Active Expert: Bruce Hildenbrand : Tags : 2008_tour_de_france

Rest Day Antics

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 15, 2008

Today is the first rest day of the Tour so I caught up with one budding cycling legend, Mark Cavendish, and one bonafide cycling legend, Bernard Hinault, and sat down with each for a one-on-one interview to see what was shaking. Mark has been a huge hit in only his second Tour winning two stages and doing it in grand fashion. He struggled on yesterday's mountain stage coming in dead last, but in his defense he crashed early on in the stage and the race doctor, Gerard Porte, gave him something for the pain which upset his stomach. Bernard Hinault is not only a five-time winner of the Tour, but he is the last Frenchman, way back in 1985, to do so. He is now one of the organizers of the Tour, you can see him each day as he greats the riders after they leave the podium.

I asked Mark what it takes to win a stage of the Tour in the always chaotic field sprints. "First and foremost it takes a good team to get you to the finish. I've got an amazingly strong team that gets me there to the finish. You need the speed in the end, but you need to save all your power and punch so you can use it in the last few hundred meters of the finish. That's where you need a great team behind you."

Do you have to be slightly crazy to deal with all the dangers and be a great field sprinter. "I think the reason it looks so dangerous is that there is not that much going through your mind apart from being first across the finish line. You haven't got time to think about anything else. You haven't got time to think about the consequences or anything like that. You just have to be first. That's what matters."

"Sure it is dangerous, but if you start thinking about it you are not going to win. If you are driving a car and you come fast into a corner if there is something in your mind that says maybe I should slow down because my brakes don't work or my tires don't work. In cycling I don't have that. You can't really have that. You can't really think of consequences. You can't think of anything except being first across the line."

Bernard Hinault still looks as fit as he did when he climbed off his bike in 1986. The five-time tour winner commented on how the race has gone through the first rest day. "It has been a great Tour. After yesterday, you have only one second between Evans and Schleck for the yellow jersey. Even without a prologue there has been excitement from the beginning. It was a short first time trial but it produced some interesting results none the less. The stage finish to Super-Besse was very exciting and now we have had two spectacular days in the Pyrenees. I think it has been a great race so far for the riders and the fans."

When asked about who he fancies for the yellow jersey in Paris, he replied,"I don't know. The stages in the Alps are yet to come. The Agnello is long and hard and nobody knows about the finish in Italy. Then you have the Col de la Bonnette which is very long and hard. Then you finish on Alpe d'Huez. It could be Evans. It could be Menchov, Schleck or even Vandevelde the American."

Hinault is most remembered by Americans for his battle with teammate Greg Lemond for the yellow jersey in 1986, a race where in the end, Lemond finished first and Hinault second. Lemond has been at the Tour this year; how have the two former teammates and competitors been getting along? "We had our differences as competitors, but we are now friends. We have talked a lot at the Tour and have shared stories of our familes."

Bruce

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CSC Superb

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 14, 2008

Team CSC-Saxo Bank gave everyone a primer in bike racing 101 and setup one of the most exciting finale's in recent Tour history. With only two climbs, albeit big ones, on the menu, Bjarne Riis' boys managed to coax their two biggest engines over the monstrous Col du Tourmalet in the lead group of 25 riders the result being that it was game on for all the contenders at the base of Huatacam, the 8-mile, 3700' climb to the finish. And when pre-race favorites Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego were dropped on the Tourmalet, the spearhead by CSC not only reeled in the early breakaways, but put an insurmountable 3 minute gap on the Spaniard and Italian virtually eliminating from overall contention.

Team CSC had three contenders, Carlos Sastre, Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck, in the lead group and when the ascent of Huatacam was underway, they all took their chance with Frank's surge providing the winning move. Two Scott-Saunier Duval riders Leonardo Piepoli and Jose Cobo Acebo came along to duke it out for the stage win, but it was Schleck who stood to gain the most with the yellow jersey in the balance.

The chasers included Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Carlos Sastre, Riccardo Rico and Christian Vandevelde, a formidable group from which the Tour podium in Paris will undoubtedly be filled. Evans, who as the heavy pre-race favorite, had the most to lose did not respond. He can put minutes into Schleck in the final 50km time trial so there was no urgent reason to chase. In the end, that group stayed together and while Schleck finished about 1:49' ahead of Evans, he missed the yellow by a scant second.

