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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

LIVE Video Streaming: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (Tour de Valence)

2007 Vuelta Valencia live video streaming
Selected images from yesterday's stage

They were streaming video images of some beautiful locations yesterday, during stage 1 of the Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana (Tour of Valencia).  The stage finished earlier than expected so there were only about 20 minutes of live race video, followed by a lengthy post-race show.   Live streaming video coverage for this race, which ends on Saturday, March 3, begins each day at 15:30 CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern Time).  Thanks, Bernie S!

The video stream is low resolution but it's free.


Tuesday, February 27, 2007

LIVE Video Streaming: Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (Tour de Valence)

Vuelta Valenciana Poster





Sunday, February 25, 2007


Notes:  







2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Saturday, February 24, 2007


Notes:  

CSC Tour of California Tracker

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) has a nifty little tracker that is being used in the Tour of California.  Using small GPS trackers, OmniLocation tracks people and objects in near real time.  You can locate selected riders on a map during the stage.  It works with Google Earth.  We've found it works better on the CSC site than what has been integrated with the Tour of California official site tracker.

You can check it out here:


One reader asked about live SRM telemetry.  We have included this in our Live Guides in the past, when available, but we are unaware of an SRM/T-Mobile or other initiative to offer this, via special bike-mounted modems, during the Tour of California, though some riders are using SRM power meters during the race.

We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Friday, February 23, 2007


Notes:  



We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Thursday, February 22, 2007


Note:  Bad weather today in California will wreak havoc with Tour of California race coverage.



We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Wednesday, February 21, 2007

More Tour of California links to come....

Note:  CBS5 live video coverage of the Tour of California is spotty at best, compared to last year.



We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Tuesday, February 20, 2007

More Tour of California links to come....

Note:  CBS5 changed the link to their live video stream, so we have changed the link in our Live Guide accordingly.  Generally speaking, when there is no live video link at the top of their home page (link for that is in our Live Guide too), then that means they are currently not streaming over the internet.

If you are unable to access the official site stream, again keep trying, refresh the Tour Ticker page, wait a couple of minutes and perhaps you will get through.  We've found that the video starts up automatically but you might also click on the Live Video link in the upper right corner of the Tour Ticker page.  Access seemed improved yesterday.

We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Monday, February 19, 2007

More Tour of California links to come....
Live video streaming update:

Live video streaming from the Tour of California official site seems to be working better today than yesterday.  However, they clearly cannot handle all the demands on bandwidth; if you lose access to the video stream, it can be impossible to get it back again.  If you have been unable to get access at all, try a bit earlier in tomorrow's stage, keeping in mind that the official site is doing a poor job of communicating exactly when we should be expecting there to be live video.  Also, make sure you have the latest version of the Macromedia/Adobe Flash player .

We have found that when it works, the official site video stream plays automatically on the background of the Tour Tracker page.  It can take a little while for it to appear.  And if usage is heavy, it may not appear at all.

Note:  After providing a live video feed from the air earlier in today's stage 1, the CBS5 chopper has either set down or was called away from the race to a breaking news story.  The web site has begun archiving portions of their earlier coverage, available via the CBS5.com link in our Live Guide.  Whether or not the live video becomes available for the finish of today's stage is anybody's guess...



Tour of California live video streaming


Online coverage of yesterday's Tour of California prologue was crippled by technical issues.  The official race site so far is promising more than it is delivering.  Hopefully things will improve.

Perhaps you will be lucky enough to get access to the live video stream portion of the official site Tour Tracker.  Alternatively, starting with today's Stage 1, the CBS5 chopper will be providing a live video stream from the air, like last year.  Keep in mind that helicopters do occasionally need to set down in order to refuel, so there will not be a picture during these times.  Also, don't expect the pilots to provide much, if any, race commentary!

We will update our Live Guide with more links as they become available.  Please don't hesitate to let us know if you are aware of other Tour of California links that might be of interest to everyone.

