Archives
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Monday, September 18, 2006
Vuelta: Quick glance at the final top 12
1. Alexandre Vinokourov
(Astana Team)
What can't Vino do? He won the classic
that Lance Armstrong always wanted but never got: Liege - Bastogne -
Liege (2005). He won the Grand Tour stage that all sprinters dream
of, but so few achieve: on the Champs-Elysees in Paris (2005). He
has won mountain stages in the Tour and the Vuelta, and a time trial and
overall in the Vuelta. Top candidate for our Rider of the Year. A
win in the World Championships next Sunday would seal the deal.
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2. Alejandro Valverde
(Caisse d'Epargne - Illes Balears)
(1:12)
Valverde seemingly had this race won just five
days from the finish. He either couldn't or simply didn't put Vino
away when the opportunity was there. Either way, Vino made him
pay by turning the tables in dramatic fashion in the final week. Valverde,
with wins this year in the Fleche Wallonne and Liege - Bastogne - Liege,
and a stage in the Vuelta to go along with his 2nd place overall in Madrid,
can get revenge in the World Championships. A win in Salzburg could
make him our Rider of the Year.
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3. Andrey Kashechkin
(Astana Team)
(3:12)
Kashechkin and teammate Vinokourov finished
ahead of the field together at the top of Sierra de la Pandera, recalling
Hinault and Lemond at Alpe d'Huez in 1986. Will the Kazakh duo
do it again in the 2007 Tour? "Kash" will look to help Vino get that
Tour win, then seek to establish himself as a Tour threat when Vino retires.
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4. Carlos Sastre
(Team CSC)
(3:35)
Rode all three Grand Tours this season. Finished
4th overall in the Tours of France and Spain. Surprisingly very
good in the time trials for such a small climber.
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5. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante
(Saunier Duval-Prodir)
(6:51)
Faded a bit in the final week but held on to
his top 5 placing. Edged out Valverde at the Tour of the Basque
Country in April. Both riders were born in 1980; this could develop
into one of the sport's top Grand Tour rivalries if Gomez Marchante can
take his time trialing up a notch and ride among the best for a full three
weeks.
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6. Tom Danielson
(Discovery Channel)
(8:09)
Finally got that big win, in Granada in stage
17, on the day Vino grabbed the gold jersey. The two riders finished
the stage together, each getting what he wanted most, and because of
that will forever acknowledge one another with a smile when their paths
cross. Early race struggles followed by strong form in the final
week suggests Danielson may have timed it wrong. One more mountaintop
finish and he may have overtaken Gomez Marchante for fifth place. Not
much of an improvement in G.C. position compared to 2005 (7th with the
disqualification of Heras) but in the standings he is surrounded by some
of the classiest riders in the sport today, got that big stage win, and
earned a lot of respect. In 2007, Tom will get to taste the Tour.
Finally.
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7. Samuel Sanchez
(Euskaltel-Euskadi)
(8:26)
In the final week, Sanchez combined smart riding
with power, including nearly upsetting Vinokourov in the final time trial,
and moved into the top 10 for the second year in a row.
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8. Vladimir Karpets
(Caisse d'Epargne - Illes Balears
)
(10:36)
Strong climbing in support of Valverde and solid
time trialing enabled the Russian to make it into the top 10, helping Caisse
d'Epargne to a second place overall (to Discovery Channel) in the teams classification.
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9. Manuel Beltran
(Discovery Channel)
(10:47)
Beltran joined the USPS team mid-season in 2003,
riding in support of Lance Armstrong for his final three victories in the
Tour de France. Skipped the Tour in 2006 in favor of the Vuelta and
his consistently strong riding helped earn Discovery Channel the teams classification
award. Moves to Liquigas next season.
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10. Luis Perez
(Cofidis)
(11:32)
(photo:
Cofidis
)
A 2003 Tour of Spain stage winner, 32-year old Perez finished
in the top 10 overall for the first time.
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11. Stijn Devolder
(Discovery Channel)
(12:52)
Known as a classics rider, Devolder was one
of the surprises of the Vuelta and has a promising future.
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12. Egoi Martinez
(Discovery Channel)
(15:10)
(photo:
Discovery Channel
)
After winning the 2003 Tour de l'Avenir, Martinez
had to wait a long time before winning again, in stage 11. The
win helped make it a very successful race for a team that in the past usually
contended for overall victory.
