Is it really over? By far the most entertaining Tour de France in years has come to a close, and all that's left is for commentators to commentate and journos to journo - not nearly as captivating as the circus that just finished rolling around France. This tired Monday we've got news a'plenty though: Tour stuff, Floyd, T-Mobile, Ethics Code, Dekker the Elder, and much MORE!
The Best Tour De France In Years
Really, can anyone argue with that statement? Just how great it was will be determined by hoary wise ones with much greater intellect and powers of recollection than I.
Unfortunately, it seems not too many had the TV tuned into the race. The first year post-Lance Armstrong, TV ratings in the US dropped precipitously: down 52% from last year. Germany's TV ratings for the 2006 Tour de France are down 43%. France? 23%.
Too bad for all of the people that didn't turn their TV's to the Tour this year. Operacion Puerto, suspensions, retirements - who the hell cares, once the Tour started there was nothing left to do but watch the best racing we've seen in ages.
Landis To Discovery? Nope.
Lance Armstrong admitted that he wanted Floyd Landis back on Discovery, and usually what Lance Armstrong wants, Lance Armstrong gets.
Landis, the newly crowned Tour de France winner, rode for USPS from 2002-2004, but left last year to assume a leadership role at Phonak.
Armstrong: "We were always interested in Floyd. He's a damn good rider. We've been following him for awhile and want to get him back."
Unfortunately for Armstrong and Discovery, Landis just signed a one-year deal with Phonak/iShares for 2007.
Factoid
Phonak was the biggest earner in the 2006 Tour de France with just under 500,000 Euros: 496,280. 2nd? Caisse-D'Epargne with less than half that: 236,330. Agritubel rounded out the teams in dead last with 15,200.
Looking to compare to yesteryear? The 2005 Discovery Team racked up 545,620 Euros on the march to Lance Armstrong's seventh Tour de France victory (seven wins still boggles the mind).
Of interest, Floyd Landis earned 90% (!) of Phonak's half a million.
Who Needs The Favorites?
Let's look back to the start of the Tour de France. On the eve of the start, CSC, T-Mobile, and AG2R lost their team leaders in dramatic fashion: Basso, Ullrich, and Mancebo. Then, just days into the Tour, Caisse-D'Epargne/Illes Balears, lost their leader, Alejandro Valverde. Four teams lost their captains, Astana lost their entire team, but let's not split hairs.
What happened? All four of these teams came to the fore for the rest of the Tour.
CSC: Carlos Sastre impressed greatly, and though he missed the final podium, his presence was felt like a Mack truck in the montana's, not to mention Schleck's win on Alpe d'Huez as well as Jens Voigt's.
T-Mobile: sure, they made some colossal errors in their strategery, but 3rd overall, three stage wins, best team - not too bad for the team that lost the Tour favorite.
AG2R: bye bye Francisco Mancebo, hello Cyril Dessel and Christophe Moreau. Dessel rode an incredible Tour and finished in the Top 10 with Moreau, along with a pair of stage wins for the team via Calzati and Dessel.
Caisse-D'Epargne: Oscar Pereiro, nuff said. The man came from nowhere and nearly won the Tour de France - that's impressive stuff.
Oh Yeah, Did You Hear About It?
Jan Ullrich was sacked by T-Mobile last week.
"With Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla offering no proof of their innocence, it was a necessary and logical step to terminate their contracts," noted Olaf Ludwig.
Team spokesman, Christian Frommert, had a lot more to say: "We are very disappointed that we have had to take these steps. However, the information available to us left us with no other option. We respect Jan Ullrich's claim that the presumption of innocence must prevail for him as it does for everyone else , but sport and in particular cycling have given themselves certain ethic and moral rules which are also documented in the rider's contract."
Of course, Jan Ullrich reacted with great consternation, as would be expected, and seems justified considering the fact that he has been proven guilty of nothing at this point. Ullrich stated on his personal website that 'he refuses to accept' his firing, and will fight it.
"I find it shameful that after so many many years of good work together and after all that I've done for the team, I'm being treated like a fax number."
End Of The Road For Ulle?
It's scary to even write it, but it's being written everywhere - it seems that everyone thinks this could well be the end of the road for Jan Ullrich.
If Jan Ullrich is given a suspension for something related to Operacion Puerto, it will be the customary two years, plus the two years of non-ProTour action - four years from 32? 36. That, on top of a guy who pretty much said this year that he's got 1, maybe two years left. If he's found guilty, it's game over. The last you'll ever have seen from Jan Ullrich was the final TT at the Tour de Suisse.
If he's found innocent and is allowed to return, it'll be questionable whether he would return to racing. Already fired by his team, he'd have to start anew, this from a rider who could well be termed: fragile.
There's Going To Be A Lot Of Terminating At T-Mob
Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla got the termination party started. After a successful, but still disappointing Tour de France, T-Mobile is looking for some heads, and unfortunately the first two that seem to pop up are DS Mario Kummer and manager Olaf Ludwig. It's not official yet, but they're reportedly under-fire and could get the axe in the coming days.
David Millar's Quiet But Promising Tour
David Millar didn't light the world on fire in his return to bike racing, but that would have been wholly unbelievable if he did. Returning to racing after two years of suspension...to the Tour...without one race in his legs beforehand? Shoooot.
