Lance, Levi and Alberto all in the same place at the same time! No, it's not the Tour de France in February, its the Team Astana training camp. I traveled up to Santa Rosa, CA this past Wednesday for the media day and had quite a bit of fun re-uniting with the riders, mechanics and support staff as another year of professional cycling begins for, arguably, the best team in sport.

The camp is being held in Levi's backyard. I asked him if he was using his local knowledge to school his teammates on the training rides.  He replied, "no, not really though my teammates think I am." However, after the days' 100+ mile ride through the incredible Sonoma countryside and along Highway 1 he did admit that he rode up the final climb, Coleman Valley Road, faster than he ever has before and only Alberto Contador was able to match his effort.

Lance was looking fit and relaxed and was clearly enjoying the area where he used to train when he rode for Team Motorola back in the mid 1990's. Armstrong has indicated that his first big race will be the Giro, but his fitness is ahead of schedule and it appears that he may be gunning for two spring classics, Amstel Gold race and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He has finished second in both races.

Levi lit it up on the final climb, Spring Mountain Road, the day before and only Alberto Contador responded as well. The Spaniard seemed pleased with his efforts, but acknowledged that he is a bit jet-lagged after just flying in from Spain.

Newcomer and climbing phenomenon Jesus Hernandez was grateful to have a team to ride on for 2009 after his team folded up shop in 2008. Hernandez has made the news recently after dropping his teammates on the big climbs on the Canary Island of Tenerife at the December training camp and on Old Willunga Hill during the team's preparation for the recently-concluded Tour Down Under in Australia.

Bruce

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit with Lance 3.0. Who is Lance 3.0 you might ask?  Lance 1.0 is Lance Armstrong's early years most notably when he was a professional for the Motorola Cycling team.  Lance 1.0 was a pretty good version. He won a World Road Championship, a $1,000,000 three-race trifecta including a US Professional road championship, two stages of the Tour de France, the Belgian Classic Fleche Wallone and totally dominated a couple of Tour DuPonts. Lance 1.0 could ride a bike both here and in Europe.

Lance 2.0 is the post-cancer Lance. All he did the second time around was to win seven consecutive Tours de France.  Lance 2.0 was probably an improvement over Lance 1.0, especially if you had a big screen TV and a lot of free time during the month of July.

Lance 3.0 is the current Lance Armstrong. The comeback Lance. Lance 3.0 seems a lot more relaxed and outwardly having fun. It's like this time around he is playing with the house's money.  Lance 2.0 proved he could ride a bike. Lance 3.0 is proving that he can have fun riding a bike as well. That's not to say that Lance 1.0 and 2.0 wasn't having fun riding his bike, its just that Lance 3.0 seems to be having more fun.

Which brings us to the San Diego Air and Space Technology Low Speed Wind Tunnel and Lance 3.0's testing session there yesterday.  I attended the session as one of a handful of journalists and got to see Big Tex, well, Lance 3.0, in his first time riding against artificial air in almost four years.

One thing that was abundantly clear, Lance 3.0 is pretty darn fit. Keep in mind that this is only November and the serious racing doesn't begin for at least 3.5 months, but Lance 3.0 is on a mission. And his long-time coach Chris Carmichael indicated that his prodigy is as motivated and dedicated as he has ever been.

But, the real question has to be is Lance 3.0 an improvement over Lance 2.0?  I don't think that Lance 3.0 is going to win eight consecutive Tours, but if he is having more fun this time around and has found a new level of enjoyment riding the bike then it's no contest.

Bruce

ps - you can read my report on Lance at the wind tunnel on cyclingnews.com at:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/lance_armstrong_nov08

There are many exciting aspects of the Tour de France. The team presentations is not one of them. In fact, I chose to watch the whole sordid affair on Eurosport. This of course is interesting in itself. In America, we can barely get bike racing on TV. If it isn't one of the biggest races on the cycling calendar, fuggedaboutit. We get some great races and a big thanks to Versus for standing behind cycling when they could be airing the Bassmasters Classic instead.

It just demonstrates how big bike racing is in Europe that they would put, arguably, the equivalent of cycling's answer to submarine racing on primetime live TV. There is no witty banter like Phil, Paul and Bob provide when presenting the teams at the Amgen Tour of California which is a great night and an incredible celebration of professional cycling that lasts well into the evening and is over way to soon.

No, the presentation of the teams today in Brest was pretty much a snoozer, but it is an integral part of the whole prelude to the start of the Tour. Speaking of the festivities, you have to feel for the riders. These guys are about to embark on the biggest race of the year with careers and team sponsorship on the line and while fighting a humongous case of pre-race jitters, they have to spend the last three days before the start getting poked and prodded, attending the team presentation and making themselves available to journalists...... basically just about everything except riding their bikes.

To be sure, they will get 2500+ action-packed miles of racing in the next few weeks, but when your nerves are at the breaking point, just heading out for a few miles is a great way to calm yourself down. I am guessing that parading around in front a some fans and a few journos at the team presentation doesn't have the same effect.

Let's light this candle and get everybody on their bikes racing down the road in France. Anybody else out there also ready for the dog and pony show to end and for the bike racing to begin?