2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

Tour tracker
(Tour Tracker includes live streaming video)

CBS 5 Tour of California live video streaming
(San Francisco CBS affiliate)
(News helicopter with no race commentary) CBS5 homepage

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Sunday, February 18, 2007

More Tour of California links to come....
2007 Amgen Tour of California
February 18-25
(Tour de Californie)



Live video streaming:

(coming)

Live tickers:


News and photos:

(cycling news)







Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Versus 2007 cycling broadcast schedule

Though the ProTour (such as it is) doesn't get underway for another month or so with Paris-Nice, the 2007 pro cycling season is underway with some smaller races in Europe.  In the U.S., the 2007 Amgen Tour of California (February 18-25) is just around the corner.  The Tour of California will be broadcast on Versus (formerly OLN/Outdoor Life Network).  It is also expected that some form of live coverage will be available on the official race site , like last year.

The Versus network also continues its "Cyclysm Sundays" formula for pro cycling TV coverage in 2007 with the following races scheduled:

Paris-Nice (March 11 and March 18)

Criterium International (April 1)

Tour of Flanders (April 8)

Paris-Roubaix (April 15)

Amstel Gold (April 22)

Tour de Georgia (April 28 and April 29)

Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 29)

La Fleche Wallonne (April 29)

Tour de Suisse (June 11 and 18)

Tour de France (July 7-29, LIVE)

Paris-Tours (October 14)

Tour du Faso (November 25)

For more information: Versus Cyclysm Sundays



Monday, January 15, 2007

Tour Down Under

The Tour Down Under begins tomorrow and runs through January 21.   Live coverage of this race includes a text ticker and radio (final kilometer only) streamed on the net.


Discovery Channel signs Contador

Alberto Contador wallpaper
Alberto Contador wallpaper
(in the wallpaper section)
photo © 2005 Pete Geyer

Alberto "The Accountant" Contador of Spain has signed with Discovery Channel for the 2007 and 2008 seasons.  Contador is young (24), a super climbing talent and stage racer (he has stage wins in the Tour of Switzerland, Tour de Romandie, Tour of the Basque Country, Setmana Catalana and Tour Down Under with top 3 overall placings at Romandie and Basque Country and overall victory in Setmana Catalana) and a favorite with fans.  He is also gutsy as evidenced by his repeated comebacks from serious injuries.  He is sure to quickly become a favorite with fans of the Discovery Channel team.

Discovery Channel also announced the signings of Steve Cummings and John Devine.


Thursday, November 16, 2006

Briefly:

- In today's L'Equipe, Damien Ressiot insists (and repeats) that French authorities investigating the hacking of LNDD computers have established a link to someone close to Floyd Landis .  These are serious allegations that are going to have to be supported with evidence.  At the moment it looks like L'Equipe sees this as an opportunity to engage in a little public war with the Landis camp (Ressiot is on a roll with articles published three days in a row, a rarity for him), the kind of thing the newspaper has thrived on in recent years.  We note that Ressiot himself is under indictment in the Cofidis Affair , along with colleague Dominique Issartel and three journalists for Le Point, charged with breaking the law in publishing confidential court documents.  That same case was also marked by the fabrication of evidence, by policeman Richard Deydier , against rider Cedric Vasseur .  Deydier got a suspended prison sentence.

- Jean-François Lamour , French minister of Youth and Sport, wrote to Pierre Bordry , head of the recently created French anti-doping agency ( AFLD ), questioning why Bordry was quick to criticize the computer security at the French anti-doping lab (LNDD) as well as government support of the lab before the investigation into the hacking incident has even been completed.  Let's see if we've got this right:  Lamour, who pressured Spanish authorities to release names of riders allegedly involved in Operation Puerto is complaining about someone drawing conclusions before an investigation is complete?   And Bordry was out of line for questioning computer security at a lab.....that just had its computer system broken into?  And this same man, Lamour, will take over for Dick Pound at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) next year?

We are doomed...

How about we all just agree that Lamour can skip the term at WADA and instead just get in the ring with Jacques Rogge , Hein Verbruggen, Pound and Hulk Hogan to determine who gets to run the International Olympic Committee ( IOC )...


Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Editorial

Continued problems at the French
national anti-doping laboratory
at Châtenay-Malabry

Poor computer security symptomatic
of more fundamental issues

LNDD at Chatenay-Malabry
Storm clouds continue to hover above the French
national anti-doping lab (LNDD) at Châtenay-Malabry
(Photo Copyright © 2006 Pete Geyer)

Paris (cyclingfans.com) -- With the news yesterday that a computer hacker was able to break into the computer system at the French national doping laboratory ( LNDD ) at Châtenay-Malabry and the news today that the lab's director has admitted incorrect labeling of samples in the Floyd Landis case, it is fair to suggest, as we did in September , that the world's most controversial anti-doping lab perhaps needs a little down time while someone fully investigates the context within which it is working.

