Vino’s excellent comeback win, though presented more as a Rant than the traditional Fun Stuff. It’s a bit late, and frankly, a bit angry—especially now that most people’s Vino’ angst has left the news cycle. But I think this needed to be said. Plenty of good questions a have been raised in response to the Vino’ news stories; this is where I think the answer lies.

[right-click for iTunes-compatible download, tap for iPad/iPhone]

(Contains many photos, most of which are public domain or licensed for free use, and footage from Eurosport and NOS Sport.)

I’m not a petty man. I disagree with Bernard Hinault on a number of issues, but I’ve still got a tremendous amount of respect for the former rider, who, to quote another blogger, has been “taking people to the pain cave since 1977“.

So it’s nice to finally find some common ground with the Breton—even if it is fleeting and a bit less emphatic. Hinault has said (among other sweeping, uncompromising statements) that Contador can hand over five minutes to his rivals before the Alps and still win the Tour.

Well, I didn’t see it happen live, but I hear that the finish of Wednesday’s Fleche-Wallonne (or “Walloon Arrow”, if one is to take Universal Sports or the AP seriously about this sort of thing) was pretty exciting.

Tactical considerations aside, I think it’s nice to see a reigning Tour champ active and attempting to win races in mid-April. And to see him battle against two potential Grand Tour rivals only sweetens the mix. Certainly beats listening to some old crank stay home and whine about the weather

I’ve got to admit, after almost a decade, this business of Amstel Gold finishing on the Cauberg is starting to grow on me. A relaxed early tempo gives way to all sorts of fun attacks and just a bit of tactical resilience in the closing kilometers. And while I have a horrible feeling that we may have just traded one one-day tyrant for another, it was exciting to see someone other than Fabian Cancellara take a win.

[right-click for iTunes-compatible download]

(Contains many photos most of which are licensed for free use, and footage from NOS Sport.)

UPDATE: Also available: Jens! coffee mug and Jens! beer stein.

I was looking at the Amstel Gold start list this morning and noticed that dossard #178 would be worn be a certain indefatigable German on the SaxoBank roster. It reminded me of a few reader requests that came in shortly after I added the “Stop Lance” shirt to the Cyclocosm shop.

However, the idea presented a few design problems. The whole “Stop Pre” thing doesn’t really work on Jens. Sure, he’s got a bit of the cockiness and knee-jerk reactivity that made Pre such a polarizing figure, but under normal circumstances Jens just seems way too goofy and enthusiastic to evoke an antagonistic response

And so end the cobbled classics for another year. Some commentators may have jumped the gun a little bit—especially with a Belgian sweep at Brabantse Pijl yesterday—but the sentiment remains valid: this was a pretty crummy year for the traditional powers

Even viewing things along team lines, the season was unusual. Continental squads Topsport Vlaanderen and Vacansoleil seemed as prominent as anyone else, and who would have guessed back in February that Quick.Step’s biggest win this spring would come from an Italian in Spain?

I never want to call Roubaix boring, but this year’s Hell of the North felt uncomfortably similar to a non-2003 Armstrong TdF win. That said, there’s plenty of action to run through, including but not limited to another fantastic Cancellara bike change, two dog incursions, a poorly-timed feed, and more arm flailing than one of those air-powered tube displays.

[right-click for iTunes-compatible download]

(Contains many photos to which I do not own the rights, and footage from Sport+.)

“The are no races,” Jacques Anquetil once quipped, “only lotteries.” And nowhere is that more true than this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Broken steerer tubes, rogue freight trains, cartwheeling Norwegians—in an increasingly calculated sport, it’s a welcome change to see chance play such a prominent role.

So with that in mind, I’ve created Paris-RouBingo, the bingo-style home game for Paris-Roubaix:

                  
(big size – buy poster – create/share your own)

The rules are simple: watch the race, and mark off the incidents/sightings as they occur; first person to get five-in-a-row is the winner. Of course, if everyone used the same board the competition would be pretty boring, so here’s a blank copy in an 8.5″x11″ size you can edit and print out.

Yes! My oh-fer 2010 continues ! After saying that Boonen was on another level this season on the climbs, and would ride clear on the tougher Ronde parcours, it’s Fabian Cancellara who rises to the challenge over the steepest pitch of the Muur and solos away to victory.

Much was made of a telling screenshot, revealing the Swiss champ seated and comfortable while Belgium’s finest stood thrashing in his wake. Some people who’ve actually ridden the section claim it may be easier to sit, but a brief photo hunt doesn’t entirely agree; regardless, Cance’s gap (I can’t really say that he attacked, per se) was immediate, enormous, and continued to extend for kilometers after.

It’s not that I consider myself above the phenomenon best described as “Internet Jackass Day“—I used to participate, back when I wasn’t very good at Photoshop, apparently—but I am up against the friggin’ wall in terms of free time.

I’m going to ignore the impact a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off approach is having on my fitness and focus instead on the fact that for many year-round cycling fans, this is the most important week (or kinda two weeks, now) of the season.