Archives
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Monday, April 24, 2006
On tomorrow through Sunday:
Tour de Romandie
(featuring Jan Ullrich)
If you don't have access to the Outdoor Life Network (OLN)
or don't want to wait until their April 30 broadcast of the Ford Tour
de Georgia, Velonews has made some video clips of the race available,
including Saturday's exciting battle between Tom Danielson/Yaroslav
Popovych and Floyd Landis up Brasstown Bald Mountain. See archive
video clips links above.
Velonews had in our opinion the best text commentary for this
race but they also have improved their interface, as well as making
photos available during the race and videos post-race. Great stuff.
Amazingly, after all these years Cyclingnews still uses a primitive
mostly text-only interface for race coverage and hasn't even begun offering
video streaming, though they have started playing around with making available
a few downloadable video clips.
The Amgen Tour of California official website set the bar very
high for race coverage, technical problems aside, but then there was
some serious money available for development.
Cycling.TV seems to be forcing everyone else to finally start
re-thinking their race coverage. Eurosport, which has long offered
audio streaming from its television broadcasts, experimented recently
with offering live video streaming of a race (Tour of the Basque Country).
If Cycling.TV shows there is a big enough market, what is less
clear is whether they can survive, and in what capacity, if the big boys
get serious about video streaming of bike races. You can be sure
that businesses like Eurosport are paying close attention to developments
in streaming because the concept of television delivery is being re-defined,
as are the business models. The question is whether Eurosport will
continue to show an interest in "smaller" sports such as cycling.
OLN TV, which already got in the game of live video streaming
during last year's Giro d'Italia, this year is partnering with Cycling.TV
as they (OLN) try to figure all of this out.
Briefly:
- Now that Tom Boonen has lost his lead in the UCI ProTour
standings (to Alejandro Valverde after his win yesterday in Liege-Bastogne-Liege),
will the UCI quietly disqualify Boonen, Alessandro Ballan and Juan
Antonio Flecha from the results of Paris-Roubaix for passing through
a closed rail crossing? (Leif Hoste, Peter Van Petegem and Vladimir
Gusev were disqualified on race day for going through the same closed
rail crossing...)
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Below is a guide to live
online coverage of the 2006 Tour de Georgia
BOOM!
Discovery Channel dynamites race
Danielson wins on Brasstown Bald but can't shake Landis
The Tour de Georgia yesterday offered up an epic stage
on Brasstown Bald Mountain for the second consecutive year as the Discovery
Channel Pro Cycling Team dynamited the race on the day's final climb.
Hoping to make up a mere four seconds deficit to race leader Floyd
Landis of Phonak, Tom Danielson and his teammates first succeeded in
isolating Landis, then attacked him repeatedly. And when all was
said and done, Danielson won on Brasstown Bald for the second year in
a row, this time though with Landis on his wheel at the finish line and
losing no time.
Coming up Tuesday:
Tour de Romandie
(featuring Jan Ullrich)
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes: Epic stage on Brasstown
Bald Mountain yesterday, resulting in a stage win for Discovery Channel's
Tom Danielson and likely overall victory for Phonak's Floyd Landis.
Yaroslav Popovych moved up to 3rd overall while David Zabriskie
(CSC) dropped to 6th.
Discovery Channel's Jason McCartney had another great day
on the attack putting Phonak under pressure.
photo
© 2006 Pete Geyer
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Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 6: April 23
Cumming to Alpharetta, 190.2km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
Notes: Alexandre
Vinokourov (Liberty-Seguros) is back to defend his 2005 Liege-Bastogne-Liege
title won while with T-Mobile. But "Vino" has been very clear,
this year it's everything for the Tour de France.
The man Vino beat in a sprint last year, Jens Voigt (Team
CSC), is also back, along with CSC team leader Ivan Basso and Frank
Schleck, winner of last week's Amstel Gold Race. CSC's Karsten
Kroon is also in form, having reached the podium of Wednesday's La Fleche
Wallonne.
Vino's teammates include Alberto Contador, Jorg Jaksche and
Andrey Kashechkin.
