Ah, La Fleche-Wallone, quite possibly my least favorite one-day race. Since 2004, it’s been decided by a moronic group sprint from the bottom of the at-least-entertainingly-steep Mur de Huy. The winner this year, as then, was Davide Rebellin. Score another major ’07 win for Gerolsteiner (and German teams in general), and another victory for predictable,…
News Archive
I really shouldn’t need to spell this one out for you
My Selection Process, Saunier, Amstel Previews
You’ve probably wondered how I decide which races I’m gonna talk about here on Cyclocosm. Well, there’s a method to my madness; I call it the “HR Department Solution”. Obviously, at this point in the season, there are more races than I have time to cover, so when some race I’ve never heard of before,…
End of the '07 Cobbles; LeFevere, Boonen
What a fantastic week to be a native Anglophone! First O’Grady takes Roubaix, then Mark Cavendish clips a whole bunch of big names to take the Scheldeprijs. I am officially putting Chris Horner on the top of my Amstel favorites list. Of course, T-Mobile hasn’t been doing poorly, either. Cavendish’s win marks their second in…
Ugh, Misery
Do not worry, gentle reader! I have not forgotten you. But it’s been a long and brutal series of days. Stuck in New York, wandering around lost (relatively speaking) in Brooklyn at 4am. April Nor’easters. Oh, and my bike frame is broken, meaning I have a “G” of parts (not counting the parts I already…
Sarthe, Vasco, Roubaix Build-Up
Honestly, the only reason I even know the Circuit de Sarthe exists is because of that DVD, The Road To Paris. The 2001 Postal Squad is grumpy ’cause the haven’t won any races, and so, to remind everyone that the real goal is the TdF, Johann gives them a little pep talk. Johann Bruyneel: Anyone…
Cobbles Only, Weveglem, What Do You Mean It's Legal?
I’m sorry, folks, but the Tour of Pais Vasco really isn’t cutting it for me. Some dude named “Cobo”? When are all these big guns gonna throw down? Valverde? Sammy Sanchez? Where you at? Ok, yeah, you could say that Tricki Beltran is a pretty big name – a big name domestique. I see these…
'07 Flanders Post-Mortem
So I managed to miss both Wells Ave and the first 250-some-odd kilometers of the Tour of Flanders this weekend. The culprit of my absence? Belgian flu. The Belgian-style white strain, to be precise. No matter – it was a good final 6k, right? Well, not so much if you’re name’s Leif Hoste, but I…
My Flanders Preview
Only hours left but it came to me in a cocaine-and-Cadbury-egg induced haze. The race will go off on muddy cobbles but under clear skies with Paoli Bettini in the early break. He’ll get clear and stay away until the Muur when the ghost of Gino Bartali will emerge from the nearby church and force…
Too Much Flanders, DePanne Wrap, DNA
Why did I skip yesterday? Some might say it was to avoid getting fired at my real job. But other claim that’s not really a concern of mine, and insist instead that I was merely demonstrating that one doesn’t need 18 Tour of Flanders previews a day to have a truly excellent web page. Don’t…
The Passion of the Ullrich, Old Racers, Flanders Fever
Can you believe the German press? Ripping into Ullrich like a moldy piñata? Please. If they should be punching anyone in the nuts, it’s themselves. “Ohh, vee never thought Ullrich was cheating!” “Jah, he only won zee Tour de France a year before zee biggest drug bust in zee history of zee sport!” “He is…