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Photos Copyright ©
2005-2006 Pete Geyer unless otherwise noted
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Book "week" at cyclingfans.com
Pick today's
Vuelta stage winner and win a free book! Details below.
Very few free copies left.
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Cycling fans like to read books about racing
and the peloton, right? Well it's book "week" at cyclingfans.com.
We already began telling you last week about a book by L'Equipe's
editor-in-chief (Part II of our report still to come) that raises some
questions about L'Equipe's pursuit of Lance Armstrong. In the
meantime, the paperback edition of a book, "Lance Armstrong's War" by
Daniel Coyle, first published in 2005, is now out with a new Afterword
covering Armstrong's final season. This book is a New York Times
Bestseller! And.....in collaboration with
HarperCollins
and
AuthorsOnTheWeb.com
, cyclingfans.com will be giving away one copy of this
book per day for seven days.
cyclingfans.com panorama bookmarks
Book giveaway winners will also receive a set
of our exclusive bookmarks, made from photographic panoramas shot
at the races, including Paris-Nice and the Tour de France.
Winners will receive Daniel Coyle's paperback edition of
"Lance Armstrong's War" directly from HarperCollins. You can
of course opt to have the book sent to someone else of your choosing.
So, how can you win? For today's stage of the Tour
of Spain, it's simple: Just
email the editor
with the name of today's stage winner. There is
no cutoff time but the first one in with the correct answer wins even
if submitted after the stage is over! One entry per person per
day please. All decisions final. If you don't win today, you'll
have another shot at it tomorrow.
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2006 Tour of Spain
August
26-September 17
(Vuelta a España)
(Tour d'Espagne)
Live video streaming:
(German)
(sorry, stream went AWOL)
(Currently shows still
photos from the stage in progress. Live video
only available in Spain? We continue to look for
alternatives available to everyone worldwide.)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
News and photos:
(cycling news)
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Saturday, September 16, 2006
Book "week" at cyclingfans.com
Pick today's
Vuelta stage winner and win a free book! Details below.
|
Cycling fans like to read books about racing
and the peloton, right? Well it's book "week" at cyclingfans.com.
We already began telling you this week about a book by L'Equipe's
editor-in-chief (Part II of our report will be online later today,
Saturday ) that raises some questions about L'Equipe's
pursuit of Lance Armstrong. In the meantime, the paperback edition
of a book, "Lance Armstrong's War" by Daniel Coyle, first published in
2005, is now out with a new Afterword covering Armstrong's final season.
This book is a New York Times Bestseller! And.....in collaboration
with
HarperCollins
and
AuthorsOnTheWeb.com
, cyclingfans.com will be giving away one copy of this
book per day for seven days.
cyclingfans.com panorama bookmarks
Book giveaway winners will also receive a set
of our exclusive bookmarks, made from photographic panoramas shot
at the races, including Paris-Nice and the Tour de France.
Winners will receive Daniel Coyle's paperback edition of
"Lance Armstrong's War" directly from HarperCollins. You can
of course opt to have the book sent to someone else of your choosing.
So, how can you win? For today's stage of the Tour
of Spain, it's simple: Just
email the editor
with the name of today's stage winner. There is
no cutoff time but the first one in with the correct answer wins even
if submitted after the stage is over! One entry per person per
day please. All decisions final. If you don't win today, you'll
have another shot at it tomorrow.
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2006 Tour of Spain
August
26-September 17
(Vuelta a España)
(Tour d'Espagne)
Live video streaming:
(German)
(sorry, stream went AWOL)
(Currently shows still
photos from the stage in progress. Live video
only available in Spain? We continue to look for
alternatives available to everyone worldwide.)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
News and photos:
(cycling news)
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Friday, September 15, 2006
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The Kazakh Attack
Was Bruyneel wrong?
March, 2006, Alexander Vinokourov stops by for a visit
before the final stage of Paris-Nice, a one-week stage race "Vino"
has won twice
(Copyright ©
2006 Pete Geyer)
In 2005, Alexander Vinokourov never could have imagined
all that awaited him in the 2006 season. Leaving behind his
longtime association with the German Telekom/T-Mobile teams, he signed
with the Liberty Seguros-Wurth team of Manolo Saiz. His goal?
