Can We Start the 2012 Season Already?

by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 13, 2011 6:17 PM EST in Cafe Happy Hour!

Here's something awesome to warm up your cold fingers and toes:

Vande Velde Cycling.mp4 (via VERSUSvsTV)

CVV keeping it real. And the Vesus + Universal = NBC Sports thing is about to go big. Yay!

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I thought you cyclocross geeks were already in hog heaven ;\

by Aly Edge on Dec 13, 2011 6:34 PM EST reply actions

CX

is great as a bridge to the TDU.

De cross gaat out that door.

by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 13, 2011 6:37 PM EST up reply actions

Just over a month now...

5 uur gefietst vandaag. Begin al een kleurtje te krijgen, ook belangrijk.--Thomas Dekker

by majope on Dec 13, 2011 6:45 PM EST up reply actions

who you calling geek?

Tell those roadie fools to chill.. it’s still CX season.
Road season doesn’t start until they show up in Belgium in February anyway.

~ The photographer formerly known as Fred

by Christopher See on Dec 13, 2011 9:40 PM EST up reply actions

AMEN brotha

And who you calling geeks? We just talk about mud and sand and hills, not cobble-by-cobble gradient breakdowns of the Patterberg…

I NEED MOAR MUD

by Douglas Ansel on Dec 14, 2011 12:11 AM EST up reply actions

what he said.

~ The photographer formerly known as Fred

by Christopher See on Dec 14, 2011 9:53 AM EST up reply actions

pandalover

by Jens on Dec 14, 2011 11:05 AM EST up reply actions

Slayer of defenseless 'Beccas...

nyah nyah nyah

~ The photographer formerly known as Fred

by Christopher See on Dec 14, 2011 7:33 PM EST up reply actions

+245.258

by tgsgirl on Dec 14, 2011 2:33 AM EST up reply actions

No fractional kudos, please!

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 14, 2011 7:43 AM EST up reply actions

Belgians use a comma for fractions

TED MADE A MISTAKE

by tgsgirl on Dec 14, 2011 12:29 PM EST up reply actions

This is not a Belgian website, or audience

FORTUNATELY.

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 14, 2011 4:16 PM EST up reply actions

But I am!

by tgsgirl on Dec 14, 2011 4:57 PM EST up reply actions

I knew what you meant, ’twas but a friendly jab.

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 14, 2011 5:34 PM EST up reply actions

i know, i know

by tgsgirl on Dec 15, 2011 2:45 AM EST up reply actions

ted

looks forward to the day he makes a mistake

by yeehoo on Dec 15, 2011 10:23 AM EST up reply actions

Takin' bets on . . .

. . . who’ll will end up higher at the TDF -

CVV vs Nico Roche

As if aspiring for the low ‘teens and dreaming of a top ten deserves anything more then ’meh’.

What would Deming do? (+8:00 GMT)

by Ryan_Liles on Dec 13, 2011 8:40 PM EST reply actions

CVV

Good course for him.

De cross gaat out that door.

by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 13, 2011 10:52 PM EST up reply actions

CVV

Gadret still has Roche’s TT bike, right? The one they share?

I NEED MOAR MUD

by Douglas Ansel on Dec 14, 2011 12:11 AM EST up reply actions

I totally agree it is a great course for him; if this were 2008.

He’s gonna be 36 y/o when the TDF starts.

He should be going there for some other reason the another pointless top 10.

What would Deming do? (+8:00 GMT)

by Ryan_Liles on Dec 14, 2011 12:40 AM EST up reply actions

OK

you didn’t ask who would win. Also, pointless? As someone who finished 19th in a CX race (up from 29th a week earlier) I can tell you nothing is pointless!

De cross gaat out that door.

by Chris Fontecchio on Dec 14, 2011 1:28 AM EST up reply actions

Yes, but were there 190 starters?

I kid, I kid.