The lab's director, Jacques de Ceaurriz says the labeling error "is minor".  That may or may not be the case.  However, one wonders how a lab charged with something as important as testing samples from the Tour de France , and repeatedly unable (unwilling?) to guarantee confidentiality as required by anti-doping protocol, just doesn't seem to be able to do the job in a professional manner.  Were they under too much pressure to analyze the "B" sample before August vacation?  If so, what other mistakes were made?  As Martial Saugy , director of the top anti-doping laboratory in Switzerland has said in the past, nothing is worse in the testing process than a lab being put under too much pressure.

The situation with the lab is further complicated by the fact that its context has changed over the past 19 months, largely for political reasons.   Jean-François Lamour , French Minister of Youth and Sport , with much fanfare announced in early 2005 that under a new law (the "Loi Lamour" or "Lamour law"), LNDD would benefit from a larger budget and more independence and that France's anti-doping efforts would be brought up to the standard of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.  The law also called for the creation of the Agence Française de Lutte Contre le Dopage ( AFLD or French Anti-Doping Agency) which would replace the Conseil de Prevention et de Lutte Contre le Dopage (CPLD) and also take over responsibility for LNDD which until recently was directly administered by the French ministry.  France rushed to approve the law ahead of the all-important selection, in July, 2005, of the host city for the 2012 Olympic Games .  The law was initially to go into effect in September, 2005.  Alas, the 2012 Olympics were awarded to London, not Paris, and the September deadline for the creation of AFLD was missed, as was the subsequent deadline, in February in time for the Turin Games.  It was not until October 1, 2006 that AFLD quietly came into being, headed by Pierre Bordry .  (As we reported in September , the English-language media still has not seemed to have even gotten notice of the existence of AFLD...much less look into what it is actually doing.)

It is Bordry who, since the hacking incident, has angrily called on more support from Lamour's ministry.  This is an embarrassment for Lamour who was also instrumental in rushing Spanish authorities, ahead of the Tour de France, to release names of riders allegedly involved in the Operation Puerto doping scandal, ultimately turning the case into a fiasco with charges being dropped left and right, reputations in shatters, and no one sure what is going on.  It is a recurring theme in the supposed anti-doping fight: come up with "evidence" (against cyclists) that no one knows what to do with while making headlines and selling newspapers.  And when in September, on L'Equipe TV , Lamour was asked for an update on Operation Puerto, he responded that he didn't have any news since the eve of the Tour de France.  So the man in line to replace Dick Pound in 2007 as head of WADA and who is close to his Spanish counterpart, Jaime Lissavetzky , didn't know anything more than the rest of us?  (Didn't want to know?)  Decidedly, once again it seems that the willpower to fight doping in sport just isn't there.  But repeated attacks on cycling allow everyone to claim they are fighting doping.

When the Vrijman Report*, which looked into L'Equipe's allegations of doping by Lance Armstrong, asked what the French Ministry of Youth and Sport, LNDD and WADA might be hiding, France was already in the process of re-organizing the French anti-doping landscape, paving the way for Lamour to take over the direction of WADA next year.


*Some have questioned the independence of the Vrijman Report.  Jean Pitallier, president of the French Cycling Federation (FFC) even made an issue of nationality, pointing out that Vrijman and former UCI president Hein Verbruggen are both Dutch.  However, the findings of Emile Vrijman are consistent with some of the documented past problems at LNDD, on political, technical and procedural levels.

French Lab Computer Hacking

It wasn't us!
(ask Jerry Lewis)

Yesterday's news that a hacker has gained access to confidential information on computers at the Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage (LNDD) is the latest bizarre twist in the sorry "war on doping".  French sports daily L'Equipe was quick to point the finger at the Floyd Landis camp as being behind the hacking, supposedly based on an investigation by French officials.  L'Equipe's Damien Ressiot of course provided no details and it was unclear how French authorities could pin the attack on any specific individual in the U.S. without the cooperation of U.S. authorities.  It may just be an effort to undermine Landis' public defense against charges of doping.

Poor journalism seemed to be the order of the day as Paris-based Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter Françoise Chaptal in an article (French) implied that we at cyclingfans.com are part of the Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis entourage.  We are not.  We simply believe someone should be shining a spotlight on the accusers.  Chaptal made no effort to contact us.  She did two or three Google searches and had her story.  This is journalism?  Chaptal was also critical of Cyclingnews reporter Laura Weislo , suggesting that anyone who questions the French lab is engaging in a witch-hunt (!).  There is indeed a witch-hunt going on but it's not what Chaptal has in mind.

It seems increasingly clear that this lab is untouchable.  Some in France, including us, believe that no journalist who wants to keep his/her job would dare expose the hypocrisy and corruption among those who claim to be fighting doping.  There is too much money involved in sports like soccer and tennis to rock the boat.  (Ask French rocker Johnny Hallyday which French soccer great advised him to have his blood regularly "cleansed" in order to keep the energy level high.  Three years later, there has not been any investigation by anyone in France.)  The safe thing to do, to keep most people happy, is to beat up on cycling.  You can then say you are fighting doping.

We of course have nothing to do with any hacking at LNDD.  However, we would like to speak to the head lab technician who is apparently the former film star, the bumbling Jerry Lewis .

Hacking into LNDD computers cannot be condoned, though one cannot help but see the irony in this "forced leak" of LNDD documents that apparently highlight more testing errors.




We apologize!


We would like to apologize for blowing up the A.S.O. logo in our Floyd Landis "movie".  It was out of line and it was wrong.  We should not have singled out A.S.O. in this manner.

Next time we will also blow up the logos of WADA, the French Ministry of Youth and Sport and the UCI in an even bigger explosion.



Tuesday, October 31, 2006

A.S.O. and Me:  The Movie
by Floyd Landis
A.S.O. and Me

In place of our usual Monday humor news column, today we bring you the world premiere of the film "A.S.O. and Me" which was written and directed by none other than 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis .

Yes, while Floyd continues to recover from hip surgery he has moved on from PowerPoint presentations to film and video production.  He was even late (by a day) in delivering the film and also went over budget, a sure sign of a great filmmaker.

Floyd this year won the two biggest stage races organized by Amaury Sport Organization (A.S.O.):   Paris-Nice in March and the Tour in July.

As we all know, Floyd failed a dope test at the Tour and is contesting the result.  A hearing should take place in early 2007, followed by eventual appeals.  In the meantime, Floyd is still the official 2006 Tour de France champion, though A.S.O. does not consider him the winner.

At last Thursday's unveiling of the 2007 Tour de France route, at the Palais des Congrès in Paris , A.S.O. showed a video of 2006 Tour highlights.  We described this video and showed you portions of it on Sunday (see below).  That video ended with an image of Floyd on the winner's podium in Paris.  That image then shattered like glass and fell away to reveal a copy of French sports daily L'Equipe .  The old one-two punch from the Amaury Group .

The tone of the A.S.O. video's beginning and ending was tough, evoking battle, the supposed war on doping.  (The real war is between A.S.O. and cycling's governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) over the future of cycling, ie money.)

In his film, Floyd took a different approach.  A.S.O. and Floyd are like a couple in love.  They traveled together from Paris to Nice in March, then all around France in July.  The music accompanying the film fits the A.S.O./Floyd romance.  (We couldn't afford ZZ Top .)  At the end of the Tour, they were on top of the world.  Some observers, including American 3-time Tour champion Greg LeMond, called it the greatest Tour ever .

The peaceful, gentle tone of Floyd's film does contrast with his recent tough talk with regard to the UCI.  (Floyd recently said "I'm going to do everything I can to bring down the UCI.")

With this film, has Floyd mellowed?  Was he unaffected by A.S.O.'s shattering of his image in their own video production?

If you haven't already seen how A.S.O. cracked Landis, you can do so by clicking the image below:

Amaury Sport Organization cracks Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis
Click image to play short video clip
(includes audio of shattering glass)
(from A.S.O. video)


Click the image below for the world premiere of "A.S.O. and Me" by Floyd Landis.

A.S.O. and Me by Floyd Landis
(duration: 1 minute, 11 seconds)


*Inspired by actual events, news, personalities and/or quotes in the world of pro cycling.

