Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand

What is Fair Isn't Clear

Bruce Hildenbrand — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:07:06 GMT

As reported earlier, Rock Racing started only five riders in today's first stage, the 2.1-mile prologue, in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California(AToC). AToC organizers excluded three of Rock Racing's riders supposedly because they had open doping investigations. Rock Racing has maintained that there are no open investigations, but race organizers held firm. Frankly, it is not clear to me that there are any open doping investigations. I haven't seen any public mention that there are any open investigations and none of the Rock Racing riders have been privately notified that they are under investigation.

What is interesting to me is the parallel between what happened earlier this week to Team Astana. In the Astana affair, Amaury Sports Organization (ASO) issued a statement that Team Astana will not be invited to any ASO events, which includes the Tour de France. ASO cited the past history of doping on the team as their reason for the exclusion. However, Team Astana is a completely different team in 2008. Gone are all the riders implicated in any 2007 doping infractions as well as the whole team management.

So, if all the problem riders and team personnel are gone the team should be clean. The only rider on the team with a potential problem is Alberto Contador who has been linked to the same Operacion Puerto affair that AToC organizers used as a reason to exclude the three Rock Racing riders.

I think the decisions to exclude three riders from the AToC and Team Astana from the Tour are unfair. If you are upset that Levi may not get to ride in France, I think to be consistent, you have to also be upset that Tyler, Oscar and Santiago aren't riding the AToC. Would it be fair to allow Team Astana to ride the Tour de France if they don't bring Alberto Contador? How do you all feel about this? Do you all agree that both decisions are unfair?

On to the racing news, which I hope will shortly eclipse all this talk of doping. My pre-race prediction (and I made that prediction on Thursday), Fabian Cancellara, obliterated the competition winning by a substantial four-second margin in the short, 2.1-mile prologue time trial. Levi Leipheimer, who won the first two prologue time trials in 2006 and 2007, finished fourth, six seconds back.

No big surprises in the race for the overall. All the overall contenders finished within 20 seconds of each other. With several big climbing stages and a 15-mile time trial yet to come, the race is still a dead heat. Cancellara could hold the jersey for the next two days which offers only moderate climbing and flat finishes. However, come stage 3 on Wednesday, when both Mount Hamilton and Sierra Road are on the agenda, look for the 2006 Paris-Roubaix Champion and two-time World Time Trial Champion to hopefully transfer the jersey to one of his teammates such as Jens Voigt, Stuart O'Grady or Bobby Julich.

Bruce

Taking it to the Streets

Bruce Hildenbrand — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:55:27 GMT

With only two days to go before the start of the third Amgen Tour of California, the streets around Palo Alto are awash with pro racers getting in those last, critical pre-race miles. So much is going on surrounding the race, you almost need 25 hours in a day. Here are the latest happenings:

At a Trek Bicycle-sponsored meet-and-greet with Levi Leipheimer on Thursday night,the Tour podium finisher in 2007 announced that his Team Astana would be mounting a grass-roots campaign to lobby ASO to give his team a much-deserved slot in the Tour de France. Look for some announcements and a website launch
in the next few days to allow fans to send their thoughts to ASO. This is your chance to be heard, don't pass it up!

The team rosters are being finalized as we speak. Some of the big names are Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner from Astana; Fabian Cancellara, Bobby Julich, Jens Voigt and Stuart O'Grady from Team CSC; Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini from Quick Step...heck, there are too many big names and great riders to list, so my apologies to everyone I didn't mention.

Which brings me to my next observation. This is undoubtedly the best field of riders for a Tour of California. And the teams have come here to lay down some serious smack. Jens Voigt told me that they have been riding hills, hills and more hills at their team training camp down in Thousand Oaks. Team High Road Sports have been doing 5- to 6-hour rides everyday; some riders had 34-plus hours on the bike last week! Whoa! That is some serious saddle time for this early in the season.

I hope you all out there get chance to see at least one, and hopefully two or more, stages of the race. If you can't be here in person, Phil and Paul will be making the race call, daily, on Versus.

OK. One last thing. I am going to go out on a limb and make a prediction for the prologue. This might not seem like much of a guess, given his propensity for winning these type of races, but I think Fabian Cancellara will
win the prologue. I just did a lengthy interview with the two-time World Champion and he is not only very fast, but a nice guy to boot! Go Fabian.

Heck, go everybody! Let's make this a great race.
Bruce

Black is Blue

Bruce Hildenbrand — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:36:35 GMT

I don't think anybody will ever consider me a walking fashion statement on
either side of the spectrum(maybe that's the silver lining!). In fact, my
fashion sense is somewhere between sweat pants and blue jeans, but hey, I
don't care. However, for those of you who religiously watch shows like "What
Not to Wear," "Project Runway" and "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style", here is a blog
just for you.

The third annual Amgen Tour of California kicks off in about a week and based
on my recent visits to some of the pro team camps, we just might have an
honest-to-god fashion emergency. I remember a few years back when powder blue
was the 'in' color so much so that a number of pro teams changed their jerseys
to include the azur shade. Well, it looks like black is the new blue. No less
than three pro teams, BMC, Rock Racing and High Road Sports are wearing
predominately black racing kit.

Call me a colorcist, but I am having a hard time distinguishing between the
three different squads. Add to the fact that the riders will be going upwards
of 30 mph as they rocket down the beautiful California coastline and any subtle
differences such as sponsors logos might just become a blur.

