Universalsports has started their coverage, and we are on Lap 3, with a gap of about 5 minutes between the breakaway and the peloton.  The three riders in the breakaway are Ochoa Quintero, Chuzhda, and Christian Poos.

The first, live thread, is on lap 6 or 7, Bruce says, which is a mighty Bruce Gap, perhaps the greatest one that we at the PdC have ever seen! 

The weather looks great, cool and sunny.  Lovkvist just got a radio change.  And to complete my 75 words, Bettini has announced his retirement, I see, so I've got to think he is super-motivated to win today.  I, personally, am rooting for Oscartio!, as I'd love to see him take a 4th jersey to cap off the year.

Hi, everyone, I got my Road To Roubaix dvd yesterday and had to come here and gush wildly about it!  I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but had to put a warning in the title, in case there are some people that don't want to know anything about it before they buy it. 

Now, let me continue:  buy it, buy it , buy it.

Per our previous discussion about this documentary in last Friday's "Housekeeping" thread, watch the trailer at www. masterlinkfilms.com .  You can buy it from this site, too.  There are reviews there, as well, and under the Cycling Weekly review there is even a UK website address where you can buy the movie on the other side of the pond. 

From what I can gather, I think this film started out as a Discovery Channel-produced piece about George Hincapie's journey to the '07 PR race, but was derailed by his wrist injury at the TofCA that year.  It then morphed into a project about the race, & what it means to the racers and cycling fans everywhere.

A few comments: 

In case you were worried that this was a pro-Lance vehicle, fear not:  the short LA interview in the trailer is the only LA in the film, no worries. 

Rider interviews:  Boonen, Van Heswijk, Van Der Flecha, Cancellara, O'Grady, Sean Kelly, Benna, Ballan, Steegmans, Levi and Basso (remnants of the early interviews of Team Discovery, I assume?) and Van Petegem.

Lots of insightful commentary from Johnny Green about the history of the race (love his book Push Yourself Just A Little Bit More.)

There are mechanic interviews, footage of pre-race training rides, race-day sign-in activity, then coverage of the actual race, and the post-race goings-on at the velodrome.  Amazing shower scenes (v. nicely done.) Haunting, bass-driven music.  Crowd scenes, kids riding the cobbles, oh, it is a thing of beauty for any bike race fan.

The still photgraphy of the current riders is masterful, and there are a few photos that just take your breath away (Backstedt, Brard, Flecha in the shower, Hincapie, oh, you will see what I mean when you watch the movie - they are simply outstanding.)

More later, after more people have seen it.  I have a couple of nits to pick, nothing too serious.  But again, I say:   buy it.  Watch it, over and over.  It is almost as good as Hell On Wheels, which is quite a compliment, indeed :-)

I thought that perhaps now was a good time to look at the Anti-Doping data posted on Team CSC-Sexy Back's website.  It was posted by Rasmus Damsgaard shortly before the Tour started. 

Since the launch of the program in December 2006 until April 2008, a total of 941 anti-doping tests have been collected and analyzed.  All tests conducted under the WADA CODE have been declared "negative."

It's a 9-pager, but there's some great information in there.  Yes, I'm a fan, but I feel very confident about these riders being clean.  

What do you think?

Thought I'd post about the national champtionship TT results so far, so we have a place to chat about it:

Switzerland:  Fabian Cancellara (CSC-Sexy Back)

Italy:  Marco Pinotti (Team Columbia)

France:  Sylvain Chavanel (COF)

Ukraine:  Andry Grivko (MRM)

Kazakhstan:  Andrey Mizourov (AST)  (The top 4 placings were all AST)

Sweden:  Fredrik Ericsson (Team Cykelcity)  Gustav Larsson (CSC-Sexy) and Thomas Lövkvist (Team Columbia) placed 2nd and 3rd, respectively

Poland:  Ukasz  Bodnar (DHL-Author)

[UPDATES!]

Russia: Vlad Gusev (Astana)

Czech: Frantisek Rabon (Columbia)

Luxembourg: Kim Kirchen (Columbia)

Denmark: Lars Bak (CSC)

Germany: Bert Grabsch (Columbia)

Hungary: László Bodrogi (Lampre)

Australia: Adam Hansen (wasn't this in January??)

Tuesday, June 17
Steve Carell (Get Smart) 
Lance Armstrong (Website, Livingstrong.com) 
Dr. John (CD, "City That Care Forgot")
Steve Carell and Lance on Letterman?  I may have to stay up late and watch this one. 