Win the Tour de France within two years. When he showed
up in Nice, near his home, for the start of the final stage of Paris-Nice
(above photo), to say hi to his teammates competing in that race, he
had every reason to be confident, with the retirement of Lance Armstrong,
that 2006 could be his year. Liberty Seguros was being built for
him and a rising talent, fellow Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin, had left the
Credit Agricole team to join him.
Leading the Kazakh Attack
Alexandre Vinokourov
2005 Dauphiné Libéré
(photo Pete Geyer)
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Andrey Kashechkin
2005 Dauphiné Libéré
(photo Pete Geyer)
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Of course, along came "Operacion Puerto" and both Liberty
Seguros and Wurth pulled their sponsorships, team owner and manager
Manolo Saiz was gone, more or less, and Alexandre Vinokourov, one of
the favorites for the 2006 Tour de France, was left scrambling to find
a team in time for the July race. "Vino" had some powerful connections
in his homeland of Kazakhstan and a new team, backed by a corporate
consortium called Astana, was formed. Vino was in business.
Alas, when Tour organizer A.S.O., ever careful to groom
its own image, asked the French Ministry of Youth and Sport to pressure
Operation Puerto investigators in Spain to release names of riders
that might be involved in the scandal, too many of Vino's Tour teammates
appeared to be implicated and Vino was denied entry to the race because
he didn't have the required minimum number of teammates with him. (At
least two of those teammates, including rising star Alberto Contador,
were subsequently cleared by both Spanish officials and the UCI...but
the damage was done.)
Vino then set his sights on the Tour of Spain and the World
Championships. He seems to have timed his form to perfection,
coming on strong in the final week of the Vuelta to grab the race by
the horns in stunning fashion; this form should suit him well in Salzburg
where he hopes to grab the rainbow jersey of world champion.
Of course, not only Vino has been impressive in the current
Vuelta but his teammate Kashechkin, currently in third overall, has
also been brilliant in support of this Kazakh attack. Astana
also has yet another promising Kazakh, Assan Bazayev, winner of stage
1 of this year's Tour of Germany last month and on the Vuelta team. Throw
in Kazakhs Serguei Yakovlev and Maxim Iglinskiy (who is leaving Milram
to join Astana next season), and Astana is starting to look like a national
team. And it has a team of youngsters for whom Vino has been an
idol for years.
Team Kazakhstan, 2003 Tour de l'Avenir
Assan Bazayev (far left) won stage 1 of this year's Tour
of Germany and Maxim Iglinskiy (center) will also ride with Vinokourov
at Astana in 2007
(Copyright ©
2004 Pete Geyer)
But German star Andreas Kloden, twice on the podium of
the Tour de France, will also join the Astana team from T-Mobile
next season, as will two-time Tour of Italy winner Paolo Savoldelli
from Discovery Channel. Astana is now looking like the team to
beat at the Tour in 2007 and Vino may succeed in year two (2007) of
getting that Tour de France victory.
Neil Stephens (Astana), left, would seem to have the upper
hand on Johan Bruyneel (Discovery Channel), right
(Copyright ©
2006 Pete Geyer)
So was Johan Bruyneel wrong?
Last year, when Vino was looking for a new team, there
were rumors that Discovery Channel might be interested. But
team manager Johan Bruyneel eventually said he didn't believe Vinokourov
was someone you build a team around toward the goal of winning the Tour
de France. Bruyneel of course didn't know for sure how his own
riders would perform in the post-Armstrong era and he didn't know that
"Operacion Puerto" would remove big stars such as Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich
and Francisco Mancebo from the sport. There may also be non-sporting
reasons why Discovery Channel as a sponsor wasn't interested in a rider
from Kazakhstan as team leader for cycling's biggest race. And
though Vino seems set to win the 2006 Tour of Spain, that's not the
Tour de France. But if Vino isn't now a top favorite for the 2007
Tour, then who is? Don't bet against the Kazakh Attack next July.
These guys know who they are riding for, General Vinokourov will
make sure of that.
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2006 Tour of Spain
August
26-September 17
(Vuelta a España)
(Tour d'Espagne)
Live video streaming:
(German)
(sorry, stream went AWOL)
(Currently shows still
photos from the stage in progress. Live video
only available in Spain? We continue to look for
alternatives available to everyone worldwide.)
Live audio streaming:
Live tickers:
News and photos:
(cycling news)
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