Copyright © 2006 www.cyclingfans.com


Sunday, October 29, 2006

2007 Tour de France presentation:
A look at A.S.O.'s 2006 Tour highlights video
by Pete Geyer

At the end of October each year, Tour de France organizer Amaury Sport Organization (A.S.O.) puts on a show for the pro cycling world at the Palais des Congrès in Paris.  While the invitation-only event is centered around the unveiling of the route for the following July's edition of the race, it also serves to remind those in the audience, with the help of a highlights video from the previous July's race, just how beautiful this sport is.  And in recent years, A.S.O. also uses the opportunity to deliver some strong words on the subject of doping, usually aimed at the sport's governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), with whom A.S.O. has been fighting over the future direction of cycling.

This year, anticipation ahead of the event was particularly high because of the degree to which the 2006 Tour was marked by doping scandals, both "Operation Puerto" which resulted in stars such as Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo being sent home on the eve of the race due to suspicion of doping and Alexandre Vinokourov unable to race because of too many of his teammates allegedly implicated in the scandal in Spain, and the Floyd Landis positive for testosterone.  A.S.O., with the help of the French Ministry of Youth and Sport had put pressure on Spanish authorities to release names of cyclists that might be involved in Operation Puerto, in order that the Tour might be spared a scandal in July.  Alas, the Landis positive gave A.S.O. exactly what they had tried to avoid.

With Operation Puerto now falling apart due to, take your pick, lack of hard evidence linking specific individuals to doping practices, a lack of willpower on the part of public authorities in Spain to really fight doping, and/or a desire to bury the entire affair to avoid dragging protected sports like soccer and tennis into this mess, how would A.S.O., which again had put pressure on Spanish authorities to begin with, in order to protect its own image and product, the Tour, deal with the subject in its 2006 Tour highlights video?  The subject, of course, was unavoidable given the possibility, even likelihood from A.S.O.'s standpoint, of the first disqualification in history of a Tour winner due to doping.

2007 Tour de France presentation video
Christian Prudhomme
Click image to play short video clip
(from A.S.O. video)
Not surprisingly, the A.S.O. video gets right into the subject of doping from the start, with images of Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich forced to depart the race start in Strasbourg.  New race director Christian Prudhomme (video at right), flanked by Roger Legeay and Patrick Lefevere, team managers respectively of Crédit Agricole and Quickstep, and longtime race director Jean-Marie Leblanc, is seen addressing the Tour media regarding the need to work together to fight doping in cycling.  The accompanying music is ominous, evoking battle.  There are more images of Ullrich, Basso and the entire Astana team.  They are then gone, A.S.O. has spared its event.

(Ullrich, Basso, Landis et al were not welcome at the Palais des Congrès on Thursday.  However, in the audience sat a veritable who's who of dopers among former French cyclists, including some who are now team managers.  One cannot help but wonder what went through their minds as A.S.O. gave their annual anti-doping tough talk.  But then, they've heard it all before.  And besides, they had their invitations.  They are a part of French cycling's family.)

2007 Tour de France presentation video
Col d'Izoard
Click image to play short video clip
(from A.S.O. video)
The video then gets into presenting some of the highlights of the 2006 race, notably the sprint finishes with some fast-paced music. Then the music is mellower as we witness an emotional moment with Frenchman Cyril Dessel grabbing the yellow jersey on his father's birthday.  Father and son cannot hold back the tears.  That is immediately followed by some of the most stunning aerial footage in all of sports as the peloton reaches the mountains.  The views from above the Izoard Pass (video at right) are mesmerizing.  "Vive le Tour" is seen in big block letters on a mountaintop.  Viewers cannot help but have their faith in this sport renewed, even if briefly, because what other events in sport can compete with these images unfolding on the big screen?  Set to music, the Tour is even more powerful, more dramatic, more cinematic, more poetic.  Riders dance on pedals in a ballet of color.  You could watch this for hours.  And why can't we see more of this on IMAX?

Floyd Landis, in yellow, is then seen struggling in the mountains.  He is dropped and loses many minutes, and the yellow jersey, to Oscar Pereiro.  But the next day, of course, Landis accelerates away from his rivals and rides to a dramatic stage victory, crossing the line with his fist in the air, and gets back most of the time he lost the previous day.  A.S.O. has decided to show us the Tour as it happened on the road.  There is the final battle for the yellow jersey, the individual time trial, and Landis succeeds in what some called the greatest comeback in the history of cycling or even in all of sport.