Other riders who've recently showed good form include Steffen
Wesemann of T-Mobile, Michael Boogerd and Oscar Freire of Rabobank,
Paolo Bettini of Quick Step, Damiano Cunego and Alessandro Ballan of
Lampre-Fondital, Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d'Epargne - Illes Balears
and winner of the Fleche Wallone last week, Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel-Euskadi,
and Igor Astarloa of Team Barloworld.
One rider no one wants to have to contend with in an eventual
sprint finish is Valverde.
Looking back down toward Liege
300m from the finish in Ans
Liege-Bastogne-Liege official site
photos Copyright © 2005,
2006 Pete Geyer
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Liège-Bastogne-Liège
2006
Belgium, April 23, 262km
Live video coverage:
(--)
Live audio coverage:
Eurosport
(English)
(24-hour audio feed streaming)
(15:05 CET (9:05am U.S. EST))
(times subject to change)
(requires Windows Media Player or equivalent)
(may not work with Firefox browser)
Check schedule
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
Cyclingnews
Railroad crossings:
This race is organized by Amaury Sport Organization
(A.S.O.), and you know what that means...
Today's race crosses railroad tracks after
45.5 and 244.5 kilometers.
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Saturday, April 22, 2006
Below is a guide to live
online coverage of the 2006 Tour de Georgia
Tour de Georgia to
Brasstown Bald Mountain
Stage 5 of the Tour de Georgia heads to a finish today
on Brasstown Bald Mountain where cycling fans can expect a battle
among the favorites for overall victory in the race which ends tomorrow.
Phonak's Floyd Landis has but a 4 seconds lead over Discovery
Channel's climbing ace, Tom Danielson. Team CSC's David Zabriskie
is 24 seconds behind Landis.
Landis knows it will be very difficult to hold on to the
race lead. Danielson has no less than 5 Discovery Channel teammates
in the top 15 of the overall classification. Heading into the
Brasstown Bald stage last year, Danielson was a full minute behind Landis.
Discovery Channel had several riders attack during that stage,
with the goal of softening up the Phonak team and setting up Danielson
for a breakaway on the final climb. It worked. Discovery
Channel will want to see Landis isolated again today...but with only 4
seconds to make up, should feel confident with more options for race tactics.
Have Danielson's improvements in time trialing come at
the expense of climbing ability? Don't count on it. But
if Landis is able to stay with an in form Danielson and hold on to
the race lead, Landis will have shown he has the tools to be a serious
threat for the Tour podium in July, his ultimate goal.
Chances are, Tom Danielson will be in the race lead after
today's stage.
On tomorrow:
Liege-Bastogne-Liege
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes:
Fred Rodriguez, Paris-Nice 2005
Jason McCartney
Paris-Camembert 2005
Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) got over the
climbs with the leaders to put himself in contention for the win
in yesterday's stage...and win he did, ahead of Matteo Tosatto and
Yaroslav Popovych.
Discovery Channel's Jason McCartney repeatedly attacked,
helping to soften up Floyd Landis's Phonak teammates ahead of today's
decisive stage to Brasstown Bald Mountain.
photos
© 2005, 2006 Pete Geyer
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Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 5: April 22
Blairsville to Brasstown Bald Mountain, 152.1km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Friday, April 21, 2006
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes:
Floyd Landis (Phonak)
2005 Dauphiné Libéré
Floyd Landis didn't surprise anyone by winning yesterday's
tough time trial and taking the leader's jersey in the process. He
did the same thing last year and this year has wins in the Tour of
California and Paris-Nice under his belt.
The surprise yesterday was that defending champion Tom
Danielson finished second just 4 seconds behind Landis. Though
Landis's big season objective is the Tour in July and Danielson is
peaking for May's Giro d'Italia, that alone cannot explain the latter's
coming within 4 seconds from winning this time trial; he clearly has improved
in this discipline. He also put 20 seconds into Dave Zabriskie
who is among the world's best time trialists. Zabriskie, in addition
to winning the prologue of the 2005 Tour de France, won a tough 45km
time trial at last year's Giro. He also finished third in a similar
time trial, albeit at 34km, in that Giro's stage 18, two days from the
finish, behind teammate Ivan Basso and Vladimir Karpets. Both
those Giro time trials involved climbing too. Yesterday's time trial
was over a distance of 39.9km, clearly within Zabriskie's performance
range.
