Blog Posts From Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand Tagged With tim_johnson

AToC - Stage 1 - Mother Nature Rules - Part 2

guest — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:27:14 GMT

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California sloshed into Santa Rosa and it was Rock Racing's Francisco Mancebo, of Spain, who was off the front for 102 of the 107 miles in this stage, taking the victory. On a day when the elevation profile looked to allow the field to re-group after each of the three moderate climbs, mother nature, some dodging radio communications, and some last minute modifications to the race rules conspired to give Mancebo the opportunity to take the stage and potentially the overall Tour of California title.

Because of the cold, rainy conditions the peloton allowed Mancebo, Tim Johnson (Ouch Medical) and David Kemp(Flying V Australia Successful Living Foundation) to breakaway only five miles into the stage. Poor communication from race radio, which keeps the teams up to date on the time gaps for breakaways, allowed the gap to grow to epic proportions. When Mancebo attacked his two companions and went free over Howell Mountain, that information was slow in reaching all the other teams. When word did get back to the pack, Team Astana went ballistic and shattered the field over Howell Mountain putting five of its riders in the 20-man chase group. Armstrong, Leipheimer, Horner, Rubiera and Jani Brajkovic spent the better part of an hour and a half trying to bring back Mancebo.

When the race entered the streets of Santa Rosa, a territory quickly becoming known as the Bermuda Triangle of UCI race regulations, the officials decided to take the finishing times at the start of the first of the three finishing circuits. This decision, which was made sometime during the course of the stage basically robbed the chasing teams of about 7 miles of extra distance in which to try bring back Mancebo.

OK. We can all debate the advantages and disadvantages of race radios(personally, I don't like them), but the current rules allow them, maybe this time around it was a case of those who live by the radio, die by the radio. In any event, the overall standings of the AToC have been turned completely upside down. Mancebo is a good time trialist, but Levi Leipheimer has owned the Solvang TT the past two years and if Levi doesn't lose anymore time to Mancebo between now and then, the 1'02" he is down to Mancebo could easily be won back with a standard Leipheimer TT effort. For that matter, any of the 19 riders in the chase group who are now within about 1'30" of Mancebo are still in the hunt and could win the overall with a superb TT effort.

Here are some photos of the race. I was playing around with soft focus a bit, please bear with. Graham Watson and I are good friends because 1) he can drink me under the table with one hand tied behind his back, 2) I am not going to be taking any food out his mouth with the cycling publications.

Here is a shot of Mancebo on the finishing circuits out in front solo.

Lance, with Horner on his wheel, are chasing hard.

After he crossed the finish line, Mancebo headed down my way. Ben Delaney, Editor of VeloNews, and I were the first to approach him, but he wanted to do the interview in Spanish so we decided to leave it to the interpreters this time.

Race Notes:

On Saturday night, thieves broke into the Team Astana's bike trailer at the Residence Inn Sacramento and stole the first four bikes in the line-up. Taken were Popovych's, Brajkovic's and Morabito's road bikes as well a Lance's one-of-a-kind TT bike on which he had just finished 10th that day in the prologue. Luckily, all the riders had spare bikes, but the team had to borrow three road bikes from Trek Travel for additional spares for Popo, Jani and Steve to have on top of the car for the day's stage.

I talked with Ben Coates who is the liaison with Trek for the team and who was upset that the incident occurred. He was upbeat that this situation would demonstrate the advantages of US-made Trek bicycles in that replacement frames were in the process of being painted and sent out in the next few days to the team.

Bruce

Meet Team Ouch

guest — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:00:22 GMT

Team Ouch's most recognizable rider is Floyd Landis, but what about the rest of what looks to be America's most powerful domestic professional team. If anybody is capable of going toe-to-toe with the top flight Pro Tour squads at the upcoming Amgen Tour of California(AToC) it's Team Ouch. While I would like to single out every rider on the squad, let's hit the highlights and let the others grab some of the spotlight as the season rolls on.

