(Yes, I am aware Reagan was not sworn in until 20 Jan 1981. I don’t care. Riders born after 1/1/80 are herein described as “Reagan Babies”.) Perhaps there will be no image more representative of the 2006 classics season than that provided by Alejandro Valverde and Paolo Bettini in the closing meters of today’s Liege-Bastogne…
The Cycling.TV Drinking Game
Not sure how many of you will find this useful, but here goes: alcohol has long been used to augment classics of cinema, and I have here attempted to carry that spirit over into the classics of cycling. I know that most of Cycling.TV‘s races air between 7 and 9am EDT, but that’s what they…
Now this is a crash…
I found a decently sized rock on the side of the road on a group ride earlier this week and went flying, but it had photographers been present, it would have been nowhere near as exciting as this. Piecing together exactly what went wrong here is great fun. My guess is that’s Marco Velo (who…
Valverde Adds Belgium To Countries He's Won Races In
Every time Alejandro Valverde wins a race, I think about how Velonews‘ spring preview last year complained that he’d never won a race outside of Spain. Never mind that he’d been 3rd in the ’03 Vuelta, while winning the combine classification, along with two stages, and then finished second (to his teammate) at that year’s…
The Race Organizers' Ten Commandments – Rant
I. Thy race documentation shalt be as concise, clear, and accurate as possible. II. There shalt be separate pre-registered and day-of registration areas. III. Thou shalt not organize thy race check-in by field. IV. Thou shalt not distribute thy race numbers without regard to field. V. Thy registration areas shalt be clearly delineated. VI. There…
Fortune Favors the Bold
I know this hardly seems relevant to Americans, what with Tour de Georgia starting tomorrow and all, but I thought that was a pretty good Amstel they had on Sunday. The bunch stayed together a little longer than I like to see in a classic, probably because some people think they can just wait, sit…
2006 Battenkill-Roubaix – Report
What the-? Mid-April? Already? And only one race report? Yes, dear readers, I am sorry to have been so inactive this spring. But with all the chaos associated with getting a job, I haven’t been training as much as I like. And, of course, then upon landing a job, I trained so much that I…
Tom Boonen: Tornado or Strong Breeze?
Now that Tom Boonen has completed a second incredible spring season, and is off the bike, kicking it at home in Monaco (search “holiday”), I’d like to take a moment to examine his achievements a little more closely. Currently, Tom Boonen is everything you could possibly want a World Road Race champion to be: an…
Rivalry? What Rivalry?
Did you know that Quick.Step and Davitamon-Lotto have a rivalry? No, for real, it’s true (search “rivalry”). Of course, after this spring classics season, I wouldn’t blame you for being unaware. Let’s count up Davitamon’s classics wins between Nokere Koerse (I know you’ve never heard of it, but it marks the official start of the…
Roubaix '06 – The Year of the Loser
Look at this: at first, in response to his DQ at Paris-Roubaix, Davitamon’s Peter VanPetegem said “The decision was fair, and I won’t contest it”. And now? “Davitamon Protests Disqualification”. What a whiner. Apparently, he and everyone else complaining about the Roubaix DQs don’t realize just how deadly the game of “Beat the Train” can…