Zabriskie's name did not come up when CSC team manager
Bjarne Riis recently spoke about next month's Giro, so "Z" may be
aiming to peak later. Either way, Danielson's time trial performance
was impressive, especially for such a gifted climber, and he now appears
highly likely to win this Tour de Georgia. We can't wait to see him
in the Giro!
The climbing begins today, with tomorrow's finish on Brasstown
Bald Mountain looming for a final battle.
photos
© 2005, 2006 Pete Geyer
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Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 4: April 21
Dalton to Dahlonega, 191.4km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Also on today: Giro del Trentino
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
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Race
|
Live Coverage
|
Giro del Trentino
April 18-21, Italy
(Tour du Trentin)
Start list
(.pdf)
Gilberto Simoni leads Saunier Duval-Prodir
and Damiano Cunego leads Lampre-Fondital
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(Google-translated)
RAI Sport TV
(NOT live)
(18:05 CET (12:05pm U.S. EST))
|
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes: Simply put, today's 39.9km
individual time trial will play a huge role in the eventual outcome
of the race. The top contenders for the overall win, including
Tom Danielson, Floyd Landis, David Zabriskie and Yaroslav Popovych,
will need to put in the right combination of performances in today's
time trial and Saturday's stage finish on Brasstown Bald Mountain. Jason
McCartney should not be overlooked for today's time trial; he's been
putting in some great time trial performances since last year. Nathan
O'Neill of Australia is also very good in this discipline.
Landis and Zabriskie should get the best of Danielson
today, with Danielson favored for Saturday's tough mountaintop finish.
Should be some great racing.
Yaroslav Popovych
2005 Dauphine Libere
(photo P. Geyer)
Discovery Channel's Yaroslav Popovych grabbed
yesterday's stage win as well as the race lead. As race leader,
he will depart last in today's individual time trial.
photos
© 2005, 2006 Pete Geyer
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Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 3: April 20
Chickamauga to Chattanooga (Tennessee), individual
time trial 39.9km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Coming later today:
Guide to live coverage of stage 3 of the Tour de Georgia:
big individual time trial today
Also on today: Giro del Trentino
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
Race
|
Live Coverage
|
Giro del Trentino
April 18-21, Italy
(Tour du Trentin)
Start list
(.pdf)
Gilberto Simoni leads Saunier Duval-Prodir
and Damiano Cunego leads Lampre-Fondital
|
(Google-translated)
RAI Sport TV
(NOT live)
(16:55 CET (10:55am U.S. EST))
|
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Below is a guide to live
online coverage of the 2006 Tour de Georgia
American Dave Zabriskie, then with the USPS Pro Cycling
Team,
is interviewed by American photojournalist James Startt
2004 Paris-Nice
(photo by Pete Geyer)
Team CSC's David Zabriskie is one of the contenders
for this week's Tour de Georgia. Photojournalist James Startt
recently interviewed Zabriskie for Bicycling. "Z" talks about
Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, George Hincapie, Bjarne Riis, Johan Bruyneel
and Lance Armstrong. Having crashed in the 2005 Tour team time
trial while wearing the yellow jersey, Dave says "I've been practicing
my bike-handling skills this winter. I went into this field with Floyd
and we beat into each other like we were playing football on bikes. It
was fun. I'd never done anything like that before." Here is the
full interview
. Good stuff.
Zabriskie is the only American in history with stage
wins in each of the three Grand Tours (Giro, Tour, Vuelta). (
Tyler Hamilton
accomplished that feat as well, only to have his 2004
Vuelta stage win stripped due to a positive drug test.)
And "Z" is also the subject of our latest wallpaper:
Wallpaper: David Zabriskie in the 2006 Paris-Nice prologue
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes: Denmark's Lars Michaelsen
got another spring win for Team CSC, taking yesterday's stage one
of the 2006 Tour de Georgia. Michaelsen won the sprint finish
ahead of Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly).
photo
© 2006 Pete Geyer
|
Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 2: April 19
Fayetteville to Rome, 186.9km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Coming after La Fleche Wallonne: Guide to live
coverage of stage 2 of the Tour de Georgia
Below is a guide to
live internet coverage of the 2006 La Fleche Wallonne
|
La Fleche Wallonne is organized by A.S.O.