Not to be a homer, but I was most inpressed with the ride of Gamin-Cbipotle rider Christian Vandevelde. He held onto his third place overall with a gutty ride that at times had him on the ropes only to see him claw back the Evans group. Before the start of the stage, his team director, Jonathan Vaughters, remarked,"this is the crux day of the Tour for Christian. He always rides stronger in the third week of a grand tour and you know he will do well in the final time trial."

Team Garmin-Chipotle power guru, Dr. Allen Lim was asked, after Christian came up short in the big mountains of the Giro, how would he fair in the big mountains of the Tour. "We used the Giro only for training. It was hard enough that just riding it for training was very hard."

What a great day for the Tour and all the contenders. Frank Schleck has finally begun to fulfill the potential he demonstrated when he won the l'Alpe d'Huez stage in 2006. Cadel Evans dons his first ever yellow jersey, and Christian Vandevelde emerges from his role as domestique to prove that he is a true team leader who can deliver in the time trials and also the mountains.

Bruce

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Race Notes

I talked with yellow jersey wearer and Team Columbia rider Kim Kirchen before the start. I asked him what was the difference between his climbing in the Tour of Switzerland when he struggled in the high mountains and his performance in the Tour, where he finished with the lead group on Stage 9 over the Peyersourde and Aspin and retained the jersey. "I had a bit if trouble on the climbs yesterday but, today(Stage 10) are the real big climbs. We will see how I do today," he replied candidly.

For those of you into power and performance numbers, I chatted with Dr. Allen Lim about the fantastic climbing performance by Riccardo Ricco on Stage 9. Dr. Lim noted that Ricco was climbing at around 6.5 watts/kg, very close to Lance Armstrong's legendary 6.7 watts/kg, while the rest of the leaders were at abot 6.0 watts/kg. That's almost a 10% difference. Ricco's Vertical Ascent in Meters per Hour(VAM) was about 1790M(5950') while the leaders chasing him were at 1650M(5500'). Wow!

In the post-stage press conference, Cadel was asked how his horrific crash on yesterday's stage affected his performance today. He basically said that he has some bruising and swelling, but the team doctor has worked with him for years and got him ready to ride after which his team did an good job of delivering him to the final climb.

Cadel acknowledged that he doesn't have the strongest team in the race and when it comes to deciding how to defend the yellow jersey, the team would have to do some strategizing on the first rest day to figure out what to do.

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Rider Nicknames

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 13, 2008

We all know who the Texas Tornado is and his chief rival Der Kaiser. How about 'the Cannibal' or 'Pou-Pou'? It is a pretty common practice in the sporting world to give our favorite athletes nicknames. Some, like the aforementioned Cannibal, describe the way they ride a bike while others like 'Chechu' Rubiera are named for for their mother's favorite character in a Spanish radio soap opera.

Sometimes it is easy to figure out where the nickname came from. Eddy Merckx is pretty much considered the best professional rider to ever throw a leg over a bike. He won an amazing one-third of the races he entered and would simply destroy his competition when he saw fit. He was given that name by a journalist in the early 70's and it stuck. The cannibal is a totally appropriate name to describe Merckx's riding style.

There have been some other pretty good nicknames in the past. Bernard Hinault was the badger for his fierce competitive nature. The diminutive, two-time World Champion Paolo Bettini is known as the cricket. Rouler exceptionale Fabian Cancellara was given the moniker 'Spartacus' by a teammate from his days on the Italian Fassa Bortolo team. The winner of the 2006 Paris-Roubaix, which closely resembles a chariot race, could easily be mistaken for a Roman gladiator.

Scott-Saunier Duval rider Riccardo Ricco is known as the Cobra, a name given to him by a friend. It is not known what prompted that name, but his consistently aggressive riding style in the past two Giro d'Italias certainly seem to indicate that it's a pretty good call. And if you saw him launch his searing attack today on the Col du Aspin there is no doubt that he name is well-deserved. Ricco launched with such absolute fury that the lead group simply had no response.

Do you have any favorite rider nicknames to share or have you made up a nickname or two you would like to propose for a rider?

Bruce

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Race Notes

It was great to see Christian Vandevelde finish in the lead group which moved him up to 3rd overall. He looked relaxed and content as he crossed the finish line. Here's hoping that Christian continues to show his climbing form tomorrow on the Col du Tourmalet and Huatacam. He is clearly capable of being there.

