Cycling Commentary

Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb 2007

Support vehicles began driving up the Mt. Washington Auto Road at 5:00AM as planned, but at 7:00AM race organizers called a meeting of all race participants – an unusual occurrence. A gentleman introduced himself as the director of the Mt. Washington Auto Road. He explained that he had been the director for 20 years and that he had been working on the mountain for another 7 years. With his credibility clearly established, he announced that the race - with great regret - had been cancelled. Temperatures at the summit were reported at 33 degrees with 60 mile per hour winds. Visibility was less than 25 feet. Race volunteers were falling over.

Normally, the event would be rescheduled for the next day, August 19. However, the gentleman explained, temperatures were expexted to drop into the 20s over night, winds were expected to escalate and ice was expected to form. Bottom line: No Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in 2007.

Coincidently, both days of Newton's revenge, the overflow race for the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb, was cancelled in early July.

Some participants showed disapointment, while most showed relief. The Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb claim's to be the most difficult hillclimb race in the world. The Auto Road rises 4,640 feet over 7.62 miles for an average gradient of 11.53%. The Hillclimb features two, one-mile dirt road sections with grades reaching 18%. The final 300 meters of the race rises at a rate of 22%.

Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb is epic - but not in 2007. It will be remembered for what was not.

Discovery and Contador Reign Supreme at the Tour de France

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team reigned supreme at the 2007 Tour de France.

Not only did Alberto Contador win the Yellow Jersey and the Best Young Rider Competitions, teammate Levi Leipheimer finished a career best 3rd for his first-ever podium position. Both Leipheimer and Contador won stages giving Discovery Channel two stage wins along with two podium positions.

Discovery Channel also won the teams competition, as Yaroslav Popovych finished 8th, giving Discovery three riders within the top 10.

Lance Amstrong proclaimed that this was the greatest tour ever for the Discovery team and its predecessor, the US Postal team. Hopefully, this will help solidify its quest for a new title sponsor.

Tour de France General Classification Analysis, Second Rest Day

The rest day at the Tour de France does not usually produce a change in the General Classification. But with the revelation that Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for a homoglbous blood transfusion, Team Astana pulled out of the Tour and the General Classification changed.

With Kloden and Kashechkin now out of the Tour, the Top 10 of the Tour de France General Classification now looks like this:

1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 69.52.14
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel 2.23
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 4.00
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel 5.25
5 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6.46
6 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 7.27
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 8.24
8 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 9.21
9 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 10.41
10 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 12.29

Discovery Channel now has three riders in the Top 10, and they now lead the team competition.

The burden will be on Discovery tomorrow to attack Michael Rasmussen throughout the final stage in the Pyrenees. If Levi Leipheimer wants to get on the podium, then he will need to attack Cadel Evans early and often. In fact, Leipheimer would be wise to see if Rabobank will let him go early in the race. If they let him go, then he has an opportunity to pick up considerable time on GC. If they don't let him go, Discovery should repeatedly attack Rasmussen and Evans to see if they can cause them to crack.

Vino aside, the last day in the Pyrenees should be an exciting one to behold.

Tour de France Stage 14: Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille

The categoy 2 Côte de Saint-Sarraille taking place in the early part of Stage 14 from Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beillethe is perfect spring board for king of the mountains' contenders to go off the front in the early part of today's stage. Popovych will likely go and Soler is probable to follow. Valverde and Mayo, both of whom lost considerable time in yesterday's time trial in Albi, will also try to go. The peloton may let them.

The real fireworks will take place on the final climb up the 7.9% Plateau-de-Beillethe. Look for Vino, Contador, Kloden, Leipheimer, Valverde and Mayo to light it up.

Tour de France Time Trial, Stage 13 Albi - Albi

That Alexander Vinokourov won today's time trial in Albi was not so much of a surprise. He seems to be recovering well from his injuries and putting the power to the pedals. His return to form and function was evident in Friday's stage as well. Vino will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in this Tour de France, though it is unlikely he will be able to put time into the likes of Rasmussen, Contador and Leipheimer in the mountains. These guys may not push quite as much power as Vino, but from a power to weight perspective, they will be superior in the Pyrennes starting tomorrow with two huge climbs and a mountain top finish at Plateau de Beille.

