SprintWatch 2010: Power Poll!
by Chris... on Feb 9, 2010 4:49 PM EST
in News
27 comments
It's dreadfully early and most of what passes for bike racing this time of year is a mix of training and sending a handful of guys after whatever prize is being dangled before the peloton. But for better or worse this is a time of the "season" that features the sprinting crowd, so let's open the Power Polling! Consider this a baseline effort. Also, the criteria is wins -- whether you get them on your own or otherwise. Ergo, this is as much a team award as not.
1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Columbia
The Manx Missile will unwrap his 2010 season a week from Sunday in the Ruta del Sol, a slight delay thanks to a tooth problem. This is an ominous start, and the significance of this development should not be taken too lightly. Teeth issues have provided some of the more famous episodes in cycling. There was the time when Maurice Garin nearly lost the inaugural Tour de France when he stopped to have a painful molar pulled, reducing his advantage on the pivotal Nice-Roubaix stage to just under four hours. This resulted in Henri Desgranges incorporating a rule that riders must tend to their own teeth during the Tour, and can only use the tooth instruments that they themselves carried from the start of the stage. Toothaches have been blamed for various missed opportunities: Alfredo Binda's attempt at a 42nd Giro stage; Raymond Poulidor's failure to react to another attack by the well-novacained Anquetil; Hennie Kuiper's failed hour record attemtp; and so on. British riders were barred from the Tour entirely until 1961 when the country's dentistry standards first went into effect. And don't get me started on that episode when a fan bit off a portion of Eddy Merckx's ear in the 1975 Tour, scuttling his dreams of another Yellow Jersey.
Hey, someone has to inject a little suspense into this ranking.
2. Andre Greipel, HTC-Columbia
When people gesture toward Greipel or Cavendish and say "I'll have what he's having," they mean Erik Zabel. How long would I have to spend with Zabel before I too could win 70% of my starts? An hour? A week? A season? I don't know. But I am willing to do what it takes to find out.
3. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions
Ordinarily I would indulge my blatant pro-Farrar bias by touting the glorious new sprint train the American star will enjoy starting... any moment now, and putting him above Greipel. But results matter, and in Australia the Greipel of 2010 looked as crafty, zippy and well-looked-after as the 2009 version. Farrar, meanwhile, is oh-for-two in making it to the front of the race in Qatar. Presumably this means nothing; both sprint stages have had their share of chaos. But to put my speculations ahead of Greipel's actual results wouldn't be right.
4. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre
Speaking of results, Ale-Jet opened his season in a new kit -- that of the supposedly still existent Lampre squadra -- with a pair of stage wins in the Giro di Reggio Calabria and a win in the GP Costa degli Etruschi. Now, chasing Oscar Gatto and Francisco "Windy" Ventoso around Italy is mere resume-padding for the former Milano-Sanremo winner and owner of a Dead-Sea-Scrolls-like list of grand tour stages. Fans can be forgiven for wondering where the hell he is at times, but this has more to do with his off-bike choices (that extra inhaler dose; hitching his star to the Lpr Brakes wagon; etc.) than anything he's done in a race. If Lampre can hang on to legitimacy a bit longer than Petacchi's last two employers, he should be right back in the mix.
5. Borut Bozic, Vacansoleil
OK, I might be getting ahead of myself here, but let's give Bozic props for a couple wins in l'Etoile de Besseges last week, along with a second place. The Slovenian finished up strongly last year with a third at Paris-Tours, so it's possible he's making the leap.
6. Tom Boonen, Quick Step
On further review, his offseason chatter on maybe focusing on time trialing and forgetting about the sprint game may go down as one of the more artful sandbags in some time. Earlier today, Boonen's computer registered 72.8 kph (45.24 mph) in his victorious sprint win in Qatar. I have found a couple files of Cavendish clocking in at 48mph, but every race has its own circumstances. Bottom line, Boonen supposedly looked very, very fast today. If he's on a mission to rescue his good name this year, look out.
7. Robbie McEwen, Katusha
The old master still has some tricks up his sleeve. Like Petacchi, don't get too distracted by a couple lost seasons. At his best, as he was in winning the Trofeo Mallorca Sunday, he's got a chance to win, and he doesn't pass up many of them.