Will Frischkorn stopped by after the finish and remarked that he was loving the grupetto days such as this when he could just ride tempo and not worry about going up the road. He called his move on Stage 3 'the suicide breakaway which never succeeds' and was pleased that all four riders in the group wanted to work hard enough to take it to the finish.

The big guns will be firing on the Col du Tourmalet and Huatacam tomorrow. Both these climbs have the capability to rip the race apart. Look for the majority of the action to come on the 8-mile 3700' climb of Huatacam to the finish.

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Rain, Rain Go Away

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 12, 2008

Rain was the main course as the Tour snaked south towards its rendezvous in the Pyrenees tomorrow. Unlike sports like baseball, rain very rarely cancels a bike race, let alone a stage of the world's greatest race. These guys are all about suffering and a day in the rain only adds to the evidence that professional riders are the hard men of the road. That doesn't mean they have to like it, but they totally accept the fact that they are going to get wet (and cold!).

Riding safely in the rain does require some additional attention and skills and while there does appear to be more crashes on a wet day, without the abilities of the top pros, it could easily be total carnage. There are some basic rules they like to obey. First off, they avoid rolling over any painted surfaces, the bigger the painted surface the more they avoid it. The reason is simple, paint does not absorb water and hence a film of water will build up. Since the contact patch of a road tire is about the size of a postage stamp, hydroplaning is a real concern.

It is bad enough that there are lots of traffic regulating paint on the road, but when the rabid Tour fans go completely nuts and paint a huge section of roadway with their country's flag, this creates a mini-skating rink that is exceptionally dangerous. In 2002, American Freddie Rodriguez crashed out on just such a flag on the second day of the Tour. So, avoid paint at all costs.

Metal grates and manhole covers are another land mine. These things become so slick when wet that one minute you are up, the next you are eating asphalt. Unfortunately, metal surfaces seem to abound in the towns along the Tour route. Not a great welcome for the peloton.

As we have all seen in the classic of classics Paris-Roubaix, stone surfaces are also very slick and dangerous. For some reason, every town in France seems to want to reclaim their roots and have at least one section of stones right in the middle of town to remind us all of times past. Luckily, most of these sections are usually found on straight portions of the road and not in turns.

So, when it gets wet, take a tip from the pros at the Tour. Stay away from painted surfaces, metal covers and grates and brick and stones. Asphalt baby!

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Race Notes

It was a text book win for Mark Cavendish today. His team did an incredible job all day long riding at the front for Kim Kirchen in yellow and then swtiched to leadout mode for the win. In fact, with Ciolek (2nd) and Kirchen (4th) there were three Team Columbia riders in the top four. In his post race interview, Cavendish re-iterated that he is feeling strong and has no plans to drop out in the mountains. He thinks his next chance for a stage win many come on stage 12, but also acknowledged that the traditional breakaway during such a transitional stage between the Pyrenees and the Alps may foil his chances.

Yesterday, news of the first doping positive of the Tour was announced. Liquigas rider, Manuel Beltran, tested positive for EPO. Beltran was one of ten riders who had abnormal blood values during the Tour's medical checks the week before the start and because of this was targeted for additional testing during the race.

The identities of the other nine riders have not been released nor have they, as yet, tested positive for any banned substances.

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Team Columbia Shines

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 11, 2008

For the first time in Tour history there are two American teams participating and both are showing well. While Jonathan Vaughters' Garmin-Chipotle squad has been sending riders up the road and getting a lot of TV time, Team Columbia has quietly been leaving it's mark, though as the days progress, that mark seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Bob Stapleton's squad now holds the yellow (Kim Kirchen), green (Kirchen) and white (Thomas Lokvist) jerseys as well as a stage win by Mark Cavendish which all adds up to an exceptional showing in the first week of the Tour. And what makes the results even more impressive is that Team Columbia is doing it with a bunch of young riders. Cavendish, Lokvist, Gerard Ciolek Marcus Burghardt and Kanstantin Siutsov are all 25 years old or younger and are in either their first or second year at the Tour. Adam Hansen and Bernard Eisel are just 27 and it is the first Tour for Hansen.

This might seem like a coincidence, but it's not. You may remember that Team Columbia started the year as Team High Road Sports which before that was the old T-Mobile/Team Telekom squad. T-Mobile was rocked by doping allegations during the 2006 Tour which left Jan Ullrich out of the race and at the end of the season, the sponsors put Stapleton in charge, hoping that fresh blood at the top could turn things around. Unfortunately, the problems with the team were much deeper than just upper management and 2007 was another year of doping scandals for team.