What was more surprising was Rasmussen's amazing performance and the absolute failure of Valverde. Rasmussen showed up in the yellow jersey and did the jersey honor. Valverde just failed to show up altogether. His poor performance today and his plummet 9 places in the GC means that he and his team will have to attack hard in the mountains if he wants to get back into contention. I would expect exactly that to happen.

Astana - with Kloden, Kashechkin and Vinokourov - and Discovery Channel - with Contador, Leipheimer and Popovych are in an excellent position to do some damage in tomorrow's stage. They will have to attack Rasmussen - and attack him hard - if they wish to dislogde the chicken from his yellow jersey purch.

This fan is looking forward to it!

Tour de France Stage 11: Marseille to Montpellier

The transition stages between the Alps and the Pyrennes give the opportunists - the worker bees of the Tour with their own personal ambitions - a chance to win. Yesterday on the stage to Montpellier the peloton let four riders go. Jens Voigt, Cedric Vasseur, Sandy Casar, Patrice Halgand and Michael Albasini battled for victory in Provence. While this might have been an opportunity for sprinters like Boonen and Zabel to pick up some more points, both of them, tired from three days in the Alps, were happy to let someone else shine. Vasseur won the day in an amazing sprint finish.

Today and tomorrow may be similar days. Opportunists will go. The peloton may or may not chase.

One thing's for sure - there will be no change in the overall General Classification until Saturday's long time trial. That's when the real GC battle will surely begin.

Tour de France Stage 9: Val-d’Isère - Briançon

Today's stage from Val-d’Isère to Briançon is reminiscent of Stage 11 in the 2005 edition of the Tour de France. In that stage Alexandre Vinokourov and Santiago Botero attacked on the Col de Madeleine. The pair worked together over the early portions of the Galibier before Vino took over, dropped Botero and made up 3 of the 5 minutes he had lost on the previous stage to Courcheval.

I would not be surprised to see Vinokourov follow a similar course of action today. After a full day of recovery, he may attack on the HC Col de Iseran and continue on the Telgraphe and Galibier. Someone will, for sure.

At minimum Stage 9 of the 2007 Tour de France will be the most scenic of all the stages. The Alps - particularly, the Galibier - are spectacular to behold.

Tour de France General Classification Analysis

Michael Rasmussen's solo breakaway in the Alps on Stage 8 from Le Grand-Bornand to Tignes was a brilliant show of force. He conquered three big climbs, garnered 60 King of the Mountains points and won the stage. More interesting, Rasmussen also took over both the King of the Mountains competition and the General Classification. In his four Tours, this is the first time Rasmussen has worn the yellow jersey. Rasmussen has several days to decide whether he wants to go for his fourth win as King of the Mountains or if he wants to wear the yellow jersey into Paris. If he does not state his intentions, the peloton will decide for him.

While Rasmussen is a great climber, he is not the best climber in the peloton, and he is terrible (relatively speaking) in the Time Trial. Fans will remember Rasmussen's time trial in the penultimate stage of 2005 when he fell off the bike several times losing his second place position on the podium.

Rasmussen's hold on the 2007 General Classification is tenuous at best. Clearly, none of the other GC contenders are going to let him go on any more of the mountain stages. And, he is sure to lose minutes in next Saturday's 54km time trial on Stage 13.

Presently, Rasmussen leads two other Pretenders Linus Gerdemann (43 seconds) and Iban Mayo (2:43). Neither of these guys has what it takes to win the Tour de France. Gerdemann is too inexperienced and Mayo cannot time trial, nor is he consistent when it comes to the climbs. A closer look at the general classification shows the real race for the yellow jersey. Remove the three pretenders at the top (Rasumussen, Gerdemann and Mayo), and take a look at this modified GC:

4---> 1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
5 ---> 2 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.01
6 ---> 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.02
7 ---> 4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2r Prévoyance 0.15
8 ---> 5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.19
9 ---> 6 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 0.23
10 ---> 7 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0.28
11 ---> 8 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 0.44
12 ---> 9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0.55
13 ---> 10 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.02
14 ---> 11 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 1.03
15 ---> 12 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.09
16 ---> 13 Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Liquigas 1.28
22 ---> 19 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 2.32
23 ---> 20 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 3.08

This is the real GC competition shaping up, and you can bet this list and times are what the team directors are evaluating now. Of these contenders, you have to ask who can both time trial well and climb well? More importantly, who can climb well in the Pyrennes? HINT: You can pretty much count out Moureau. My picks for the top 5 are bolded above. (I know, I chose 7 for the top 5).