We see some scenes from the final stage in Paris, followed by the podium presentations of the final green jersey, polka-dot jersey, young rider jersey and top team.  At this point in the video, A.S.O. is not showing Floyd Landis.  It is clear that they want to separate him from the other competitions winners.  So there is next a sequence of various moments during the race, including crashes.  Phil Liggett audio commentary features prominently in several places.  There is a stunning fireworks display, more action and fast paced music as the video nears its conclusion.

Amaury Sport Organization cracks Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis
Click image to play short video clip
(includes audio of shattering glass)
(from A.S.O. video)
Finally we see Landis in yellow on the final podium in Paris, his arms raised in victory.  Then the shocker: the image of Landis shatters like glass, replaced by a copy of French sports daily L'Equipe announcing a positive dope control for the race's victor.  A number of newspaper and magazine covers announcing the scandal are then seen.  A dream Tour has come crashing down.

The video does a pretty good job of covering the range of emotions that many of us felt during and soon after the conclusion of the race.  A.S.O. knows it has arguably the greatest annual sporting spectacle there is.  And it knows how to remind us of that.

Now if only A.S.O. and the UCI could put an end to their fighting and hypocrisy and work together to ensure a bright future for this sport.


Friday, October 27, 2006

Tour de France organizers crack Landis

At yesterday's presentation of the 2007 Tour de France here in Paris, Amaury Sport Organization (A.S.O.) used the opportunity of showing this year's Tour highlights to make clearer than ever their position on the subject of Floyd Landis whose case has yet to be heard by U.S. anti-doping authorities.  Toward the end of the video, which was distributed as a DVD to all in attendance, they showed Landis victorious on the final podium in Paris before abruptly shattering his image to reveal a copy of their sister publication, French sports daily L'Equipe.  Should we have expected anything less?  You can see how they cracked Landis by clicking on the image to the right.   Rumor has it Floyd may get revenge in our Monday humor column...

We'll have a report on yesterday's presentation this weekend, along with another video clip or two.



Amaury Sport Organization cracks Floyd Landis

Click image to play short video clip
(includes audio of shattering glass)
(from A.S.O. video)


Wednesday, October 25, 2006
2007 Tour de France route presentation tomorrow
Tour de France route presentation collage Riders, team managers, tour operators, sponsors, politicians and the media will be in Paris tomorrow for the invitation-only presentation of the 2007 Tour de France route, one of the more anticipated events in cycling.  But some big names weren't invited and others are boycotting the event as political battles continue.
(Photos Copyright ©
Pete Geyer/www.cyclingfans.com)

Paris (cyclingfans.com) -- The 2007 Tour de France begins tomorrow.  Kind of.

It certainly will begin for tour operators who will be on their cell phones speaking to colleagues the moment tomorrow's presentation of the 2007 Tour's route is completed, to get the process of reserving hotel rooms underway.  With that done, they can move upstairs for wine and snacks and rubbing elbows with other invitation-only attendees, which include Tour riders past and present, team managers and directors, sponsors, representatives of Tour host towns, and members of the media.

The 2007 Tour begins tomorrow for team directors who can start planning both pre-Tour race and training schedules in locations featured in the Tour.

The 2007 Tour also begins tomorrow for cycling fans anxious to plan July trips to France or just to speculate on what riders might be favored by the race route.

Very few route details are known ahead of tomorrow's presentation.  The game of fan speculation, already underway for weeks, more often than not results in a route wildly different from what ends up being presented at the Palais des Congres at the Porte Maillot in Paris, in part because race organizer Amaury Sport Organization (A.S.O.) offers up some false leaks to send guessing-game players on the wrong trail.  For example, last year there was much speculation about a final-stage individual time trial between Versailles and Paris.  The idea even made some sense because the 2006 Tour was the first designed by new race director Christian Prudhomme and a final stage time trial into Paris would reproduce the final stage of retiring race director Jean-Marie Leblanc's first Tour, in 1989, where American Greg LeMond won the race in dramatic fashion by just eight seconds after three weeks of racing.  As it turned out, Prudhomme did indeed design a race very similar to Leblanc's first Tour, but there was no final stage time trial into Paris.