Millar did, however, impress greatly in just finishing the Tour de France - something nearly 40 riders could not pull off. The final TT also showed Millar's continuing form progression - he finished an excellent 10th - 4 minutes behind Gonchar.
"I feel like I used to and I have started to fire now. Once I have rested for a few weeks before the Tour of Spain I will be back to my best, and next year I will be better than ever."
Millar has his eyes set on a drug-free run at the World TT Championships come late September in Salzburg.
Bummer End To Le Tour For...
Florent Brard and Robbie Hunter. Both were forced out of the Tour after the final TT with only the final stage into Paris remaining.
Robbie Hunter was time cut after the TT. He had to ride the entire 57k out of his saddle due to a cantankerous saddle sore, as a result, he didn't make the time cut, and officials showed him no mercy. No matter that he was a part of the Landis' Tour winning team - he'd be watching the final stage in street clothes.
French National Champion Florent Brard wrecked during the TT and broke his hand, ending his Tour de France.
Only 139 riders finished the 2006 edition of the Tour de France.
ProTour Points After Le Tour
Valverde still holds the overall ProTour lead after the Tour de France, but Floyd Landis catapulted to 2nd. He'll most likely stay there, as his season should come to an end here shortly after a few post-Tour crit: he'll be heading in for hip replacement surgery.
More menacing for Valverde's top spot? Frank Schleck. The Luxembourger had a superb Tour, and if he can ride like he did in the Classics at the end of last season - he could well give Valverde a run for his money.
Erik Dekker Returns
I reported incorrectly a few weeks ago that Erik Dekker retired after an awful wreck during the first week of Le Tour. Thankfully, I was completely incorrect, and Dekker the Elder will be returning soon enough.
Tour Of California Route Announcement
LOS ANGELES (July 20, 2006) – Solvang was named by race presenter AEG as one of 12 host cities for California’s record-setting Amgen Tour of California cycling road race, which will once again be staged across more than 650 miles of scenic state highways, roadways and coastline drives February 18-25, 2007.
Beginning with the “traditional” prologue through the streets of downtown San Francisco and traveling over the next week on a newly created course, more than 150 of the world’s best professional cyclists will race through “host cities” Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento (new in 2007), Stockton (new in 2007), San Jose, Seaside (new in 2007), San Luis Obispo, Solvang (new in 2007), Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita (new in 2007), concluding for the first time in Long Beach. The 2007 Amgen Tour of California will be the most significant and important cycling road race held in the United States.
The Amgen Tour of California became an unqualified success in its inaugural year, both in attendance – 1.3 million spectators setting records for a single sporting event in the State of California as well as any cycling event ever held on U.S. soil – in addition to generating $100 million in economic growth for the state throughout the eight days of the race.
“From the world-class riders and competition to the overwhelming support from over one million fans who attended the inaugural Amgen Tour of California and the critical acclaim from the international cycling community, the bar has been set extremely high for the 2007 Amgen Tour of California,” said Shawn Hunter, president, AEG Sports, producers of the event. “While the Amgen Tour of California is already being acknowledged as America’s most important cycling event, we remain committed to upgrading and enhancing every element of the race experience for the cyclists, spectators, viewers and sponsors. Along with our presenting partners at Amgen, we are proud to produce this great event which not only showcases the exciting sport of cycling and our beautiful state, but brings tremendous economic impact to California as well.”
Returning this year as the title sponsor of the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, Amgen, the world's leading biotechnology company, will continue to leverage the race to raise awareness and support for people affected by cancer through the Breakaway from CancerTM education and fundraising initiative. Based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Amgen's invaluable support of the inaugural Amgen Tour of California has helped to ensure its success and impact beyond the sporting arena.
"For more than 26 years, Amgen has tapped the power of pioneering science and innovation to discover and develop vital medicines to help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses," said Jim Daly, senior vice president, North America commercial operations, Amgen. "From the start, we saw a great opportunity through the Tour of California sponsorship and our complementary Breakaway from Cancer initiative, to further empower cancer patients and their families with education and hope to live well with this disease. We’re currently working on exciting enhancements to this year’s Breakaway from Cancer efforts that you’ll be hearing more about in the weeks and months ahead."
Last year, through the Breakaway from Cancer initiative, Amgen raised more than $1 million to support vital non-profit services and programs for the millions of Americans affected by the disease.
Host cities for the eight daily stages include: San Francisco, Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Stockton, San Jose, Seaside, San Luis Obispo, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita and Long Beach.
· Prologue: Sunday, Feb. 18 - San Francisco
· Stage 1: Monday, Feb. 19 - Sausalito to Santa Rosa
· Stage 2: Tuesday, Feb. 20 - Santa Rosa to Sacramento
· Stage 3: Wednesday, Feb. 21 - Stockton to San Jose
· Stage 4: Thur, Feb. 22 - Seaside to San Luis Obispo
· Stage 5: Friday, Feb. 23 - Solvang time trial
· Stage 6: Sat, Feb24 - Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
· Stage 7: Sunday, Feb. 25 - Long Beach circuit race
*For further information on the 2007 Amgen Tour of California, please visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.
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