So best be alert. You'll find our exclusive new feature,
Railroad Crossings, in the Live Guide below.
|
Also on today: Giro del Trentino
Race
|
Live Coverage
|
Giro del Trentino
April 18-21, Italy
(Tour du Trentin)
Start list
(.pdf)
Gilberto Simoni leads Saunier Duval-Prodir
and Damiano Cunego leads Lampre-Fondital
|
(Google-translated)
RAI Sport TV
(NOT live)
(17:55 CET (11:55am U.S. EST))
|
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
Notes: (Post
race)
Fantastic win in a thrilling finish for
Alejandro Valverde of Spain. Younger riders are just owning
the spring classics this season after wins by Filippo Pozzato at
Milan San Remo, Tom Boonen at the Tour of Flanders, Fabian Cancellara
at Paris-Roubaix and Frank Schleck at Amstel Gold Race. And Damiano
Cunego won today's stage of the Giro del Trentino, taking the race lead
in the process.
Alejandro Valverde
La Fleche Wallonne official site
photos Copyright © 2005
Pete Geyer
|
2006 La Flèche Wallone
Belgium, April 19, 202km
"Race to the wall"?
Live video coverage:
(--)
RAI Sport TV
(Italian)
(14:55 CET (8:55am U.S. EST))
(Time subject to change)
Live audio coverage:
Eurosport
(English)
(24-hour audio feed streaming)
(14:00 CET (8am U.S. EST))
(times subject to change)
(requires Windows Media Player or equivalent)
(may not work with Firefox browser)
Check schedule
Live tickers:
Official site ticker
Cyclingnews
Railroad crossings:
This race is organized by Amaury Sport Organization
(A.S.O.), so....best to be extra alert.
Today's race crosses railroad tracks after
14.5 and 59.5 kilometers. There are no scheduled rail crossings
close to the finish, though you never know...
|
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Below is a guide to live
online coverage of the 2006 Tour de Georgia
March, 2005, Paris-Camembert: Lance Armstrong
announces that he has an announcement to make....at the 2005 Tour
de Georgia. Teammate Tom Danielson, looking out of place,
literally found himself caught between the TV crews and photographers
focusing on Armstrong. Three weeks later, on the eve of the
Tour de Georgia, Armstrong would of course announce his upcoming retirement,
before helping Danielson win that race.
On tomorrow:
La Fleche Wallonne
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
With Lance Armstrong retired, the cycling
world will look more closely at 2005 Tour de Georgia winner
Tom Danielson
Notes: Of last year's Tour de Georgia
top-5 finishers, only defending champion Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel)
and third overall Floyd Landis (Phonak) are back this year; last year's runner
up Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and 4th place Bobby Julich (CSC) are skipping
the race this year and Lance Armstrong has retired.
Danielson should be in form with May's Giro
d'Italia just around the corner. Landis, winner at the Tour
of California and Paris-Nice, has decided not to ride the Giro
afterall; he should be good in the time trial but how deep he wants
to go on Saturday's mountain stage remains to be seen. David
Zabriskie (CSC), 6th in 2005, is among the world's elite time trialists
and says he's ready for the Brasstown Bald mountain stage too. A
support rider for CSC team leaders in the Grand Tours, Zabriskie will
look to shine in Georgia and could be dangerous. But can anyone
stay with Danielson on Brasstown Bald on Saturday?
photo
© 2006 Pete Geyer
|
Ford Tour de Georgia 2006
, United States
April 18-23
Stage 1: April 18
Augusta-Macon, 207.4km
Live tickers:
Cyclingnews
Velonews
Official site
Start list
|
Also on today: Giro del Trentino Tomorrow:
La Fleche Wallonne
Guide to live race coverage on the internet/web
|
Race
|
Live Coverage
|
Giro del Trentino
April 18-21, Italy
(Tour du Trentin)
Start list
(.pdf)
Gilberto Simoni leads Saunier Duval-Prodir
and Damiano Cunego leads Lampre-Fondital
|
(Google-translated)
RAI Sport TV
(NOT live)
(18:25 CET (12:25pm U.S. EST))
|
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