Bruce

ps- what does everybody think of the new Garmin-Chipotle racing strip(that's UK-speak for 'racing kit')? Looks a little toned down from the 'total argyle" look. I am not a fan as of yet, but if the boys spend some time off the front it might just grow on me.

It is almost July and that can mean only one thing.  It's Tour time.  In just over a week, some of the best riders in the world (condolences to Team Astana and Tom Boonen)  will be toeing the line in Brest for the biggest show in cycling. It is both a blessing and a curse that Contador, Leipheimer and Boonen will not be there. With the both the favorites for the yellow and green jerseys not participating the race is wide open and it looks like this could be one of the most up and down editions of the Grand Boucle in years.

Personally, I would have like to seen Alberto, Levi and Tom at the start, they deserve to be there.  Some may decide to show their support by boycotting the race and I respect that, but I will be there France trying to bring you all the behind-the-scenes insights that I provided last year.  Look for my daily blogs and join in the fun by posting your thoughts as well!

One thing that I think is kind of funny in all of this is the position Cadel Evans finds himself. I think he is in a no-win situation.  Remember he bookended teammates Contador and Leipheimer on the podium in the closest 1-2-3 finish ever at the Tour. If Evans does win many will say it is because Contador and also Leipheimer were not there. If Evans fails to win, he will be seen as inconsistent and someone who might just not be able to win the big one. Certainly, there will be champagne in Paris if he is victorious, but it will most likely be served warm.

Having said all that, I expect this to be a very exciting Tour. Much like the Giro this year which also suffered from the lack of a patron of the peloton, the Tour will be wide open, not only in terms of the competition, but also because there is no one to ride herd on the pack.  Looks for lots of daily attacks and early moves by the favorites in the mountains. The yellow jersey could easily change hands between five or six of the major contenders.

So, clean out your TiVo, say goodbye to your loved ones, hang your bike on the rack in the garage, tell your boss that you will be late for work for the next three weeks and get ready for the total body experience which is the Tour de France.  There is only one you know(TIOOYK).

Bruce

Belgian uber-cyclist Tom Boonen recently tested positive for cocaine. The result came from an out-of-competition test and since cocaine is only considered to be performance enhancing during competition the Belgian Cycling Federation(BCF) won't be pursuing any sanctions against the 2008 Paris-Roubaix winner. More than likely this was a case of recreational drug use, but possession and use of cocaine is illegal in Belgium.

While the BCF will not be imposing any ban on Boonen, there is already some fallout in the cycling community. The Tour of Switzerland, which starts on June 14th, has indicated that it might not invite Boonen, who is targeting the event as preparation for the Tour de France. Speaking of the Tour, race officials decided that the winner of the green, sprinters, jersey last year will not be invited to their race, either. Citing a need to protect the integrity of the Tour, race organizers have decided to exclude the Belgian from their event.

In a sport that has been rocked by a seemingly endless string of doping scandals the finding of recreation drug use among the pro cyclists isn't all the shocking. In 2002, two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni also tested positive for cocaine and was tossed out of the Giro. He came back to win the event the following year. Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour de France winner, tested positive for the designer drug ecstasy while sidelined with a knee injury in 2002. He was suspended for six months by the German Cycling Federation.

Probably the most famous recreational drug use case took place in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics when Canadian snowboarder Ross Regabliati was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for marijuana. His gold medal was reinstated.

Should testing positive for recreational drugs be taken as seriously as performance enhancing drugs(PED)? Is this just a case of 'boys will be boys' or is breaking the law just as serious as taking PEDs. What are your thoughts?

Bruce

If you are a rabid pro bike racing fan there is only one time of the year other than July when your mouth starts salivating, your hands start shaking and you can't sit still for more than about 2 seconds. OK. If you are Belgian, the maybe it is three times a year (De Ronde!), but for those of us who don't eat our frites with mayonnaise it is the Tour and Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix to be exact. The H3ll of the North. The Cobbled Classic. The hardest one-day race on a bike on the planet. Pick a moniker and as long as it describes a total melee on the most difficult surface to race a road bike thrown in with potentially bad weather and the odds on chance that you might get run over by a support vehicle and you have the Queen of the Classics.

If you happen to have the right combination of skill, strength, and luck, and somehow emerge from the fields of northern France in one piece and are first across the line in the velodrome in Roubaix, you get a huge cobblestone as a trophy of your win. The thing weighs a ton and probably still has a bit of cow poo on it, but there isn't a single rider in the pro peloton who wouldn't trade their left nut for that stone.

And if owning a piece of French real estate wasn't enough, they even name a shower stall in the Roubaix Velodrome after you. Of course, the race organizers fail to mention that you need a Class 7 biohazard suit to venture into the shower room at Roubaix, however, take my word for it, you get a stall with your name on it.

What makes Paris-Roubaix such a prestigious and tough race is those darn cobbles. As with the stones in De Ronde, these babies were laid down back in the late 1800's and early 1900's and while I am sure they looked flat over 100 years ago, that's definitely not the case now. There are twenty six cobbled sections along the 160-mile route ranging in length from 400 yards to several miles and you would swear that just when your strength is ebbing that those darn stones come alive, raise their little heads and send you and your bike flying sideways just for grins.

