday, riding away from the elite field and soloing in from 23 miles out.
Leipheimer said the win put the cherry on top of the cherry on top of the sundae that's been his 2007 season, which started with his win at the Tour of California, included road and TT stage wins at the Tour de Georgia, and a stage win and podium placing at the Tour de France, as well as wins at Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia and the overall Tour de France title for Leipheimer's Discovery Channel team, which is disbanding after this season.
Leipheimer has yet to announce his 2008 plans, but at 34, another go at an overall Tour de France title doesn't seem out of the question.
Leipheimer looked to be the dominant rider in the 2006 US championships, as well, but worked for hometown hero George Hincapie. This year, the two reversed places, with Hincapie covering attacks and finishing 2nd. Jittery Joe's rider Neil Shirley distanced Freddie Rodriguez in the last kilometer to take 3rd.
Discovery Channel brought twice as many riders as last year, and John Devine and Tony Cruz were at the front of the peloton for most of the day. Where the ProTour riders appeared to nail last year's pace from the start, this year, the domestic teams made early attacks, with BMC, HealthNet, Slipstream, and Successfulliving.com populating the first breakaway of 7 riders.
Leipheimer attacked on the 3rd of four long laps that included the climb of Paris Mountain. He and Chris Baldwin swept up remnants of the early break by BMC's Jackson Stewart, Slipstream's Pat McCarty, and HealthNet's Doug Ollerenshaw, with Slipstream's Ian McGregor and William Frischkorn, HealthNet's Roman Kilun, and Successfulliving.com's Daniel Ramsay close behind.
Coming to the base of Paris Mountain for the final time, Leipheimer was with a small group with a healthy but not unassailable gap. On the last climb, he changed that (from cyclingnews.com:
The rest of the remaining 30 or so riders in the race could only pick their jaws up off the ground as Levi put on a time trial clinic. “Levi was just... what can you say, he was third in the Tour and probably should have won it,” said former USPRO champ Chris Wherry (Toyota-United). “He is incredible and just rode away from everyone; there were no tactics he was just the strongest one. He went up the climb with two to go and just kept going, it was unbelievable.”
On the one hand, Leipheimer was clearly very strong. On the other, 23 miles is a long way to cover with some of the world's best riders trying to reel you in.
But Leipheimer's gap hovered out beyond a minute all the way to the end, with Hincapie coming in at 1:11.
Top 10:
1) Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, in 4:22:19
2) George Hincapie, Discovery Channel, at 1:11
3) Neil Shirley, Jittery Joe's, at 1:14
4) Freddie Rodriguez, Predictor-Lotto, at 1:18
5) Danny Pate, Team Slipstream-Chipotle, at 1:29
6) Shawn Milne, HealthNet-Maxxis, at 1:56
7) Kirk O'Bee, HealthNet-Maxxis, at 2:00
8) Bobby Julich, Team CSC, at 2:00
9) Christopher Jones, Nerac, at 2:00
10) Burke Swindlehurst, Toyota-United, at 2:04
Tyler Hamilton was 12th at 2:11.
Click through any photos for larger versions, or go straight to my Flickr photoset.
Also:
Complete results
My Flickr set from the road race (80 photos) | Flickr pool - if you've got pictures you want to add, let me know
cyclingnews.com | Leipheimer rides alone to national title | Photo gallery
DailyPeloton.com | 2007 USA Cycling Professional Road Race Championship | Ben Ross photo gallery
VeloNews.com | Leipheimer wins U.S. pro road crown | Casey Gibson photo gallery (by the way, here's Casey shooting the rest of us shooting the riders)
Posted by Frank Steele on September 4, 2007 in Bobby Julich, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, Fred Rodriguez, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Top Stories, Tyler Freaking Hamilton | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Zabriskie repeats as US TT champ
Team CSC's David Zabriskie repeated as US champion in the individual time trial on Saturday.
Zabriskie was pushed hard by teammate-to-be Danny Pate of Team Slipstream-Chipotle, just one second slower over the 18.7 mile course. In fact, Team Slipstream '08 owned the podium, as Tim Duggan finished 8 seconds down.
Just as last year, Zabriskie raced without an earpiece, and the lack of intermediate splits meant he had to sprint flat-out on the finishing straight to pip Pate.
Jonathan Vaughters announced the '08 Team Slipstream squad in Greenville over the weekend, and they're going to have incredible results: Zabriskie, Pate, Duggan, Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde, David Millar, Julian Dean, Ryder Hesjedal, Pat McCarty, Will Frischkorn, Christophe Laurent, Jason Donald, Steven Cozza, Trent Lowe, Maartijn Maaskant, perennial TdFblog favorite Magnus Backstedt, Tyler Farrar, Dan Martin, Chris Sutton, Lucas Euser, Huub Duyn, Mike Friedman, and Kilian Patour.
In fact, the team is apparently too sexy for their shirts, so they're having a design contest for next year's team jersey through September 15. “The design must incorporate the Slipstream argyle pattern...”
Returning to competition was Credit Agricole's Saul Raisin, who has battled back from a devastating head injury suffered in April 2006 at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Starting first, Raisin turned in a creditable 44:07. (Click through either picture to be taken to my Flickr pics of the event).
Also back in competition was Tyler Hamilton, wearing a neutral jersey because of an ongoing legal battle with his Tinkoff Credit Systems team, which he claims has tried to change the terms of his 2007 contract in early May, after the season started. Hamilton recorded a 40:23, just a fraction of a second behind Bobby Julich for 6th on the day.
Levi Leipheimer and George Hincapie again skipped the TT, prepping for Sunday's road race, which rips through downtown Greenville and makes 4 climbs of Paris Mountain.
Some logistical issues meant I didn't make it up to the finish line, and only got pictures from the riders coming down the opening chute. VeloNews, CyclingNews and Daily Peloton all had photographers at the awards ceremony -- links below.
Also:
2007 USA Cycling Pro TT championships - My Flickr set - I got pictures of almost all the 33 starters
VeloNews.com | Zabriskie defends pro ITT title | Casey Gibson photo gallery
Daily Peloton | 2007 USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championship | Ben Ross photo gallery
cyclingnews.com | Zabriskie barely holds off challengers to defend TT title | Time Trial photo gallery
Posted by Frank Steele on September 4, 2007 in Bobby Julich, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie, Magnus Backstedt, Saul Raisin, Tom Danielson, Top Stories, Tyler Freaking Hamilton | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack