So I realize that the majority of ya'll don't give a shit but I'm a huge pro cycling fan. Just curious to see if there are any fellow enthusiasts here on TMB. I'll try to keep this thread updated with news and links to races and results throughout the season if folks are interested. If no one is interested, I'll just let the thread fizz out. With that said, the 2012 season season starts in two weeks at the Tour Down Under. A lot of transfers happened this offseason with a number of big names switching teams and a few big teams dissolving.
I don't really follow until right before the TdF. I follow a lot of cyclists on twitter, though, so I do get some snippets here and there. What's happening to HTC-Highroad?
HTC High Road, the winningest team in Pro cycling over the past 5 years, couldn't find funding and it dissolved. Really fucking sad. * Mark Cavendish and Bernie Eisel (his leadout man) went to Team Sky (British team). * Mark Renshaw, Cav's #1 leadout man, went to Rabobank * Tony Martin, who recently won the World Time Trial championships by skunking Cancellara, went to Omega Pharma-Quickstep. * Matt Goss, who won the Milan-San Remo last year, went to team Greenedge (the new Australian team)
World Tour team updates: * Team HTC Highroad dissolved. Riders from this team went in a bunch of different directions. Some went to Sky following Mark Cavendish but most decided to go their own way. * Team Radioshack dissolved and merged with Team Leopard-Trek (the team of the Schleck brothers and Cancellara). The team is now named Radioshack-Nissan * Omega Pharma-Lotto split in two, half creating a new team Lotto-Belisol and another joining forces with team QuickStep (team is now named team Omega-Pharma Quickstep) * Greenedge is the newest team in the World Tour ranks. They're based in Australia and tried really hard to have a completely Australian roster. They plucked riders from just about every team in the pro peloton. Their biggest signing was Matt Goss from HTC.
New kits for 2012: Team Saxo Bank Spoiler Greenedge - not sure if this is the official kit yet. May be changed before the big races... Spoiler Katusha Spoiler Lotto-Belisol Spoiler Vacansoleil Spoiler Omega-Pharma Quickstep Spoiler Radioshack-Nissan - first look. More coming soon.... Spoiler Team Garmin-Barracuda (formerly Garmin-Cervelo) Spoiler Largely unchanged: Team Sky BMC Euskatel-Euskadi Rabobank Astana FDJ - Bigmat: just a tiny change by adding Big Mat as a sponsor on the front of the jersey. Movistar Ag2R Liquigas Lampre Edited on Jan 4th to move Liquigas to the Largely unchanged category.
Renshaw is a huge pickup and a healthy Matti Breschel should cheer you up. He's gonna win a classic this year. They had to let Freire's old ass go and Weening was offered too much money by Greenedge that they couldn't counter-offer.
BMC is definitely the team to beat on paper this year with Hushovd, Gilbert and Ballan for the classics and Evans going for the tour again. Remember though that Garmin was in the same position last year being a super team and it really f-ed up their team chemistry. A lot of egos on that BMC team. As for Radioshack-Trek (Leopard), we'll see what Brunyeel can do. The Schlecks still can't time trial to save their life and this years Tour has a shit-ton more of time trialing than last years and not nearly as much climbing. I think the teams to watch out for this year are Garmin and Rabobank. I expect big seasons from both.
Yeah, I can see how egos would be a problem, but I think they're better than Garmin was last year. I think a lot of the Garmin guys are overrated (namely, Farrar). Hushovd is a beast. Also, I think Hincapie has more experience with egos than any other professional cyclist; he'll keep them in check. I didn't know that the Tour has more time-trialing. I can see definitely how that would hurt Radioshack-Trek. As for Rabobank, I think you're right. I'm a big fan of Renshaw. I don't think he's gotten the credit he's due.
You're right, Farrar is so fucking overrated. He only gets the attention because he's the only american who has a shot in the sprints... Garmin is gonna be a sneaky team this year because they went back to their roots of sticking with smaller name guys. Haussler could have a big year. He was recovering from injuries all last season and was out of shape. last years tour had a 23 km team time trial and a 42.5 km individual time trial (ITT). the 2012 tour has a 38 km ITT and a 52 km ITT. Its tailor made for Cadel Evans to win it again. Contador could be a big favorite too but there isn't as much climbing so he's going to have to blow the shit out of Evans on a few of the hills. should be exciting. the London olympics are going to make the 2012 season super-interesting. A lot of guys may be saving form and going for the gold.
beshel is nice, renshaw isnt that big of a pickup if bos becomes what he should be able to do. the guy im really bummed to lose is langeveld
Provisional start list for the Tour Down Under which runs from Jan 15th through the 22nd. The race is historically one for the sprinters but this year has a little twist with stage 5 finishing on top of Willunga Hill. While it won't shatter the peloton, it will create enough gaps between riders to win the race. Look for a sprinter who can climb (i.e. Heinrich Haussler or Cameron Meyer - last years winner) or an overall rider (i.e. Simon Gerrans or Edvald Boassen Hagen) to be in contention. While the event is largely a tune-up race, being the first World Tour race of the season, everybody will be gunning for a win here. The winner of this race gets the same amount of UCI points as the winner of Paris-Roubaix (absolutely ridiculous). Those points are essential for teams applying for the top level licenses next year and are important to the riders too b/c it gives them leverage for future contracts. Spoiler Ag2r La Mondiale (France) Martin Elmiger (Swi) Manuel Belletti (Ita) Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Blel Kadri (Fra) Romain Lemarchand (Fra) Matteo Montaguti (Ita) Boris Shpilevskiy (Rus) Astana (Kazakhstan) Dmitri Muravyev (Kaz) Borut Bozic (Slo) Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Francesco Masciarelli (Ita) Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) BMC Racing Team (USA) Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Mathias Frank (Swi) Adam Blythe (GBr) Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Martin Kohler (Sui) Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain) Romain Sicard (Fra) Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Victor Cabedo (Spa) Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Ruben Perez (Spa) Adrian Saez de Arregui (Spa) Riccardo Garcia (Spa) FDJ-Big Mat (France) Sandy Casar (Fra) William Bonnet (Fra) Arnaud Courteille (Fra) Frederic Guesdon (Fra) Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Jeremy Roy (Fra) Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Garmin-Cervelo (USA) Ruder Hesjedal (Can) Jack Bauer (NZl) Robbie Hunter (RSA) Natahn Haas (Aus) Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Andreas Klier (Ger) Martijn Maaskant (Ned) GreenEdge (Australia) Cameron Meyer (Aus) Robbie McEwen (Aus) Jack Bobridge (Aus) Simon Gerrans (Aus) Matt Goss (Aus) Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Leigh Howard (Aus) Katusha (Russia) Oscar Freire (Spa) Maxim Belkov (Rus) Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Luca Paolini (Ita) Xavier Florencio (Spa) Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Lampre-ISD (Italy) Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Grega Bole (Slo) Davide Cimolai (Ita) Massimo Graziato (Ita) Danilo Hondo (Ger) Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Davide Vigano (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale (Italy) Stefano Agostini (Ita) Daniele Ratto (Ita) Federico Canuti (Ita) Kristijan Koren (Slo) Alan Marangoni (Ita) Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Lotto-Belisol (Belgium) Andre Greipel (Ger) Vicente Reynes (Spa) Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Adam Hansen (Aus) Greg Henderson (NZl) Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Movistar (Spain) Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Imanol Erviti (Spa) Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) David Lopez (Spa) Angel Madrazo (Spa) Javier Moreno (Spa) Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Omega Pharma-QuickStep (Belgium) Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Matthew Brammeier (Irl) Serge Pauwels (Bel) Andrew Fenn (GBr) Gert Steegmans (Bel) Matteo Trentin (Ita) Julien Vermote (Bel) Rabobank (Netherlands) Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Michael Matthews (Aus) Tom Leezer (Ned) Mark Renshaw (Aus) Jos Van Emden (NEd) Graeme Brown (Aus) Wilco Kelderman (Ned) RadioShack-Nissan (USA) Daniele Bennati (Ita) Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Jan Bakelants (Bel) Tiago Machado (Por) Hayden Roulston (NZl) Jesse Sergent (NZl) Jens Voigt (Ger) Saxo Bank (Denmark) Sergio Paulinho (Por) Anders Lund (Den) Luke Roberts (Aus) Jaroslaw Marycz (Pol) Jonas Jorgensen (Den) Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Sky (Great Britain) Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Geraint Thomas (GBr) Chris Sutton (Aus) Alex Dowsett (GBr) Michael Rogers (Aus) Danny Pate (USA) Mathew Hayman (Aus) Uni SA-Australia (Australia) Steele Van Hoff (Aus) Jay McCarthy (Aus) Rohan Dennis (Aus) Lachlan Norris (Aus) Tom Palmer (Aus) Plus two further riders to be confirmed Vacansoleil-DCM (Netherlands) Romain Feillu (Fra) Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Marcello Pavarin (Ita) Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Wouter Mol (Ned)
Radioshack-Nissan is having their team presentation today. The first look at their new team kit is out and linked above.
yea, its pretty weird. Now it looks like everyone on the team is the Luxembourg national champion. I'll be interested to see Matt Busche's US champion jersey... I have a feeling they butchered it. edit.. here's the 2012 US National Champion's jersey. I can't wait to see Busche on a different team....
Simon Gerrans of team Greenedge won the Australian National Road Race championships today. Thats no small feat as the race is stacked full of good pros. He showed really good form heading into next weeks Tour Down Under. Look for the sprinter-heavy Greenedge team to contest every stage of the TDU being that they're an Australian team and this is the only major race on their home turf all year long (not to mention its the first major race of the 2012 season). Spoiler
Team Garmin-Cervelo announced that they've picked up a new team sponsor and will be named Garmin-Barracuda this year. Here is their kit. Spoiler
Team bikes for 2012... BMC - BMC impec Spoiler Team Sky - Pinarello Dogma Spoiler Radioshack-Nissan - Trek Madone Spoiler Rabobank - Giant TCR Advanced SL Spoiler Liquigas-Cannondale - Cannondale SuperSix Evo Spoiler Greenedge - Scott Foil Spoiler Vacansoleil - Bianchi Oltre Spoiler FDJ-BigMat - Lapierre Xelius Spoiler Katusha - Canyon Ultimate CF SLX Spoiler AG2R-la-Mondaile - Kuota KOM Spoiler Euskaltel-Euskadi - Orbea Orca GDi2 Spoiler Lotto-Belisol - Ridley Noah FAST Spoiler
just a few more days of this boring shit before the racing gets underway... Greenedge's official kit Spoiler
The Down Under Classic, the so called "prologue" for the Tour Down Under, finished up really early this morning (East Coast time). While the race technically isn't part of the TDU, the winner does get to start the race wearing the leaders jersey. Also, it gives us spectators a clear idea of who's in tip-top sprinting form. Watch the results here or click the spoiler button to see a list of the top 10. Spoiler 1 Andre Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 1:03:16 2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky 3 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 4 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa) Movistar 5 Steel Von Hoff (Aus) UniSA-Australia 6 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) SaxoBank 7 Chris Sutton (Aus) Sky 8 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Movistar 9 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto-Belisol 10 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-ISD
Stage 1 Complete I'll try to find a better video but here's the final km. Results: Spoiler Greipel makes it two in a row. That nasty crash with 900 m remaining took out some big names and led to some serious injuries (multiple broken collarbones, Frederic Guesdon fractured his hip and Jurgen Roelandts fractured his 6th vertebrae). Stage Results 1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 4:33:402. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD3. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ - BigMat4. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas - Cannondale5. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan6. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling7. Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank8. Xavier Florencio Cabrè (Spa) Katusha9. Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank10. Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale Overall 1. André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 4:33:30 2. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD -0:00:04 3. Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC 4. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ - BigMat -0:00:06 5. Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA - Australia -0:00:07 6. Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha -0:00:08 7. Marcello Pavarin (Ita) Vacansoleil -DCM -0:00:09 8. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas - Cannondale -0:00:10 9. Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan 10. Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
Stage 2 Complete Results: Spoiler Will Clarke rode like a mad man today soloing away at the 1 km mark and going the distance during todays 148 km stage. Its a huge win for him, his first World Tour win, and for the UNISA team. Martin Kohler takes over the general classification lead after winning a few intermediate sprints in stage 1 and then winning two more today. Those sprints give riders bonus seconds which he used to pull the jersey from the shoulders of Griepel. Stage Results: 1 William Clarke (Aus) UNI SA - Australia 3:58:35 2 Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank 0:01:02 3 Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE 4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar 5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 6 Oscar Freire (Spa) Katusha 7 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC 8 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 9 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 10 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda General Classification after Stage 2: 1 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC 8:33:05 2 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 0:00:02 3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank 0:00:04 4 Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE 0:00:08 5 Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA - Australia 0:00:09 6 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha 0:00:10 7 Xavier Florencio Cabrè (Spa) Katusha 0:00:12 8 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank 9 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 10 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
Stage 3 Complete: Spoiler Greipel wins again for the 3rd time in 4 days to re-take the overall lead. Results: 1 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 3:21:55 2 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ - BigMat 3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 4 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank 5 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) GreenEDGE 6 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana 7 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) Garmin-Barracuda 8 Daniele Bennati (Ita) RadioShack-Nissan 9 Manuel Belletti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling Overall: 1 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto-Belisol 11:54:52 2 Martin Kohler (Swi) BMC 0:00:08 3 Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank 0:00:12 4 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil -DCM 0:00:14 5 Simon Gerrans (Aus) GreenEDGE 0:00:16 6 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan 7 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 8 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha (Rus) Katusha 9 Rohan Dennis (Aus) UNI SA - Australia 0:00:17 10 Xavier Florencio Cabrè (Spa) Katusha 0:00:20
Stage 4 complete: Spoiler Oscar Freire pulls out an impressive win on the uphill sprint to win Stage 4. Greipel blew up with about 10k to go and finished 7 minutes down on the day. Tonight/tomorrow morning is the Queen stage of the race that will decide the overall. Kohler, Gerrans and Boasson Hagen are in perfect position to win this thing. It should come down to one of those three, unless theres a major surprise coming. Watch out for how well Freire or Michael Matthews (Rabobank) climb though as they could snag the overall if they can hold the climbers wheels. Also, watch out for Alejandro Valverde of Movistar and a few of the other big climbers in the race like Ryder Hejesdal. Stage results: 1 FREIRE, Oscar Katusha 3:08:34 2 CIOLEK, Gerald Omega Pharma-QuickStep st 3 BENNATI, Daniele RadioShack-Nissan st 4 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling st 5 MATTHEWS, Michael* Rabobank st 6 ROJAS, Jose Joaquin Movistar st 7 ROBERTS, Luke Team Saxo Bank st 8 KOREN, Kristijan Liquigas – Cannondale st 9 LAGUTIN, Sergey Vacansoleil -DCM st 10 HAUSSLER, Heinrich Garmin-Barracuda st General Classification: 1 KOHLER, Martin BMC 15:03:34 2 MATTHEWS, Michael* Rabobank at 0:02 3 FREIRE, Oscar Katusha st 4 CIOLEK, Gerald Omega Pharma-QuickStep at 0:06 5 GERRANS, Simon GreenEDGE at 0:08 6 BENNATI, Daniele RadioShack-Nissan st 7 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling st 8 BAKELANTS, Jan RadioShack-Nissan st 9 VORGANOV, Eduard Katusha st 10 DENNIS, Rohan* UNI SA – Australia at 0:09
Stage 5 Complete: Spoiler Stage results: 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro Movistar 3:45:48 2 GERRANS, Simon GreenEDGE st 3 MACHADO, Tiago RadioShack-Nissan at 0:02 4 ROGERS, Michael Sky Procycling at 0:04 5 DENNIS, Rohan* UNI SA – Australia at 0:07 6 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling at 0:12 7 MORENO, Javier Movistar at 0:13 8 BAKELANTS, Jan RadioShack-Nissan st 9 BAUER, Jack Garmin-Barracuda at 0:26 10 VORGANOV, Eduard Katusha st General Classification: 1 GERRANS, Simon GreenEDGE 18:49:24 2 VALVERDE, Alejandro Movistar st 3 MACHADO, Tiago RadioShack-Nissan at 0:08 4 ROGERS, Michael Sky Procycling at 0:14 5 DENNIS, Rohan* UNI SA – Australia st 6 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling at 0:18 7 BAKELANTS, Jan RadioShack-Nissan at 0:19 8 MORENO, Javier Movistar at 0:23 9 MATTHEWS, Michael* Rabobank at 0:29 10 VORGANOV, Eduard Katusha at 0:32
Stage 6 (Final Stage) Complete Spoiler Stage results: Greipel wins again for the 3rd time in 6 stages. Simon Gerrans of Greenedge wins the overall notching a big victory for the rookie team. Gerrans gets a shit-ton of UCI points too and will likely be the #1 ranked rider in the world from now until the spring classics. 1 GREIPEL, André Lotto-Belisol 1:56:48 2 RENSHAW, Mark Rabobank st 3 PETACCHI, Alessandro Lampre – ISD st 4 HUTAROVICH, Yauheni FDJ – BigMat st 5 ROJAS, Jose Joaquin Movistar st 6 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling st 7 FEILLU, Romain Vacansoleil -DCM st 8 CANTWELL, Jonathan Team Saxo Bank st 9 SABATINI, Fabio Liquigas – Cannondale st 10 BELLETTI, Manuel AG2R La Mondiale st Final General Classification: 1 GERRANS, Simon GreenEDGE 20:46:12 2 VALVERDE, Alejandro Movistar st 3 MACHADO, Tiago RadioShack-Nissan at 0:08 4 ROGERS, Michael Sky Procycling at 0:14 5 DENNIS, Rohan* UNI SA – Australia st 6 BAKELANTS, Jan RadioShack-Nissan at 0:16 7 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald* Sky Procycling at 0:18 8 MORENO, Javier Movistar at 0:23 9 MATTHEWS, Michael* Rabobank at 0:29 10 VORGANOV, Eduard Katusha at 0:32
When you assholes say "share the road" you mean "give me the fucking road" right? At least admit it. I see so many crushed-nut cyclists being all, "Hey bro share the road" but then they run red lights, weave through traffic, and pull all sorts of trifling illegal stunts that are both dangerous and not-at-all in the spirit of sharing.
"share the road" just means acknowledge I'm there. It doesn't mean "don't pass" or "give me the road" or anything like that. Most cyclists are very conscious about obeying traffic laws and not being a nuisance because we realize that we're dead if we fuck up. Just like any other sport though, you'll come across amateurs who feel entitled on their $5000 bikes and let you know so. Ignore them and go about your day. Any cyclist who runs a red light is an idiot. I do weave through traffic if I'm stuck in an awkward position in the middle of a line of cars and work myself to a crosswalk or to the sidewalk.
Alright, so I slacked on a few smaller races that went down last week. The first was the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. While the race usually attracts big names, they typically only use it for gearing up for some of the bigger races in Europe that start in a few weeks. This year's race included some big names like Contador, Nibali and Levi Leipheimer. Team Omega-Pharma Quick-Step dominated the race winning 4 of the 7 stages (Chicchi won stage 1 & 2, Levi won stage 4 and Tom Boonen won the last stage) and Levi taking the overall with a dominating Individual Time Trial performance all while sticking with Contador on the big climbs. Contador won two of the 7 stages with uphill finishes and the last stage was won by Elia Viviani, a talented sprinter on Team Liquigas. The other small race this past weekend was the Grand Prix d’Ouverture – La Marseillaise, a 1 day race. While its held in the south of France, it usually gets cold and wet. The race was won by Samuel Dumolin of Cofidis. The next big world tour race is the Tour of Qatar which starts on Sunday. Its usually brutally hot and, like the Tour Down Under, won by a sprinter. T-minus 25 days until the pre-classics start with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 25th!! My favorite time of year.
Tour of Qatar info: Another race for the sprinters. This one even more so than the Tour Down Under. Every stage of this race is flat and hot and the stages almost always end in bunch sprints. Every so often cross winds split the peloton and a breakaway will stay away and win the day (that's how Wouter Mol won the overall in 2010). Past winners: 2011 - Mark Renshaw - HTC-Highroad 2010 - Wouter Mol - Vacansoleil 2009 - Tom Boonen - Quick Step 2008 - Tom Boonen - Quick Step 2007 - Wilfried Cretskens - Quick Step 2006 - Tom Boonen - Quick Step 2005 - Lars Michaelsen - Team CSC 2004 - Robert Hunter - Rabobank 2003 - Alberto Loddo - Lampre 2002 - Thorsten Wilhelms - Team Coast Schedule: Sunday, Feb. 5th - 143 km Monday, Feb. 6th - 11.3 km - Team Time Trial (TTT) Tuesday, Feb. 7th - 147 km Wed., Feb. 8th - 144 km Thurs, Feb. 9th - 160 km Friday, Feb. 10th - 120 km Its pretty boring to watch but there's usually high-quality live-streaming for each stage so I'll be sure to post a link for each stage. Startlist (* = substitute) Spoiler BMC RACING TEAM (BMC) - Sporting Manager : LELANGUE John WYSS Danilo SCHÄR Michael PHINNEY Taylor LODEWIJCK Klaas KOHLER Martin HUSHOVD Thor GILBERT Philippe BLYTHE Adam * SANTAMBROGIO Mauro * MOINARD Amaël * CUMMINGS Stephen * BOOKWALTER Brent BRIDGESTONE ANCHOR (BGT) - Sporting Manager : KUBO Nobuhito YOSHIDA Hayato SYS Klaas SONNERY Blaise SHIMIZU Miyataka NISHIZONO Ryota LEMAIR Alexandre LEBAS Thomas ITAMI Kenji * INOUE Kazuo CHAMPION SYSTEM (CSS) - Sporting Manager : BEAMON Edward PENGA Jiao OJAVEE Mart KEMPS Aaron GARDEYN Gorik GANG Xu FRIEDEMANN Matthias CLARKE William AVERY Clinton * JIANG Kun FARNESE VINI-SELLE ITALIA (FAR) - Sporting Manager : PARSANI Serge POZZATO Filippo HULSMANS Kevin GUARDINI Andrea DE NEGRI Pier Paolo CACCIA Diego BERTOLINI Thomas BENENATI Cristiano ASCANI Luca * DE PATRE Roberto * BALLONI Alfredo * ANDRIATO Rafael FDJ-BIGMAT (FDJ) - Sporting Manager : GAYANT Martial SOUPE GEOFFREY ROLLIN Dominique RASCH Gabriel OFFREDO Yoann LADAGNOUS Matthieu DEMARE Arnaud DELAGE Mickaël BOUCHER David * HUTAROVICH Yauheni * GUESDON Frédéric * BOUHANNI Nacer * BONNET William GARMIN - BARRACUDA (GRM) - Sporting Manager : WELTZ Johnny VAN SUMMEREN Johan RATHE Jacob NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas HUNTER Robert HOWES Alex FISCHER Murilo Antoniobil FARRAR Tyler DEKKER Thomas BAUER Jack * VANMARCKE Sep * MILLAR David * KREDER Raymond GREENEDGE CYCLING TEAM (GEC) - Sporting Manager : LAPAGE Laurenzo TUFT Svein MOURIS Jens MC EWEN Robbie LANGEVELD Sebastian KRUOPIS Aidis DOCKER Mitchell COOKE Baden BEPPU Fumiyuki * O’GRADY Stuart * LANCASTER Brett Daniel * GOSS Matthew Harley * CLARKE Simon KATUSHA TEAM (KAT) - Sporting Manager : PIVA Valerio TSATEVICH Alexei SMUKULIS Gatis SELIG Rüdiger KUCHYNSKI Aliaksandr ISAICHEV Vladimir IGNATYEV Mikhail HALLER Marco GALIMZYANOV Denis * VANTOMME Maxime * PORSEV Alexander * KRISTOFF Alexander * GUSEV Vladimir LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ) - Sporting Manager : MARIUZZO Dario VANOTTI Alessandro SAGAN Peter SABATINI Fabio OSS Daniel MARANGONI Alan LONGO BORGHINI Paolo DA DALTO Mauro BODNAR Maciej * PATERSKI Maciej * NIBALI Vincenzo * NERZ Dominik * KOREN Kristjan LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM (LTB) - Sporting Manager : HEYNDERRICKX Jean-Pierre SOHRABI Mehdi SIEBERG Marcel ROELANDTS Jurgen HENDERSON Gregory HANSEN Adam GREIPEL André DEBUSSCHERE Jens BAK Lars * WILLEMS Frederik * VAN GENECHTEN Jonas OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP (OPQ) - Sporting Manager : PEETERS Wilfried VANDENBERGH Stijn VAN KEIRSBULCK Guillaume STEEGMANS Gert RABON Frantisek MAES Nikolas CHICCHI Francesco BRAMMEIER Matt BOONEN Tom * PINEAU Jérôme * GRABSCH Bert PROJECT 1T4I (PRO) - Sporting Manager : KEMNA Rudi VEELERS Tom TIMMER Albert SINKELDAM Ramon KLUGE Roger KLEMME Dominic DEGENKOLB John DE KORT Koen CURVERS Roy * VAN ZANDBEEK Ronan * LUDVIGSSON Tobias * BONNIN Thomas RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB) - Sporting Manager : DEKKER Erik WYNANTS Maarten VERMELTFOORT Coen VAN WINDEN Dennis VAN EMDEN Jos TJALLINGII Maarten RENSHAW Mark LEEZER Thomas BROWN Graeme * TANKINK Bram * FLENS Rick * BRESCHEL Matti * BOL Jetse RADIOSHACK-NISSAN (RNT) - Sporting Manager : DEMOL Dirk WAGNER Robert ROULSTON Hayden RAST Gregory POSTHUMA Joost POPOVYCH Yaroslav NIZZOLO Giacomo GALLOPIN Tony CANCELLARA Fabian * IRIZAR Markel * DIDIER Laurent RTS RACING TEAM (RTS) - Sporting Manager : LIN Wen Chin RODGERS Lee MCCANN David KUDENTSOV Serguei HUANG Wang Chung HUANG Chin-Lung CRAWFORD Jai COUTTS Alex CHANG Wei Kei SKY PROCYCLING (SKY) - Sporting Manager : DE JONGH Steven STANNARD Ian KNEES Christian HUNT Jérémy FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio EISEL Bernhard CAVENDISH Mark BARRY Michaël APPOLLONIO Davide * ROWE Luke * PUCCIO Salvatore * HAYMAN Mathew * DOWSETT Alex Who to watch for: Spoiler This race was supposed to be all about Cavendish vs. Andre Greipel vs. the rest but Greipel pulled out yesterday with an illness. Who are the other main contenders? Taylor Phinney - BMC: along with TJ Van Garderen, he's the next great American cyclist. He needs a pro win though to live up to they hype. Could this be his first? It all depends on what his team role is... Andrea Guardini - Farnese Vini - One of the up-and-coming sprinters. He won a shit-ton of races last year in his first year as a pro. Many consider him (and Marcel Kittel) to be the guys most likely to challenge Mark Cavendish. He won a stage at last years race. Denis Galimzyanov - Katusha - The biggest sprinter in the peloton has a huge motor. He's fucked if crosswinds come into play. Tom Boonen - Quick Step - just finished the Tour de San Luis in great shape with a stage win. Still one of the best and he's in good form. John Degenkolb - Project 1T4i - he's likely saving himself for some of the bigger races coming up but this guy is good... damn good. Mark Renshaw - Rabobank - The defending champ is looking to keep the jersey for another year. It'll be interesting to see him go up against Cavendish. Mark Cavendish - Sky - Is he fat and out of shape like he usually is this time of year or did the change of teams whip him into shape? He's still the world's best sprinter and will be until someone can consistently beat him in the final kick.