At the team's training camp this past January, I talked with Bob about the 2007 season. He felt like he had let everyone down, having been brought in to make a difference only to see the same things happen. To be honest, it wasn't his fault.He inherited riders and team management which were still operating under the previous mindset. So, for 2008, Bob cleaned house with major personnel changes both on and off the bike. It was a total overhaul as only two riders from the team prior to 2006 were re-signed.

Also, Stapleton engaged the Agence for Ethics in Cycling(ACE) to do periodic drug testing and monitoring of biological parameters. This is the same outfit which is working with the other American team Garmin-Chipotle. So, now it is Bob's team and the buck stops with the soft-spoken resident of San Luis Obispo in

California.

The team had been enjoying a hugely successful season with Kirchen's win at Fleche Wallone, Siutsov's victory at Tour de Georgia and three stage wins in the Giro d'Italia just to name a few of the teams 70+ wins. To be sure, some of those victories have come from the women's team which has also been having a stellar season. All in all, it really does appear that Stapleton has turned things around and with the recent signing of Columbia Sportswear as the title sponsor, these guys are truly on a roll.

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Race Notes

-After a week of watching every French rider in the peloton go up the road (having not won their home race in 23 years must be creating some sort of inferiority complex), it was refreshing to see three Spaniards and an Italian in the the critical move today. As we get closer to the Pyrenees, expect the Spaniards to be even more animated.

-Spartacus(Fabian Cancellara) is having some fun with the race officials. He is wearing unlucky race number 13 which he wears upside down on his left side.

-It was great to see George Hincapie at the front today working for team leader Kim Kirchen. It brings back memories when Hincapie would sit on the front all day for Lance Armstrong. If there was ever a better domestique, well, I can't think of one at the moment.

-Was anybody surprised to see Jens Voigt in the breakaway today going for a stage win? Like Mark Cavendish, that guy is excitement on wheels. He tried and tried in the Giro earlier this year before winning just a few dyas before the finish. I am hoping that he gets another stage win in France. If it happens it certainly won't be for lack of trying.

-Alejandro Valverde looks like an advertisement for the the Mummy Returns. His entire right calf and right arm are wrapped in bandages from a crash on stage 5.The fact that he finished second to Ricardo Ricco on the next days mountain stage is incredible since he was only able to sleep for two hours because of the injury. These guys truly are the hard men of the road.

-the Garmin-Chipotle team continued it's aggressive ways with David Millar jumping into the same breakway as Jens Voigt. With Millar only a minute back from the yellow jersey he probably wasn't warmly welcomed into the move by his breakaway companions, but it was yet another indication that the team weren't just in France to eat some crepes and work on their tans.

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Christian Vandevelde

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 10, 2008

With 3 miles to go in the first mountain stage of the Tour, once again, it was a Garmin-Chipotle rider providing the fireworks. Christian Vandevelde rocketed out of the lead group and only Saunier Duval's Leonardo Piepoli could follow. With one mile remaining it looked like these two had made the winning move and with Piepoli's sprint being almost non-existent, it appeared that Vandevelde was on his way to notching his first stage victory at the Tour and the first for Garmin-Chipotle.

Unfortunately, there was still just enough fight in the chasing group and everything came back together just under the red kite signifying one kilometer to go. It seems a bit trite to say 'nothing ventured, nothing won' but that's exactly what happens everyday at the Tour. But, with Vandevelde moving up to fourth overall there is a silver lining to the cloud for the leader of the Garmin-Chipotle squad.

It might seem like decades ago, but Christian rode his first Tour in 1999 in support of Lance Armstrong's first yellow jersey. A pursuiter on the track by training, Christian's move to the road was the natural progression for a rider wanting to turn pro. He once told me that even though he rode the pursuit on the track, he logged 15,000 miles per year on the road in training.

Vandevelde comes from pretty good stock. His father was also a bike racer who is probably most famous as one of the Italians on Team Cinzano in the movie 'Breaking Away'. His sister Marissa was also a national caliber rider on the track.

Once he proved himself helping Lance on US Postal in 1999, he was picked to ride the Tour the following year. Unfortunately he crashed in the team time trial and did not see Paris. All set for 2001, a spider bite at the last minute left him off of Lance's Tour team. In 2002, everything looked like it was on track for yet another reutrn to the Tour, but when Christian went home to rest after riding the classics, he was replaced by one of the new Spaniards on the team.

Don't get mad, get even which is exactly what Vandevelde did when he was picked by US Postal to ride in support of Roberto Heras at the Vuelta a Espana at the end of the year. He rode superbly in the mountains and paced Heras up all the big hills. But, 2003 was another disappointing year with fewer chances to show his talent so when Heras left for Liberty Seguros in 2004, he brought Christian with him.

Vandevelde spent his last several years at CSC, rebuilding his career under the direction of Bjarne Riis. He won the Tour of Luxembourg and almost pulled off a Tour stage win into Gap in 2006. When Slipstream Sports signed him for 2008, it looked to be a great marriage of a talented American on a US team. With his time trialing and climbing skills, he was targeted as team leader for stage races, something that seemed like a natural progression as he matured as a rider.

Christian delivered the goods, notching the first win for the team in Europe with a victory in the time trial stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe. When the team bested everyone at the Giro d'Italia's first stage team time trial it seemed only fitting that Vandevelde should be first across the line and claim the maglia rosa, the pink leader's jersey. Just as in the Tour, he attacked in the mountains, but fell short. He redeemed himself with a fine top-5 finish in the final time trial into Milan.

Wearing number 191 at the Tour signifies that he is the team leader something that he appears to be taking very seriously. His top-10 performance in the first time trial is exactly where a team leader needs to be and rather than follow wheels, his attack today to Super Besse showed that he is here in France to put the Garmin-Chipotle jersey at the front of the race. Vandevelde has shown in the past that he can climb well in the big mountains, but he will need to be more consistent to contend for the Tour podium. Regardless of the result come Paris, we saw Christian's character today. Bravo!

Bruce

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Who is Your Favorite Rider?

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 9, 2008

Who is your favorite rider in the pro peloton? I have not been bashful about naming Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish as one of my faves. I love to climb and find the climbing stages of the Tour to be super exciting. The attacks Contador launched against Rasmussen at last year's Tour were exceptionally gripping. It was mano y mano, no holds barred riding. But, there is just something about Cavendish that transcends the mountains and puts a flatlander on my list.

I guess it was at the 2008 Tour of California when Mark came back from a horrendous crash on the stage into Santa Clarita to win the stage. And, yes, he is still the winner in my book. If you have been watching the Tour, there have been numerous instances of pacing back with a car; George Hincapie got paced back in the final 10km of the stage today. For some reason, the officials in the US have ignored the spirit of the rule and continue to penalize riders for behavoir that is accepted and commonplace in the European pro peloton.

Regardless of whether you think Cavendish won that stage, the performance he gave in those closing kilometers was nothing short of spectacular and it opened my eyes to a huge talent. To be a top-notch field sprinter you have to be lightening fast, but you also have to be a bit crazy as well. If you have 42cm handlebars you are always looking for 43cm openings to squeeze through and when you are going 40+mph everything looks like you are in hyperspace. Clearly, effective field sprinting is part physical, part mental and Cavendish has them both.

Then you have today's finish when the Frenchies were finally foiled and Cavendish brought home the bacon! In a post race interview with Gerard Porte on French TV, Mark thanked his team for all the hard work and called it a team victory. OK so maybe that is the standard line, but how about in Giro when he looked back and when he realized there was no one behind them, he gave the stage win to his leadout man, Andre Greipel. That's class!

Cavendish was also asked if he would be leaving the Tour early to prepare for the Olympics where he is the odds on favorite to take home the gold in the Madison race on the track. Mark replied that it wouldn't be fair to his team or the race organizers if he left early and his goal is to make it to Paris. To be fair he did mention that the mountains looked pretty daunting, but the climbs in the Giro were much harder and he survived them. Should we start rehearsing God Save the Queen for the Champs Elysees?

OK. So I have been spouting off about one of my favorite riders in the pro peloton, I am certain you all out there have a favorite or two as well. Let's here who you all like and why.

Bruce

ps - somebody should tell Nicholas Vogondy that you are way more aero in the drops than on top of the hoods. Maybe he was totally cooked but when you are trying to win a stage, you gotta do just about everything right and trying to power to the finish sitting up with your hands on the hoods is not optimal.