L-R: Brad White, Pat McCarty, Karl Menzies, John Murphy, Kid Rock, Tim Johnson, Andrew Pinfold, Jonathan Chodroff

Several riders besides Landis have European pro road experience. Australian Rory Sutherland has won the individual National Racing Calendar point series competition, signifying the best US domestic pro rider, the past two seasons and is a threat in flat, hilly or just about any bike race. He can time trial, climb and sprint and has worked harder than any other rider, save George Hincapie, to try and win a stage of the Tour of California in the last two years. Here's hoping he gets that much-deserved stage win at the 2009 edition.

Karl Menzies is also Australian though he would rather you called him Tasmanian.He is a solid workhorse who can also sprint and unless the topography has some major wrinkles, he can win any big race in the US. Two years ago he finished second place in Australia's Tour Down Under just several ticks out of the top spot after wearing the leader's jersey.

Pat McCarty is the most recent addition to the team. At 27, the Austin native has already been a pro for six years starting first with Lance and US Postal then moving onto Slipstream. He has finished the Giro d'Italia. His presence in stage races will greatly enhance Floyd's chances, though Pat has been top three on stages as well.

Tim Johnson is the road captain for Team Ouch and has decided to pass up a slot at the upcoming World Cyclocross Championships to be ready to bark orders when the Tour of California starts in just over two weeks. Tim recently won the USGP cyclocross title and also has European pro experience. Expect Tim to cover early breakaways or drive it at the front if Floyd is wearing the AToC leader's jersey.

John Murphy is a mere 25 years old and had a breakout season in 2008 winning the Tour of Taiwan. He can sprint and time trial and has a very bright future. He recently relocated from Athens, Georgia to Temecula to be able to train with Floyd. I am betting that it pays off big time.

Mike Tamayo is in his second year as the team director having taken over the reigns from long-time head honcho, Jeff Corbett, in 2008. Mike brings experience leading a number of top-tier women's teams including Victory Brewing. The chemistry on the team is excellent, look for Mike to make sure that things continue to run smoothly.

Also on the team are Brad White, Jonathan Chadroff, Cam Evans, Andrew Pinfold, Bobby Lea, Roman Kilun. Check out their website at www.teamouch.com.

Have at it boys!

Bruce

2008 US Cyclocross National Championships this Weekend

guest — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:00:53 GMT

The nation's best cyclocross(CX) racers are convening in Kansas this weekend for the annual "maybe mudfest" known as Cyclocross National Championships. For those not familiar with cyclocross, it is way too complicated to explain here. Just think of a bunch of people riding a criterium in the dirt with a few barriers and hills to run up each lap.

Every cyclocross course differs, but there is one thing that is common to all. The weather can change a course from fun to epic which may actually be considered fun by real CX diehards. Rain, snow, sleet, hail and just about everything else that makes a mailman cringe is really what CX is all about. Warm, dry conditions are like kissing your sister. Its the mud and muck which really make a true CX race.

Which is why Tim Johnson's win last year was so exciting. Tim is one of the nicest guys in the pro peloton not to mention that he is also one heck of a racer having taken a bronze medal at the World CX Championships. But, the coveted stars and stripes jersey seemed to elude him year after year until Kansas 2007 when he triumphed in conditions that were lacking the requisite falling snow, rain or sleet, but made up for it with mud, slush and muck.

In 2008, Tim has been the most consistent CX racer in the US events and personally, I wouldn't mind seeing him keep the Captain America jersey for another year.BTW, Tim will be riding alongside Floyd Landis on the road in 2009 as both will be on the Ouch Medical presented by Maxxis team.

Other Americans such as Jonathan Page, Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks are not far behind Johnson. Mechanicals and crashes are a huge part of this sport. Anyone of these guys is a mechanical or a crash away from the top spot on the podium.

In the women's event, Katie Compton has won the national championship before and has a silver medal from the World CX Championships. She is the prohibitive favorite, but Katerina Nash has been giving her some great battles this season and Rachel Lloyd is always in the mix.

Personally, I am hoping that race organizers see Noah floating past on race day, much like the deluge that was the 2002 CX Natz in Napa (the Domain Chandon property will never be the same) or maybe Santa out testing his reindeer in a early season blizzard. After all, it is a cyclocross race.

Bruce