8. Greg Henderson, Team Sky
Plan C at Columbia last year? Henderson was liberated from Stapleton's awesome depth chart by the Team Sky staff of pira... uh, directors, a positive change when he was dropped off at the front of the Tour Down Under on two occasions, swapping wins with teammate Chris Sutton. Honestly, I can't say where this is going. One possibility is that he'll wind up in service of Edvald Boasson Hagen when the real racing starts, but at least he's been given a chance to get his name out there.
9. Oscar Freire, Rabobank
By now this list looks like a reunion of the 2006 Vuelta or something. But Freire is another big name coming off a small year. Was his win yesterday in the Trofeo Cala Millor a sign of the reawakening? Or at least an indication that he may be fit again? Sure would make things interesting if that were so.
10. Thor Hushovd, Cervelo Test Team
He too has not opened an account for 2010, except in the annals of style, wherein no less than the King of Style declared that Thor "bleeds style." Somewhere in Sweden, heads were shaking. Anyway, Hushovd has done so well as a classics guy and all-round points winner that it begs the question whether "sprinter" is too banal a description. Same goes for his teammate Haussler. But when a pack rumbles home, one of them has to wind it up. I'll go with Thor, out of habit.
TBD: Allan Davis, Graeme Brown, Heinrich Haussler, Daniele Bennati, Wouter Weylandt, Gerald Ciolek, Danilo Napolitano, Oscar Gatto, Gert Steegmans, Yahueni Hutarovic, Romain Feillu, Kenny De Haes, Baden Cooke...
27 comments | 0 recs |
Tour preparation isn't so simple
by irishpeloton on Feb 9, 2010 2:13 PM EST
25 comments
Some riders have already gotten their season under way at the Tour Down Under in the middle of January, other riders will have waited until February to begin at races like theTour Méditerranéen or the Tour of Qatar, while others still will wait until March before contemplating racing. The racing schedules of the top riders are scrutinised by fans so we can determine what their season goals are and what sort of shape they'll be in at various points of the season. The racing schedules of the Tour de France contenders are usually examined more than most. Will they ride the Giro as preparation? Will they ride the Dauphiné or the Tour de Suisse? Will any of them be riding the cobbled classics? So which races do the Tour contenders frequent more than others? Each rider maps out a path hoping that theirs in particular will be the magical combination of races that will result in them being in better shape come July than all of their rivals. So is there an ideal combination of races?
25 comments | 2 recs
Ted King Live Chat Post Script
by Chris... on Feb 9, 2010 1:50 PM EST
in Cafe Happy Hour!
28 comments
Well that was some good clean fun. If you didn't enjoy that... it's like I don't even know you anymore. A few things:
First, don't take this as thanks for behaving, but thanks for be... uh, for being mindful of how the forum was working, for slowing down the questions when needed, and for bringing the Podium Cafe A-game of cycling crossed with merriment. I've always said that the concept for this site is the internet equivalent of a cycling fan pub in Flanders, and I would imagine Ted felt like he just experienced the online version of walking into such a place to say hello. All that was missing were a few drinks on the house, but hopefully one of us can take care of that at some point in time.
A question: did the comment feature flow smoothly all the way through? It seemed fine to me. Last season we figured that things would slow down at 300 comments or thereabouts, but SBN is constantly upgrading hardware and software. The Saints blog had something like 800 comments in one thread the other night. Either it worked OK or they were too drunk to care.
Any other thoughts or questions about the format? Obvy we'd like to do this more, depending on little things like whether there are other riders who will talk to us.
Lastly, if you would like to show Ted your appreciation, a good way to do so would be to check out the Kempels Brain Injury Foundation. If you're not sure why Ted is involved in promoting this worthy cause, go here. The foundation's story, from Ted's blog:
Krempels Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people living with brain injury from trauma, tumor, or stroke. In partnership with universities and community volunteers, the Krempels Center offers programs that engage members in meaningful and productive experiences and provides ongoing support and resources to those impacted by brain injury. In addition, the organization’s community outreach initiative provides education to the public about brain injury and brain injury prevention.
To show your support, buy these. And to follow Ted on Twitter, sally forth.
28 comments | 0 recs |
Live Chat with Ted King!
by gavia on Feb 9, 2010 11:19 AM EST
in Interviews
541 comments
Welcome to our live chat with Ted King!
