Now that’s how a one-day race is supposed to end. 30k of attacks while the creme de la creme try to whittle each other down. DiLuca and Schleck making the-all-or-nothing move at 4k; Valverde, stuck back in the group, trying to will the field back together; the daring jumps by DiLuca and Valverde as they…
Tag: Dopage
Petacchi Back, Cunego Fit, Gibo Ready, Wiggins Angry.
Wooo! it’s Friday, 11:33pm, I just woke up from a nap and I’m starving…for some pro cycling madness! Begin with the racing, where Petacchi has returned to form in Germany. Well, returned to form kinda. Meanwhile, Damiano Cunego showed he’s fighting fit for next (¡OMG!) week’s Giro d’Italia with a GC win at Giro di…
Bjarne, Basso, and Bonehead Europeans
Ah, [inhales deeply] no racing today! (Ok, well, a little racing. But I’m gonna ignore it.) Nothing to fetter my otherwise irrepressible polemicism! I’ll begin with Bjarne Riis, who regrets nothing about the Ivan Basso affair. Bjarne, you bald-headed hypocrite, just a few months ago you were pining away like a jilted lover. You can’t…
The Passion of the Floyd Continues
Ah, there’s nothing like struggling with the eccentricities of your local shop, assembling a new bike, changing banks, attempting to file a warranty claim with a defunct company, sending in ludicrous hard-copy forms after filing taxes on-line, correcting addresses (since the benefits and payroll offices at my “real” job can’t seem to compare records…) and…
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,…
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…
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…
Ullrich's DNA, DePanne, Last Bit of Fool
Yesterday, a reader named “ryan” posted a bunch of pro-Ullrich comments on this page. Today, word leaks that the big guy’s DNA actually was in those Operation Puerto baggies. Did ryan know something we didn’t? Anyway, Conspiracy theorists will be quick to point out that Ulle is an easy scapegoat, having already retired and being…
Is Something Fishy Here?
Yes, very fast. I am pressed for time. Why is it the less you have to do, the harder it is to find time to do it in? Ah well. Coppi/Bartali Stage 4: Another newbie “breaks the duck”, to borrow Eurosport’s strangely uncomfortable phrase. The stage was shortened due to “harsh” conditions of 8C and…