Rumour has it that High Road Sports may be rolling out a new team kit with
a predominately white theme. But, wait, it looks like the BMC boys are riding
white jerseys as well. Oh man, what is a cycling fan to do? Obviously, there
are subtleties between the jersey designs, but I am not a subtle guy.

OK. Maybe I am making a mountain out of a molehill, but I am always on the
verge of getting arrested by the Fashion Police so maybe this is my pitiful
attempt at obtaining a get-out-of-jail-free card. Regardless of what any of
the jerseys look like for the 17 teams participating in the AToC, I am certain
that the riders filling said jerseys are some of the best racers in the world. And,
c'mon that's what it is all about anyway, isn't it?

Bruce

The Doping Problem

Bruce E Hildenbrand — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:34:03 GMT

Good news on the doping front (when have we heard that, lately?). It appears
that the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), organizers of the Amgen Tour of
California(AToC) have teamed with USA Cycling and the United States Anti-Doping
Agency(USADA) to bring tight doping controls to the 2008 AToC. The controls
appear to be a manifestation of the "biological passport" adopted by the World
Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) at its recent summit in Madrid.

Briefly, the biological passport is a history of an athlete's drug testing and
biological parameters (haematocrit, testosterone levels, etc.) which will be
used to set a baseline physiology and also record of when he/she has been
tested to determine if an athlete is within those parameters or taking performance
enhancing drugs(ped's). Interestingly enough, during an interview I conducted
with then-USADA chief, Frank Shorter, way back in 2001, this exact subject came
up and Frank, the 1972 Olympic Gold Medalist in the marathon, was a huge
proponent of a testing passport.

One of the things I vowed to do with this blog was to keep the frequency of my
postings on doping to a minimum. To be sure, we need to have a dialog about
this subject because it seems, right now, to be plaguing our sport. But there
are so many other interesting things to talk about. But, this recent development
is pretty darn big.

AToC race director, Jim Birrell, told me that in 2006 the total cost of dope
testing at the race was $2300. This year, according to the agreement, over
$100,000 will be spent in an attempt to insure a clean race. That's some
major coin and it represents, IMHO, a very serious and aggressive attempt to
re-instill the confidence in the fans of the sport that the riders are, indeed,
exceptionally gifted athlete's with a burning desire to be first across the
line.

Will money, which means increased frequency of testing and more tests, solve
the problem? After last year's Tour de France, I sent a proposal to the race
organizers to help restore credibility to their event. I proposed that they
include a new procedure during the time trials that as each rider crosses the
finish line, they are escorted to doping control to give blood and urine.
Unlike the road stages, where bunch finishes are common, in the time trials,
each rider crosses the line at about 1-2 minute intervals. With four or five
teams of sample takers each rider could be serviced in a prompt manner and
then sent on to their team bus.

However, proposals such as mine take major benjamins. But, if the sport is
going to survive, maybe that is the only solution. Some of the major
professional teams such as Slipstream/Chipotle, High Road Sports and CSC have
invested beacoup bucks to test their riders, out-of-competition. Maybe it is
time for the other pro teams and also the UCI to follow suit and increase their
out-of-competition testing.

Whadda you all think?

Bruce(BEH)

Cipo!!!!!

Bruce E Hildenbrand — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:00:10 GMT

After months of rumours and speculation, it appears that Italian sprinter
Mario Cipollini has signed onto the Rock Racing team as rider/manager for
2008. Whoa! What "Super Mario's" role will be with the team is yet
undetermined, but one thing is for sure, the US domestic professional racing
scene just got a whole lot more interesting.

The 2002 World Champion can certainly pedal a bike and even at the age of 40,
he will shortly turn 41, he will undoubtedly be capable of winning races in
America. But, more importantly, he is a showman. A rider of "rock star"
quality who brings charisma and presence just by showing up. From his
outrageous cycling attire to the time he left the Tour of Spain prematurely so
he could be a judge at the Miss Italy competition this guys makes headlines
both on and off the bike.

Does the US domestic scene need "il Leone" as Cipo is known to his Italian
tifosi? With all the doping scandals running rampant through the cycling
community Mario just could be the breath of fresh air to get people's minds
thinking the glass is half full and not half empty. We need to be reminded
of why cycling is such a great sport, not only in which to participate, but
also to watch.

Mario's wins in both the Giro, where he holds the all-time record for stage
victories, and the Tour de France are things of beauty, executed with style
and perfection. One question that still lingers is if the Rock Racing team
can assemble an effective leadout train with which to deliver the flamboyant
Italian to the line. My guess is with a marquee name like Cipollini on your
squad, you go get support for the kick to the finish.

Cipo's signing fills a couple of roles for Rock Racing. The team is in dire
need of a director sportif after the recent departure of Frankie Andreu. Also,
with the parity among the US domestic pro teams having a bunch sprinter is
almost mandatory if you want to win races. Unfortunately, Cipo's lack of
knowledge of the US race courses, the only race he has ridden in America is the
Tour of Georgia, may provide a steep learning curve if he is called on to lead
the squad from the team car. At 40, his best days are probably behind him
which means that he will most likely not be a candidate to ride the more
difficult stage races or hilly one-day events.

My guess is that we will see Cipo at the upcoming Tour of California behind the
wheel of a Rock Racing vehicle and not in the saddle. Given the rumours of how
he drives around Italy, even that scenario is sure to give race fans, and race
officials, something to talk about. Benvenuto in America Mario!

Bruce

ps - what do you all out there think about Mario coming to America?