Hopefully you're ready for the winter doldrums to ease by now, and I'm not talking about the weather. Racing is nearly upon us and there will be sagas, pictures, action! Just about a week to go and the circus begins anew in Australia. First off, I'll scour the dumpsters and litter for anything worth half a gander, so hold your nose, because I've got a fine load of Trash to deliver!
Cross National Championships Weekend Round-Up!
In the traditional cross countries throughout Europe, there was nary a surprise to be had, seriously, check it out:
Belgium: Sven Nys (2nd Niels Albert)
Netherlands: Lars Boom (2nd Thijs Al)
France: Francis Mourey
Czech Republic: Zdenek Stybar (2nd Radomir Simunek)
Italy: Enrico Franzoi (for the bajillionth time)
Switzerland: Christian Heule
Germany: Philipp Walsleben
Denmark: Joachim Parbo
Austria: Peter Presslauer (for the bajillionth time)
UK: Jody Crawforth
Ireland: Robin Seymour (for the bajillionth time)
What can we take from this? Sven Nys, Niels Albert, and Lars Boom are all on their game. Sven Nys never really left his game, but he does appear to finally have gotten hold of the end of the season: he has raced less this season and now looks to be headed towards 100% for Worlds in two weeks. Niels Albert has missed a large chunk of the season due to a ruptured spleen now almost two months ago, but he's back and nearly surprised Nys on the line. Boom? Well, he's had some injury problems as well this year, but he's just basically Lars Boom and it's only a matter of time before he starts to eat other poor crossers.
Speaking Of Cross
As the world's best cyclocrosser, Sven Nys has ever right to speak his mind...especially about the team that he will go with to the World Championships in Hoogerheide next month. Not too long ago, Niels Albert confessed that if it came down to it, he would rather work for a teammate on his trade team (I think it was the young Czech, Simunek) than a teammate on his national team. The offhand comment raised a firestorm of criticism, which led Albert to backpedal a fair bit, but the comment still lingers and Nys had a little something to say about it:
"We must unite together against a very strong rider in [Dutchman] Lars Boom. One of the other Belgians has said that he would work for a foreigner. I think we should come to an agreement. If that rider does not want to fall in line with the Belgian team, he should stay home. [Belgian Coach Rudy] De Bie has the right to demand that. The coach is not only for arranging hotels...If he asks my opinion, I will give it."
Nys did not refer to Albert at all in the previous paragraph, but he does in the next:
"The primary concern is that everyone can feel for the result afterwards. If you cannot win, be prepared to ride for someone else, as Richard Groenendaal did for Lars Boom last year in Treviso If I cannot win, I will be willing to give it all for Niels Albert."
Sastre Will Ride The Giro, If...
Carlos Sastre has clarified his stance on the Giro and made his schedule known.
First, Sastre says that he will ride the Giro if the form is there. "If I ride the Giro, I want to ride for the win. I would be very motivated, because this is the only Grand Tour that I have not finished on the podium."
As for the rest of his schedule? He'll start first with the Tour of California, then it's on to Castilla y Leon, Tour of the Basque Country, Fleche Wallonne, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
That's All From Iljo Keisse
The expected firing of Iljo Keisse has occurred. Team boss of Keisse's TopSport Vlaanderen squad, Christophe Sercu, admitted that they, "didn't have any other choice."
Keisse tested positive for the banned stimulant cathine and its masking agent hydrocholothiazid after his victory with German Robert Bartko at the Gent Six Days in November.
The B-Sample returned and confirmed the first test, and thus the firing of Keisse by his team was largely ceremonial: Keisse had always said that he would end his career if the second sample came up positive.
It's a sad end to one of the more promising talents in cycling.
Aussie National Championships Round-Up!
Of course, the much anticipated men's road race is first on our round-up, and the result was nothing short of flabbergasting. It's hard to be critical of the world's best, but certain results are just not correct. When two ProTour riders from the SAME team can't manage to get rid of I don't care who it is, it's hard not to comment.
1 Peter McDonald (NSW) 4.10.34 (39.08km/h)
2 Michael Rogers (ACT)
3 Adam Hansen (QLD)
4 Cameron Meyer (WA) 0.09
5 Matt Wilson (VIC) 0.20
6 Matthew Lloyd (VIC)
7 Karl Menzies (TAS) 0.28
8 Simon Clarke (VIC)
9 Mathew Hayman (ACT)
10 Christopher Sutton (NSW) 3.30
Other reports might have you believe that Peter McDonald is just a humble bike mechanic who rides part-time: fuhgettaboutit. He's without a doubt a solid, bad ass bike racer who, sure, works as a mechanic, but still spends more than a little time training. He's a pro for crying out loud. The point is, it doesn't really matter - he was up against Michael Rogers and Adam Hansen, both from Columbia, the jersey was as good as theirs' when they linked up. Of course neither are sprinters, but still... I know this is some serious armchair criticism, but it's not just me, can you imagine a single team manager on the planet not having to pick his jaw off the ground after that finish? Good on McDonald for sticking it to the big boys. In other news, check out that final 9-man group - definitely a who's who of Australian bike racing. That must have been quite a race to see.
Oh Yeah, The Other Aussie Events
The other end of the Aussie men's events weren't so upside down. Michael Rogers finally got his Australian National Time Trial Championship, just edging out Garmin's young gun Cameron Meyer. The surprise? Adam Hansen's complete meltdown to finish at least a couple days back in 11th.