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Surprises Continue at the Tour

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 8, 2008

Today was the first big test of the 2008 Tour de France, an 18-mile (29.5 km) time trial in Cholet, and there were a few surprises both in the stage winner and the holder of the yellow jersey. Well, the same guy won both with an inspired ride which left heavy favorite Fabian Cancellara in fifth place. It all goes to show the up and down nature of cycling. Last year 'Spartacus' as he is known to his teammates, was winning against the clock and in the front of the whole peloton.

But, this is not about those who didn't deliver, this is about those who did. And, Gerlosteiner's Stefan Schumacher did just that making the post-race trip to the podium for both the stage win and to get the maillot jaune. My guess is his failed bid to win stage one is all but forgotten and it was a bittersweet victory for his team who is losing their title sponser at year's end. Maybe that is a valid reason for sipping champagne tonight at dinner instead of the sponsor's bottled water.

Schumacher wears his teams lowest number which means that he is the designated team leader, but few believe that even though he has won hilly classics like the Amstel Gold Race, he will not be up with leaders in the big mountains. Hey, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the yellow jersey while he has it. In fact, not having to worry about defending it in the mountains probably takes a lot of pressure off both Stefan and his team.

The next big test is the stage to Super Besse on Thursday. There are two moderately big climbs one right after the other for the first authentic mountain-top finish of this year's Tour. Schumacher might just be able to climb well enough to hold onto the jersey, though if he does succeed, the Pyrenees loom two days later. What's a rider to do?

In the chase for the overall title, Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov were right there, but all their challengers, Cunego, Valverde, Sastre, were closely grouped about a minute back. That's bad news for those three, but it's good news for us as there will clearly be some fireworks when we reach the mountains.

How about those Garmin-Chipotle boys? Millar and Vandevelde rode exceptionally well to put both of them top ten on the stage and top ten overall. In fact, Millar was a hair's breadth of taking the stage, a second top-three finish for the team in two days.

The other American squad, Team Columbia, put three of its boys in top ten as well with Kim Kirchen, George Hincapie and Thomas Loqvist. The Swede also claimed the white jersey as best young rider while Kirchen wears the green sprinter's jersey. Not a bad day for America if you are keeping score.

I am still rooting for Mark Cavendish to win a stage. Tomorrow is an excellent opportunity before then next sorting out on Thursday. Now that France has both a stage win and held the yellow jersey, maybe they will settle down and quick flying up the road at every opportunity. Not!

Bruce

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Will's Wild Ride

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 7, 2008

The 2008 Tour continues to provide an E-ticket ride through France and today's stage was just another day of thrills and spills on the way to Paris. The thrills were provided by Garmin-Chipotle rider Will Frischkorn and his three breakaway companions who beat the odds and held off the peloton to win. They were undoubtedly aided by a horrific crash with about 20km remaining which split the peloton into three groups and put a huge dent into the overall hopes of several riders.

On the positive side of today's stage, what can you say about the ride of Will Frischkorn? His is his first ever ride in the Tour and many questioned the selection of the 27-year old for the team. If you remember this spring's Milan-San Remo, Will is no stranger to long breakaways in the biggest races in cycling, but to attack initiate an attack and go off the front on day three in your first ever Tour takes some pretty big stones. And the Tour officials agreed, awarding the Boulderite the 'most combatitve' rider award for the stage.

It has been a long road for Will to the Tour. I remember him in 2001 as a 19-year old pro on the short-lived Mercury-Viatel team and then his transfer onto the TIAA-Cref development squad a few years later. Will was still in his early 20's, but he had been a pro for so long, that he was considered one of the team's veterans. In 2005 he almost made the big jump to Europe when he was offered a contract on Team CSC. But, as frequently happens in the pro ranks, his place on the team was given to another rider and Will remained stateside.

Honing his skills, he took a more senior position on the TIAA-Cref team which made a few forays to France in 2005, 2006 and 2007 to contest some races such as Criterium International. The learning curve was incredibly steep, and there were many days when just finishing and not giving up was the most optimal outcome.

On the negative side of today's stage, there were more crashes, the most serious and important occurred just when the peloton was in full flight trying to bring back Will's breakaway. Ricardo Ricco and Denis Menchov both missed the split and lost a bit over a minute to the likes of Valverde and Evans. As we all know, crashes are a part of bike racing, but it still makes it hard to swallow when mishaps shape the outcome. Hopefully, Menchov and Ricco can rebound and maybe this will make the mountain stages a bit more exciting as the two try to take backtime.