Come on in, pull up a chair, make yourselves at home. There's coffee in the back and snacks, unless Frinking ate them all. Frinking? Did you eat all the snacks?
King will be here for an hour and he'll try to answer as many questions as possible. Chris and I will moderate, as necessary, but this is your chance to ask about bike racing and other important things like style and food. Please try to pace your questions, so we don't have a total traffic jam. If there are a couple questions already up on the thread, wait a bit before adding yours. If we run short on time, and Ted doesn't get to your question, you can always find him @iamtedking.
If this is your very first visit to the Cafe, welcome! If you'd like to join the convo, head over to the SBN sign-up page and get yourself a username. You will need a working email address to sign on. We promise not to heckle you over email, or sell your address to Nigerian bankers. We're nice that way.
Thanks for coming and enjoy the fun!
541 comments | 2 recs |
Amy Dombroski: I like to go fast
by gavia on Feb 9, 2010 11:04 AM EST
in Interviews
33 comments
"Wicked Icy." This is how American Amy Dombroski described the World Championship cyclocross race in Tabor. The race turned out to be a frustrating experience, thanks to "treacherous" conditions. "I wasn’t happy with it," she told me in an interview last week. The Tabor slip-and-slide session came after two months of adventuring in Europe for Dombroski. She sampled Marmite, rode the track at Roubaix, and locked her bike in a shed for four days after a snow-induced break-down in England.
Want to see the future of U.S. women’s cyclocross? All signs suggest that Amy Dombroski will figure prominently. Already, the 22 year old is a three-time U23 national champion in cyclocross. Dombroski also holds U23 national titles on the road and mountain bike. This coming season, she will ride her first season on the mountain bike with the powerhouse women’s Luna team.
Dombroski grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Northern Vermont and competed in downhill skiing through the end of high school. She moved to Colorado to continue racing until a knee injury interrupted her career. The injury sent her to Boulder to recover, and she fell in love with the mountain town. "They have a sun!" exclaimed the New Englander, accustomed to dark winters. The turn to bike racing happened by accident. "After a long time out of competition, I was going crazy," she said, and her brother, who raced bikes, suggested she try it out. It only took one race, "I was hooked." For the past three seasons, she has focused her energies on bike racing, and specifically cyclocross. In December 2009, she reached the podium in the elite national championship in Bend, her highest finish yet at elite nationals.
33 comments | 0 recs |
2010 Amgen Tour of California Route Details
by Jimbo... on Feb 9, 2010 8:53 AM EST
20 comments
Class.... class..... class.... SHUT UP!... Thank you. Now then... Stage details for the 2010 Amgen Tour California will be sprinkled onto the interwebs like virtual crumbs being tossed to a hungry flock of new media cycling-fanatic pigeons, or something. The lede is that AEG has announced that they will post videos showing route details and the host cites (a.k.a the start and finish towns) at the rate of two stages per day, for four days starting Tuesday, Feb 9. Details below...
20 comments | 1 recs
Tour of Qatar Stage 3.......LIVE
by Jens on Feb 9, 2010 5:00 AM EST
110 comments
Another day, another crosswind. With the successful breakaway yesterday that left Wouter Mol and Geert Steurs about two minutes ahead on GC we might see a more concerted effort of the big teams to get their big men to line with a chance to win. Expect a bigger bunch sprint today.
Live video from 13:00 CET (07:00 AM US eastern, 23:00 AEST)
Videolinks from Steephill or cyclingfans
Official site here
110 comments | 0 recs
Ted King Chat Tomorrow!
by gavia on Feb 8, 2010 7:23 PM EST
in Interviews
12 comments
Reminder!
Tomorrow at 9am PST (5pm GMT), Ted King will be on the site for a live chat. Come on by and ask your questions about bike racing, food, travel, style, or whatever happens to be on your mind. Ted will do his best to answer as many question as he can while he's here. Need some inspirado? Have a look-see at his bloggy, I am Ted King.
We will post a live thread shortly before Ted comes online. Please try to keep side convo's to a minimum during the live chat. Also, we will have a strictly enforced no heckling rule. No heckling the guest! We have not ruled any topics off limits for the discussion, but please be respectful if Ted declines to answer a particular question. Even real live press conferences sometimes run into the no comment wall.
Look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow!
12 comments | 0 recs |
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