Yes, it takes a bit of luck to win Paris-Roubaix, but the cobbles always seem to produce a worthy victor, a rider who will, from that day on, be known as a hardman of the road a title that is well deserved. Who will be the next inductee into the hardman hall of fame come this Sunday. My mouth is watering, my hands are shaking and I can't sit still for more than 2 seconds. Bring it on!

Bruce

ASO announced the twenty teams for the 2008 Tour de France today and not surprisingly, Astana was not on the list. Coincidentally, the Tour of Georgia unveiled their start list for the late-April event and Rock Racing did not receive and invite. While I support the right of race organizers to invite whichever teams they choose, that doesn't mean I have to agree with them about their decisions. In both the aforementioned cases, I think the race organizers have erred in not inviting Astana to the Tour and Rock Racing to Georgia.

The Astana team with 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador and third-place finisher Levi Leipheimer is clearly one of the strongest squads in the pro peloton and on the basis of strength alone deserve a slot. Keeping them out of the Tour means that all the best riders will not be on the starting line. It definitely devalues the 2008 yellow jersey. To be the best, you have to beat the best. Unfortunately, it appears that Astana's problems are probably linked to Johan Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong's seven Tour wins. It seems that ASO still feels that these two somehow pulled of all those victories in a less than honest matter.

Rock Racing was one of the most popular teams at the 2008 Amgen Tour of California. They had huge crowds at their team bus before and after each stage and their riders responded to the attention with Mario Cipollini taking third on Stage 2, Victor Hugo Pena climbing extremely well and Michael Creed aggressively going off the front on several occasions in an attempt to take a stage. However, Michael Ball tangled with race organizers over the exclusion of three riders, something which appeared to the public to be totally arbitrary. Clearly, Michael Ball marches to a different drummer, but judging by the number of fans and the demographic of those fans, his team is generating a lot of buzz about the sport of cycling.

I think to be fair and un-biased if you believe that Astana got a raw deal you also have to feel that Rock Racing was unjustly spurned.  Levi and the boys should be racing in France just as Fast Freddie and his crew should be on the start line in Georgia.  I still support a free market when it comes to races.  Organizers should be able to invite whomever they want though they should have some published criteria so teams have some indication on what they need to do to be considered. I just hope that they can be more fair and just when it comes to team selection.

What do you all think?

Bruce

The feud between the UCI and ASO is reaching a critical level putting the racers and teams in a Catch-22 situation. If the teams do not participate in this weekend's ASO event, Paris-Nice, they feel they are risking not getting invited to the Tour de France. However, if they do participate, the UCI is threatening heavy fines, six months suspension from any UCI-sanctioned event and exclusion from competing at the upcoming Olympics. I would hate to be a rider or team boss right now. This is definitely a no-win situation.

As I have said in previous blogs, I think the UCI are the bad guys here. Frankly, I haven't seen them do anything but give lip service over the past few years. One thing that is clear to me. The UCI is more concerned about self-preservation than it is about promoting cycling. Let's look at their track record.

After the debacle at last year's Tour de France the UCI vowed to step up the fight against doping by conducting 500 out-of-competition tests. They only conducted twenty(20) out-of-competition tests making it pretty evident to me that they are not that concerned about fighting doping in the sport. When Operacion Puerto first came out in 2006, the UCI had the opportunity to nip the scandal in the bud by providing DNA samples of all riders to the Spanish prosecutors. The UCI chose not to cooperate and Operacion Puerto has hung over the sport like a black cloud ever since. Thanks.

The UCI has warned the teams and riders that if they ride Paris-Nice and under the sanction of the French Cycling Federation that their rights as riders will be severely limited and they could be tossed out of a race at anytime for suspected bad behavior.  I find this argument from the UCI very ironic. The UCI has had a history of disregarding riders rights some notable examples are releasing a number of doping positives, including Floyd Landis, to the public before due process had been carried out.

As far as tossing riders from races, the UCI stripped Danilo DiLuca of his 2007 Pro Tour points which cost him the overall Pro Tour title because of a sanction for a situation that occurred in 2004. How is it fair to strip somebody of a title they are winning in 2007 for something which happened in 2004? Also, the UCI sat idly by and let the race organizers of the Amgen Tour of California prohibit three riders from Rock Racing from starting based on supposed open doping investigations for which we have seen no documentation to support. How is that fair?

So, basically, I don't have much faith in the UCI to do anything right.  That doesn't mean that ASO is a knight in shining armor, but compared to the track record laid down by the UCI, I will take ASO over the UCI any day.  Clearly, the UCI has lost the plot and they don't seem to be close to finding it anytime soon. The result of all of this posturing is that professional cycling, which is teetering on the brink after all the recent doping scandals is on even more unstable footing. The UCI needs to go back to promoting the sport and stop trying to fatten their wallets.

Bruce

ps - now for some good news. I had a great ride in the hills above Silicon Valley today. Just a jersey and shorts and I was going fast enough up the climbs to actually feel some wind on my face. Being sick sucks and being really sick really sucks!