Each May, A.S.O. has a rough idea of the following year's Tour route.  By September, the general route has been nailed down, including all the stage host towns, the mountains that will be climbed, the time trials and whether or not, for example, there will be a team time trial.  In other words, A.S.O. then has enough information to begin reserving hotel rooms for all the teams, race and publicity caravan personnel, and others and indeed the organizers proceed immediately to making those reservations.  They then put together a slick graphics and video show that traces the path the race will take and includes highlights of the previous Tour and are ready to share it all with the world, at the end of October.

The 2007 Tour will begin with a prologue in London.  If tradition holds, once in France it should travel clockwise around the country (it was counter-clockwise this year), meaning it will visit the Alps before the Pyrenees in 2007.  For weeks, there has been speculation the 2007 Tour will climb Mont Ventoux, though not necessarily as a mountaintop finish.  Is the rumor true?  Who knows?  It could be due to a false A.S.O. leak, a genuine leak, or mere speculation due to a leak that the Tour will finish in a nearby town such as Carpentras.  (Some who play the guessing-game seek to determine, starting in September, where large quantities of hotel rooms are being booked (by A.S.O. as discussed above) for the following July.)  Another rumor is that the race will climb the Puy de Dome which has been absent for years.  That location offers some logistical challenges but new race director Christian Prudhomme has vowed to have the Tour return there.  This year?  Maybe, maybe not.  We'll know after 11am tomorrow Paris time.

Gilles Le Roc'h of Reuters reports that sources close to A.S.O. told him that once again there will be no Team Time Trial in 2007 .  (Le Roc'h also reports, incorrectly, that the 2007 Tour is the first conceived by Prudhomme.  In fact, it will be the second.)

On a more negative note, the annual route presentation lately is also used by A.S.O. (notably president Patrice Clerc) to launch missiles at those, particularly the UCI, with whom they are at war regarding the future of professional cycling.  The tone was already raised last year compared to 2004 and this year UCI president Pat McQuaid, who is in Paris today for other meetings, has not even been invited to tomorrow's presentation.  A.S.O. will surely fire off some very strong attacks tomorrow after the scandals of last summer.  Might they even have some form of surprise weapon in this war among those supposedly fighting doping?  As a preemptive strike, the UCI just yesterday was critical of what they called a refusal on the part of A.S.O. to collaborate on the subject of anti-doping.  Some top riders and teams are reportedly boycotting tomorrow's event as a result of the ongoing battles.

Somewhere in the middle of tomorrow's missile launchings and 2006 Tour video highlights which are unlikely to feature Floyd Landis much or at all, awards presentations and a tribute to retiring race director Jean-Marie Leblanc, who surely will get a standing ovation for his 18 years of service, Christian Prudhomme will get down to the business of presenting the actual 2007 Tour route.

Now if only we knew who will be racing next July...

- Pete Geyer, Paris
Tour du Faso

The 20th Tour du Faso gets underway today in Burkina Faso and runs through November 5th.  Some small teams from France, Belgium and Japan take on some of Africa's best.

Must a winner be declared for the
2006 Tour de France?


That is a question being asked in France, by French sports daily L'Equipe and L'Equipe TV , ahead of tomorrow's presentation of the route for the 2007 Tour de France.

L'Equipe journalist Philippe Brunel , former racer and current television consultant Jean-François "Jef" Bernard and longtime race director Jean-Marie Leblanc appeared on L'Equipe TV yesterday evening to discuss the question, with UCI president Pat McQuaid joining in via telephone.

For Bernard, Leblanc and McQuaid there is no doubt: if Floyd Landis is stripped of his title, then you need to declare Oscar Pereiro the winner.  (For Leblanc and A.S.O. , in fact, Landis is already no longer considered the winner....but only the UCI can officially strip Landis of the title, pending the result of early-2007 hearings in the U.S. and eventual appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ( TAS-CAS )).

Brunel raised the possibility of leaving first place blank, arguing that Pereiro benefitted from a 30-minute gift from Landis during the race and did nothing on the road to show himself worthy as Tour de France champion.  He further argued that having no winner for the 2006 race would serve as a strong reminder of the damage doping scandals did to the race.

At the end of the TV programme, when pressed to name a winner, Leblanc and Bernard responded "Oscar Pereiro."

L'Equipe's Brunel jokingly responded: "Floyd Pereiro."

In today's L'Equipe, the debate continues with Eddy Merckx arguing that should Landis fail in his attempt to clear his name, he should nonetheless remain as 2006 champion but with an asterisk next to his name.