To fulfill my 75-word requirement, and avoid any more discussions about meat byproducts, can I just say that "Get Smart" was one of my most favorite TV shows when I was a kid?  (That, and "The Honeymooners.")  I am hoping that the new movie does the old show credit - I think Carell is the perfect actor to try it - but it's all about the writing, so.....  I hope that the best parts aren't the scenes they're showing in the movie-previews.

To the delight of the Podium Cafe community, CN is reporting that SAAB has signed on as a sponsor of Team Slipstream-Chipoltle Powered by H3.  Scroll down on the link, please.

 Let the good times roll!

And to fulfill my 75 words, I admit freely that I'm a Chicago-Style hotdog gal, always have been,  And I agree with the Chicagoan philosophy that ketchup should never be put on a hotdog, never ever, not even for children.  Raise them the right way, dammit, with relish and mustard! 

Hi, good morning.  Anybody up for a nice bike race this morning? 

In CN's race review HERE , they say that there's a great possibility that this stage might end in a bunch sprint.  Barloworld's Baden Cooke is there, as well as

Current status:  a breakaway has 5:37 on the peloton, with Martin manning the control booth alone this morning at c.tv.  The roads are currently dry, but Martin says that the clouds ahead are threatening.

Good morning, everyone!  I'm back from vacation, enjoying a lovely morning of watching the first stage of the Euzkal Bizikleta, on C.tv Free 2View.

Here is the LINK to the CN race review.  Scroll down for the start list.  CdE, SDP, Tinkoff, Barloworld, EUS and Karpin-Galicia are the most recognizables teams in the race.

This race is only 3 days this year, down from the previous 5 days, due to a lack of sponsorship $$.

Current status:  Capecchi SD-Prodir on the attack, with a gap of about 40" back to the peloton.   They're about 1k to the top of the last climb, with a 14k descent down to the finish after that.

LLSanchez Gill was figured to be a favorite, but was unable to make an attack on this last climb. However, there's about a 6-rider group that's attacking up the climb, trying to catch Capecchi. 

Update: Igor Anton attacking, trying to catch Capecchi alone. 

At the top of the climb, the gap from Capecchi to the (now) 7-rider chasers is 22", and it's 59" from Capecchi to the peloton.

Now 14k, downhill to the finish.  The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, a sunny day, with lots of 'copter shots of the jagged Basque coastline.

I understand that during every race, things are happening fast. Really fast. And I know that before the race, each team plans a rough strategy for the day.

But things happen fast. And radios don't always work, or riders take them out and don't use them (Devo.) Guys get sick, or have mechanicals. Or crash. Or your team car is 20th in line, way back.

Thinking about all this, I am intrigued by the question of who the on-the-road team captains are on each Giro team this year.

I'm talking about the on-the-road captain, the super-domestique or sprinter who manages his team on the road. The smart guy, who knows where certain riders are all the time, notices when another rider has good legs, or when another becomes tired. The guy who studies the stage a little closer than anyone else, gives quiet advice to his teammates with a quick gesture, who counsels thier own young riders. The guy who communicates the best with the DS before, during and after the race.

I know that some sprinter teams, with no GC guy, rely on their sprinter to be that guy. But though McEwen & Bettini are patrons, does that make them "in charge" on the road?

I've read that some riders are natural captains, like Boogie and Hoste were in the TdF last year. Like CVV (I've read) is in this year's Giro for the Slippies.

I was a big fan of Lars Michaelson, former road captain at CSC. Who is the captain there now?

I'm enjoying the process of mulling it over, team by team. Who do you think are the captains on the road for the GC Teams this year? The stage-hunting teams?

Or, conversely, as a non-racing fan, am I romanticizing this whole concept of Road Captain all out of proportion? As I plead guilty to this, what do you think?

Hi, everyone.  If you are a fan of the Tour of California, I highly suggest you check out the most recent "Road" magazine special ToCA collector's edition.  It has some of the greatest cycling photography I've ever seen, simply spectacular!

There are amazing, arty photo portraits of several riders that are unparalleled in their beauty, including one of Voeckler that is just scary good.  The ones of Tony, Cippo, Rollin, Millar, Kohl, and Pagliarini blew me away, too.

There are also beautiful recaps of each of this year's stages.  Unreal!

I have to also admit that I haven't really read the whole thing yet, I just got it in the mail today, but I HIGHLY recommend you run, do not walk, down to your local bookstore and check it out.  I'm not normally a huge fan of the mag, as I usually find only about a third of the articles as wonderful as the other cycling 'zines I subscribe to, but I tell ya:  this editiona is a winner, if only for the photography!

The photographers are: John Segesta, Allan Crawford, Carson Blume and Jonathan Devish.  Hoo boy, what a rush!