What do you think?

Linus Gerdemann's Yellow Jersey (for a day)

Tour de France Stage 8: Le-Grand-Bornand - Tignes,

Yesterday, Linus Gerdemann put in an impressive attack on the Col de Columbiere against his mates in the breakaway. The young German rode onto a stage victory and scored a yellow jersey for T-Mobile. His unexpected victory thereby spoiled Bastille Day for the French. Meanwhile, the mini-peloton of 30 containing all the GC favorites seemed to content to let the young German go. T-Mobile gets to do all the work today on the brutal stage from Le-Grand-Bornand - Tignes.

Maybe he's a Lance Armstrong, but I think Linus Gerdemann will be enjoying his first and only day in Yellow. Stage 8 features six categorized climbs with three Category 1 climbs - including the finishing climb up the Montée de Tignes - in the last 65 kilometers. Rasmussen will animate if he wishes to score a polka dot jersey, and the GC contenders will have to fight for victory on the final climb of the day (rather than ride a nice even tempo like they did yesterday).

Observing his companions in the Group of 30, Christophe Moreau noted, "The Spaniards are doing great. Tomorrow, will be the first crucial day. There will be some K.O's..." He should expect to be among them.

Watch Valverde, Contador, Karpets, Leipheimer and Kloden. As for Gerdemann, he can kiss his yellow jersey good-bye.

Bastille Day at the Tour de France

Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse - Le-Grand-Bornand

Today is Bastille today, France's national celebration of independence. Today is also the Tour de France's first day in the mountains, as the peloton enters the Haute Savoie region of France (darn near the Alps) an route from Bourg-en-Bresse to le Grand Bornand.

So, let the fireworks begin! Lord knows that television viewers need some excitement after yesterday's stage 6. With the exception of the last 2KM of the race where the sprinters made their play for overall victory (Boonen got his first victory since March along with the green jersey), Stage 6 was the most boring stage of the Tour to date. The peloton let Bradley Wiggins go it alone the entire day. While Wiggins suffered the peloton enjoyed a 5:20 recovery ride. Hopefully, that means we have some fresh legs today and some excitement for the fans.

The last time the peloton came to Le Grand Bornand in the Tour de France was in 2004. That's when Floyd Landis and Larnce Armstrong battled Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloden for victory on an amazing downhill run. Lance pipped Kloden on the line to take his 6th stage win of that amazing Tour de France. Now that was exciting.

Today being Bastille Day, we can reasonably expect a Frenchman to win. It's a virtual tradition in the Tour de France.

Today's stage is not really all that difficult. A couple of Cat 3s and a Cat 4 precede the big climb of the day, the Category 1 Col de Columbiere. 16KM in length with an average grade of 6.8%, the Columbiere will be the first real battleground for the GC contenders. In recent years, this would have been the perfect stage for Richard Virenque to go on a solo attack, gain some KOM points, and take the the Bastille Day win.

Today, we can reasonably expect Leipheimer, Contador, Kloden, Kasheckin, Evans, Karpets, Valverde, Menchov, Rasmussen and maybe Vino (if he recovers from his crash two days ago) in the final selection cresting the Columbiere. Given that it's Bastille Day, however, we expect to see the French National Champion, Christope Moreau, leading the peloton to overall victory. Chavenal and Voeckler should also animate today's stage, which is really just a warm-up for the first true day in the mountains.

Nonetheless, it's tiime for the Pretenders to move over and for the Contenders to come forward in this year's Tour de France. So, let the fireworks begin!