Two-time Tour winner Laurent Fignon is in the "declare no winner" camp, as is Frenchman Raymond Poulidor .

For five-time champion Bernard Hinault and UCI executive Alain Rumpf , in addition to the fact that the rules say Pereiro should be declared the winner if Landis is disqualified, Pereiro should not be penalized for a fault that he had nothing to do with.

All of this is of course premature since the Landis case has yet to even be heard.

L Equipe TV
L'Equipe TV, Tuesday:  For Pat McQuaid (inset), president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the rules stipulate that should Floyd Landis be stripped of his Tour de France title, due to his doping positive, Oscar Pereiro must be declared the winner.

L Equipe TV
L'Equipe TV:  Philippe Brunel (journalist for L'Equipe), Jean-François Bernard (consultant) and Jean-Marie Leblanc (retiring race director) all weighed in on who should be declared winner of the 2006 Tour de France.

L Equipe TV
L'Equipe TV:  L'Equipe's Philippe Brunel suggests that perhaps first place should be left blank in order to send a strong signal, should Landis be stripped of his Tour title.




Monday, October 23, 2006

Monday Special Edition* Cycling News
- A summary (or not) of top news items from the past week -
Monday, October 23, 2006

Lamour on track to replace Dick Pound at WADA

Paris (cyclingfans.com) -- Jean-François Lamour is the French "ministre de la Jeunesse, des Sports et de la Vie associative," which roughly translates to "minister of Youth, Sport, Community life, controversial anti-doping labs, good friends with L'Equipe and anything else that those with more serious political ambitions aren't interested in."

Lamour doesn't have a lot of power in France but he does have an anti-doping lab, at Chatenay-Malabry , something most of us cannot claim.  At last check, you cannot even get an anti-doping lab on eBay .  Talk about rare.

The French minister of Youth and Sport has an important job and make no mistake, he can make things happen.  Case in point:  When guys named Patrice (Clerc) and Jean-Marie (Leblanc) from Tour de France organizer A.S.O. came running for help on the eve of the 2006 edition of the race, Jean-François Lamour sprung to action, called his Spanish equivalent and friend, Jaime Lissavetzky , and in no time helped turn "Operation Puerto" ..... into a real mess .  Respect.  These guys are good.

Lamour also has personal ambitions.  Specifically, he has designs on Dick Pound's job as the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).  On Saturday, Lamour was nominated as the European candidate for Vice President at WADA .  If he is officially named to the position by the agency's board next month, as expected, then he would take over as head of WADA when Pound steps down in November, 2007.

Jean-François Lamour, whose ministry funds the controversial French national anti-doping lab at Chatenay-Malabry, is thus the likely next head of WADA.

Floyd Landis might test positive just thinking about that.

Ballester and Walsh write another Lance Armstrong book

"L.A. Officiel" by Pierre Ballester and David Walsh

Pierre Ballester and David Walsh are back with their second Lance Armstrong book:  "L.A. Officiel" , published last Thursday.  ("L.A. Confidentiel" was published in 2004.)

Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins earlier teamed to write "It's Not About the Bike" and "Every Second Counts".

So let's update our running scoreboard:

Books about Armstrong:

Ballester (writer ) and Walsh ( writer ):  2
Armstrong (athlete ) and Jenkins (writer):  2

Tour de France victories:

Ballester and Walsh:  0
Lance Armstrong:  7

The Armstrong/Jenkins books are New York Times Bestsellers and have been translated in numerous languages, including French.  Ballester and Walsh cannot even find a publisher in Walsh's native tongue, that obscure language called English .

So how is it that two full-time writers cannot outdo an elite athlete, Lance Armstrong, in the book-writing department?

C'mon, Lance, help these guys out.  Give them some writing and publishing tips.



PowerPoint, the tool of choice for cyclists
Some in cycling are following the lead of Floyd Landis and using Microsoft PowerPoint to communicate.  Thanks to leaks, cyclingfans.com occasionally obtains draft copies of these documents.

Today:  Will Tyler Hamilton finally pick a dog for his PowerPoint presentation?

Tyler Hamilton PowerPoint slide 2

Tyler Hamilton PowerPoint slide 3


*Inspired by actual events, news, personalities and/or quotes in the world of pro cycling.

Copyright © 2006 www.cyclingfans.com








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