I NEED MOAR MUD

by Douglas Ansel on Dec 14, 2011 2:02 AM EST up reply actions

but my money is on CVV. I think Ag2r is more likely to have a leadership crisis and to decide to switch focus and go for stage wins than Garmin. I also think CVV TTs just a tad better than Roche (but not on prologues).

by Nomer on Dec 14, 2011 11:20 PM EST up reply actions

hmmm. last i read after comcast took over, was that cycling would move over to universal sports, once versus gets rebranded as nbcsports. wonder if that changed.

"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind

by umwolverine on Dec 13, 2011 9:17 PM EST reply actions

I've been all over the various provider sites

and can’t find anything conclusive. There is a section on the Univ Sports site to send in a request to keep Universal (and a phone number for lobbying for it). I’ve sent in a few notes but I am worried. I get the Giro and Vuelta on Universal as well as a few other road races, some Cross coverage, and only the “biggest” races on Versus. I’m nervous.

by Spot of Bother on Dec 14, 2011 11:14 AM EST up reply actions

univ sports switches completely over to cable from digital over air 1 jan 2012. which is why it showed up on directv a few months ago.

"Wizard's first rule. People are stupid. They will believe anything they want to be true or fear to be true." -- Terry Goodkind

by umwolverine on Dec 14, 2011 8:53 PM EST up reply actions

Did we just see the 2012 Garmin kit?

by Jens on Dec 14, 2011 12:03 AM EST reply actions

I doubt it

Not even the 2011 Garmin guys can wear it til Jan 1 – sponsors gotta be represented all the way through Dec 31.

I NEED MOAR MUD

by Douglas Ansel on Dec 14, 2011 12:12 AM EST up reply actions

What else would it be?

It’s clearly not the 2011 kit.

"Oh man, it’s going to take days to kill all these people!"

by ncrow on Dec 14, 2011 12:24 PM EST up reply actions

Women's 2012 kit?

No, wait, there is none.

by Jens on Dec 14, 2011 2:29 PM EST up reply actions

Is the team definitively dead?

I don’t get why the British quartet haven’t moved to AA-leontien

by Monty. on Dec 14, 2011 4:27 PM EST up reply actions

Yep it was made official in the last 24 hours or so.

~ The photographer formerly known as Fred

by Christopher See on Dec 14, 2011 7:35 PM EST up reply actions

It was? Where?

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 14, 2011 8:09 PM EST up reply actions

I've still seen nothing

That interview with Lucy Martin where she says that AA Drink will take all the Brits but they’ve got a contract with Garmin is the last I’ve seen. Are Garmin being the good guys and magically finding another sponsor? Or are they the baddies and are going back on their “we’ll pay you but find another team” line? If only they’d been a bit quicker in getting to PFP.

by Monty. on Dec 15, 2011 1:47 PM EST up reply actions

Sarah's CN transfer guide

says they’re disbanding, that’s where I read it.

Badger, badger, badger, badger, badger, badger...

by TheFigurehead on Dec 15, 2011 2:56 PM EST up reply actions

Riiight

I mean, I figured that was just Sarah being a tiny bit mean.

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 15, 2011 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

… or grumpy. Such a dark character, she is.

"Beer helps." -- Ant1.

by tedvdw on Dec 15, 2011 6:17 PM EST up reply actions

Grumpy is exactly right!

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Dec 15, 2011 6:20 PM EST up reply actions

Well, not mean, but it's where they're at, no?

They missed the deadline for registering with British Cycling, so can’t be a UCI team (they have to register in the UK under the Conti team rules) and Vaughters has said that they can’t afford to send the team to races – and riders who can find another team have been released from their contracts, so, in the absence of any good news, that’s the category that fits them best. If it’s wrong, I’m sure the team will get in touch with CN and tell them so, and it can be changed….

Aka Pigeons!

by Sarah Connolly on Dec 15, 2011 6:19 PM EST up reply actions