the CAS decision on Alberto Contador is coming down tomorrow. We should know the results early in the morning. Early rumor is that he'll be banned for 6 months to 1 year.
Contador gets a two year ban for testing positive for clenbuterol and is stripped of his 2010 Tour title. He'll miss this years TdF too.
I know he probably doesn't like winning it that way, but I'm happy for Andy Schleck. I also bet Lance was smuggy as shit when he heard the news after being acquitted.
What was Boonen's penalty for the cocaine tests? I know he had to sit out the TdF either last year or the year before, but how long was the total sentence?
Wow. From VeloNews: UPDATED: Contador banned two years By Andrew Hood Published Feb. 6, 2012 Updated 4 hours ago Andy Schleck (R) in the best young rider's jersey on his way to winning the 17th stage of the 2010 Tour de France ahead of overall leader, Spain's Alberto Contador, in the French Pyrenees. (file) Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com LLUCMAJOR, Spain (VN) – Alberto Contador received the worst possible news Monday: a two-year ban and the loss of his 2010 Tour de France crown as well as all results in 2011 and 2012. Contador’s ban is back-dated and discounted for time during his provisional ban, meaning he will be able to return to competition on August 6. The Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down the long-awaited ruling in the Spaniard’s long-running clenbuterol case as promised Monday (see statement below). Contador becomes the second rider in Tour history to have his victory taken away for a doping violation – Floyd Landis was stripped of the 2006 Tour win after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. Contador insists traces of clenbuterol entered his system after he ate contaminated steaks. After months of deliberation, CAS rejected Contador’s arguments and overturned acquittal by the Spanish cycling federation in the controversial case that dragged on for more than a year and a half. There was no immediate response from Contador. “This is a sad day for our sport,” said UCI president Pat McQuaid in a statement by the cycling federation released Monday confirming the CAS ruling. “Some may think of it as a victory, but that is not at all the case. There are no winners when it comes to the issue of doping: every case, irrespective of its characteristics, is always a case too many.” Contador tested positive for 50 picograms per milliliter of the muscle-building stimulant (a picogram is one trillionth of a gram) in urine samples collected on the Tour’s second rest day. The samples were analyzed in a WADA-approved lab in Cologne, Germany, one of the few labs in the world with the precise equipment to allow the detection of such small amounts. Contador’s legal team claimed that the clenbuterol entered his system after eating steaks that were purchased in Irun, near the Spanish-French border, and brought to France, where Contador and some other then-Astana teammates dined on the team bus. After the Spanish cycling federation cleared Contador, he immediately returned to competition, winning the Murcia and Catalunya tours ahead of the 2011 Giro d’Italia. He later finished fifth in the 2011 Tour. WADA and UCI joined in an appeal and argued that Contador should receive a full ban. The CAS statement: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rendered its decision in the arbitration between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) & the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador & the Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC): the CAS has partially upheld the appeals filed by WADA and the UCI and has found Alberto Contador guilty of a doping offence. “As a consequence, Alberto Contador is sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility starting retroactively on 25 January 2011, minus the period of the provisional suspension served in 2010-2011 (5 months and 19 days). The suspension should therefore come to an end on 5 August 2012.”