But, the day belongs to Will Frischkorn and even though one of his breakaway companions won the stage and another one got the yellow jersey, Will's ride might just be the breakthrough his career needs to ratchet it up into high gear. I hope I don't sound too much like a homer but, for me he was the real winner today.

What do you think about Will's ride?

Bruce

ps - today France not only got the stage win, but also the yellow jersey. The Frenchies have been all over the front for the past three days trying to restore some French pride to their home race. Unfortunately, it will have to be stages and short stints in yellow as they have absolutely no hope for the overall win.

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Today There are Two Tours de France

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 6, 2008

There are two Tours de France today. While the pros are racing in Brittany, the joes are down in the Pyrenees. Yes, Sunday is the Etape du Tour a day where any rider has the opportunity to ride a stage of the Tour. This year's Etape stage is the day from Pau to Huatacam which included the infamous Col du Tourmalet.

8500 of your closest friends and you will be departing from the town where Bernaise sauce was invented at 7am and heading west for the Pyrenees. The top finisher, usually a top tier French amateur rider, is expected to complete the 106-mile stage in about 5hours and 30 minutes. The pros have an expected completion time of about 4 and 30 minutes.

However, everyone seems to realize the difference between the two events. The French amateur who was first across the line in 2005 remarked that he was very pleased to have won, but he was also expecting that the pros would better his time by at least an hour. They did.

But, like many sporting events. It is not the winning, but the taking part which defines the Etape du Tour. Riders of all shapes, sizes and age participate and except for the top places, it is almost impossible to predict how a cyclist will fare based just by looking at them. That observation applies most appropriately to the seeming hundred of older Frenchmen who come to the start line dressed in jerseys that come almost to their knees, bike shorts which are supposed to be form fitting lycra, but instead, look like baggy athletic shorts and bikes that were manufactured before there was even a Tour de France.

These guys could easily be called "urchins of the road" except for the fact that they pass just about everybody on the climbs and fly by you so fast on the downhills you think you just saw a ghost.

Though most riders seem to be struggling as they ride, it is a mountain stage of the Tour!, the pain, torture and agony(PTA) is soon forgotten and plans for riding next year's event are quickly hatched. Alejandro Valverde may be the king for a day up in Brittany, but he has 8500 kings and queens down in the Pyrenees who feel just as great about their Tour de France as well.

Bruce

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And They're Off!

Posted by Bruce Hildenbrand Jul 5, 2008

The headline in today's l'Equipe translates to "The Thunder of the Tour" which is a great way to describe all that accompanies the entourage that is the Tour de France. And we are finally underway in Brittany with a very hilly day from Brest to Plumelec. To steal a phrase from Phil Liggett, the course profile looks like a discarded piece of string. When the riders aren't going up, they are going down and they will do that for about 120 miles.

While the focus today is on the sprinters, the race for the yellow jersey is still the main focus. In my Tour preview I opined that Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego are the favorites. Some like Andy Schleck, but this is his first Tour and at the ripe young age of 23 it might just be a learning year for the Luxembourger on Team CSC-Saxo Bank. There is the possibility that he will contend for the white, best young rider, jersey against the likes of Rabobanks' Robert Gesink who is a year younger than Andy at 22.

Another possibility is that neither Schleck or Gesink will finish the race. Some consider 22 and 23 years old to be too young both physically and mentally to race the Tour. Lance Armstrong first rode the Tour as a 22/23 year-old and was pulled, as planned, after the two mountain stages in the Alps about ten days into the race. The primary reason for pulling a rider isn't about the physical demands. It has more to do with the mental aspect and the strain it puts on a rider's confidence.

A potential Tour winner has to believe that he can someday win the race and to be overwhelmed at a young age could do damage to his psyche. So, young riders, especially those who are tipped to do well in the future are routinely pulled either after the first set of mountains or about ten days in.

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Race notes....

The finish today in Plumelec was incredible and hopefully it bodes well for an exciting race. Stefan Schumacher's attack looked to be the winning move, but he picked up a couple of concrete suitcases and Kim Kirchen appeared to have taken everybody by surprise. But, in the end, nobody could match Alejandro Valverde. What is very cool is seeing potential overall contenders Cadel Evans, Kim Kirchen, Frank Schleck and Ricardo Ricco also in the Top 10 for the stage. They all outfoxed the sprinters and stole the show on day one. A great start for the Tour.

Bruce

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