1 Michael Rogers (ACT) 48.59 (47.760 km/h)
2 Cameron Meyer (WA) 0.06
3 Richie Porte (TAS) 1.51
4 Cameron Wurf (TAS) 2.07
5 Chris Jongewaard (SA) 2.58
On the women's side of things, the reporting is simple: Cervelo TestTeam's Carla Ryan smacked everyone around and took both the time trial and the road race in dominating fashion.
The time trial was not a dominating win as you can see, but the two together definitely warrants the title of dominating, right?
One Team For New Zealand National Championships
The Subway-Avanti Cycling Team trounced the collected Kiwis vying for their Road National Championship this weekend. Julian Dean was in attendance looking for a repeat, but there was nothing to be done against Subway-Avanti as they took places 1, 2, 3, and 4! They made up the early break and were never caught and the evergreen Gordon McCauley won the four-up sprint against his teammates. I promise you, you won't see that too many times this season.
Lance Is Better Than Ever Before...In January
Straight to the man himself: "The tests that we do on the bike, or on the road, or in the lab indicate that my January fitness is much better than it ever was the years when I was winning the Tour (de France). But that doesn't mean anything until you get into the race."
Of course, training is just that, bla bla bla, but come on - when Lance says he's going better than he ever has in January, he sure as snot isn't going to get dropped in Australia (see below). He probably won't win, he's right about that - this is definitely a race for the big boy sprinters...but who knows?
"I've prepared much harder this series of months than I ever would have in the past. I think it would be unrealistic to expect a victory. The race has gotten harder and harder over the years. I hope to be in the mix, I could be completely wrong. I might be the first guy dropped..."I just don't want to get clobbered too bad. That is my main motivation for training hard. I don't have any illusions of grandeur. I hope I get in the race and get re-acclimatised to the tempo and the speed and what it is like to be around 200 guys in a fast-moving group, and we will see."
"For me, it's not so much a sporting challenge, and it's not a financial challenge, it's not any of those things. I came back as a volunteer and so I'm here for the love of the bike and the passion of the cause."
Het Volk Gets A New Name
I guess when a race derives its name by the newspaper that sponsors it and then that newspaper is taken over by another, then it only makes sense for the new newspaper to be the name of the race, right? Did that make any sense?
Het Nieuwsblad took over Het Volk last year. Thus, Het Volk doesn't quite work for the race name anymore, even if it sounds completely foreign to call this year's Belgian opening Classic: Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
Let's just be thankful that Het Nieuwsblad wanted to continue sponsoring the race. At least they didn't pull a Germany.
Nys Wants It All
Of course Sven Nys wants a second World Cyclocross Championship, but that's just the start. Speaking with Het Nieuwsblad, Nys admitted that he has big goals for mountain biking. Nys: "The European Championships are in the Netherlands and the World Championships are in Australia. If I could start in the first 50 in Australia, I think I have a chance to finish in the top five. I would be another step higher in that discipline if I could do that. There are limits in mountain biking that I have not reached. Oh, I want so many things: the Tour of Belgium, the Tour of Wallonia, and the Belgian Championships on the road all speak to me."
Nathan O'Neill Returns
Nathan O'Neill has had a rough past year and a half or so. O'Neill had a magical season leading into that fateful positive at the Tour of Elk Grove. His ride at that Spring's Tour de Georgia was nothing short of stellar. Had it not been for that once in a lifetime, humongous break that put four days into the rest of the peloton, O'Neill would have stood on the final podium with Levi Leipheimer and Tom Danielson. Of course, the break happened, and the rest is just woulda shoulda coulda-ness, but the fact remains - 2007 was a year where O'Neill really came into his own (to go along with overall wins at the Tour of the Gila, Mt. Hood, and the one that ended it all - Tour of Elk Grove).
A rumoured return with the BMC squad in 2008 would have sent O'Neill back to Europe at a time (at least part-time) when it was apparent that he could compete at the highest level.
So Elk Grove ended the run and his positive for the appetite suppressant phentermine led to a 15-month ban, losing the enormous sum of money he and his team had won at the Tour of Elk Grove (30k I think?), and of course, his job with HealthNet and his future job with BMC.
His ban is up though and his long search for a new team to return with has ended. O'Neill will be racing 2009 with the new joint venture Fly V Australia presented by Successful Living. The team, which combines the forces of the Australian Fly V squad and the American Successful Living team, will be a very considerable force on the road this year:
Hayden Brooks (AUS)
Jonathan Cantwell
Scott Davis
Ben Day
David Kemp
Benjamin King
Bernard Sulzberger
Steven George (USA)
Phil Zajicek
Michael Grabinger
Curtis Gunn
Alessandro Bazzana (ITA)
Charles Dionne (CAN)
Liquigas Releases Schedules Of Its Stars
This is always pretty helpful: an email from the team with the detailed schedules of its stars up till the Giro and whether or not they're riding the Tour...whew.
Basso: Tirreno-Adriatico, Trentino, Giro
Bennati: Het Volk, Eroica, T-A, MSR, De Panne, Flanders,
Gent-Wevelgem, Giro, Tour de France
Kreuziger: Laigueglia, Paris-Nice, Pais Vasco, Amstel Gold, Fleche, Suisse, TDF
Nibali: T-A, Pais Vasco, Amstel Gold, Fleche, LBL, Suisse
Pellizotti: T-A, MSR, Trentino, LBL, Giro
Will You Miss Symmetrics?
Looking for some Canadian National Team gear? Some Canadian National Champ gear? Maybe even some Garmin 2008 kit? There's plenty enough kit to go around, head on over HERE to place your bid! Thanks to Lyne Lamoureaux from Podium In Sight for the link!
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