The Tour de France begins Saturday

Great stage today. I'm hoping this four-man break can hold off the peloton.

 

I was hoping so, too. It'd be break to see the risk takers rewarded.

That said, it was awesome to see Cancellara sprint through the break and take the stage, retain his yellow jersey and get a hefty time bonus.

He'll be in yellow for another few days thanks to that sprint.

 

Well, I'd have to see a camera to know for sure, but I have a feeling that breakaway group screwed around in the final 1K, and slowed down just enough to slip into the main group as Cancellara made a timely move. Liggett and Sherwen alluded to as much, and I think it was the only way for that to happen - unless their legs and minds just blew up simultaneously, which is a distinct possibility after 6+ hours on the break.
Still, I love how Cancellara won it sitting down. Everyone else is mashing on the pedals, gaining slowly on him, and Fabian's doing a time-trial into the line. A good stage for the early part of the race.

 

With about 1km to go, Liggett and Sherwen made reference to the four breakaway riders "playing games at the front" and how "that'll cost them the race."

 

I watched it and the four were playing cat and mouse with each other to see who wanted to attack first.

Cancellara attacked first and kicked their asses. Good for him.

I'm a Z fan and have ridden with him a couple of times, so I'll be pulling for CSC to win and for Z to get a stage win in the next time trial. His contract is up at the end of the year, so he's also riding for his next paycheck. That should motivate him a little.

 

Look, it's synchronized whizzing



It's the honor system among cyclists.

 

I thought Liggett and Sherwen were making some good points today about how radios affect the tactics of the race. And, yet again, another day and another break fails. Too bad.

 

I dunno, I see a couple dozen people taking a successful break in that picture.

 

Yeah, radios are pretty basic, but it's part of how cycling technology is/has totally changed the sport. For instance, it's much easier to reel in a break or make a move when a team director's shouting in your ear, and probably a little easier to climb the Alps and Pyrenees with power/heart rate monitors to precisely help you stay in a good zone. I mean, for crying out loud, some guys are using (Campy?) electronic shifters pretty heavily, even in the rain.

But that still doesn't help when someone's gone off the front in the third to last stage threatening your golden fleece, which is the unpredictable part I love, and really can't wait for.

Just out of curiosity, did anyone read this month's Bicycling, in which Jonathan Vaughters, of the domestic Slipstream team, gives some dangerous but useful training tips? Like drafting cars within a matter of feet? No thanks.

 

Yep. I read that and immediately told myself to never follow any of that advice. I'm a lowly Cat 5 guy, not a wannabe Cat 1/2 poser. Those tips might help the really good guys, but they'd just hurt (or kill) me.

I decided to just go out and ride harder and more often, invest in some of that ridiculously expensive recovery drink powder and try to get better sleep the day before a race.

I've got a deathly fear of crashing in a crit and breaking a collarbone -- my wife's business partner did it in the first local crit of the season -- so I don't do many crits. But I'm looking forward to a 60-mile road race in two weeks and then a 111-mile 5-man team race two weeks after that.

A local pro racer I rode with last week told me about a trip he took drafting behind a semi-truck going 60-70 mph downhill for about 10 miles. Dude has a death wish.

 

That is crazy...but I bet it actually might be a tad safer than tailing a car going 45 on a flat, because a speeding semi doesn't exactly stop on a dime. Still, you'd never catch me doing that, riding till I barfed, whatever.

Crashing in crits is absolutely no fun. I never did, primarily because the only ones I entered, I'd be at the back within five laps, trying not to invade someone's space. Except you're supposed to do that, bump shoulders and hips, etc. Yeow. Pro crits are usually well designed, with clean streets and swept corners. But Cat 5 - my category, as well - has potholes, sewer grates, and curbs that come out of nowhere. Gnarliest crash I ever saw was a guy who hit the end of a curb with his pedal, which sent him flying sideways and snapped his crankarm off completely.

But be careful on those road races - you never know when the Italians are going to come along with a pole and stick it in your spokes.

 

We have a great weekly crit series here out at the redneck dragstrip/raceway. It's a good surface and kind of a road course. But around one bend, there's trouble and it's the scene of a lot of crashes. That's Tuesday and on Wednesday they move the races to a DMV training course that has a small climb every lap. It's a killer after you hit that thing for the 15th time -- some serious leg burning going on.

It's the same course for the A Flight, B Flight and the C Flight. I'm in the C Flight, of course, but so are all the little kids and women. Not that there's anything wrong with that because most of the juniors here can ride circles around me, but they have a hard time holding lines in corners and the more aggresive riders won't put up with them for long.

The series also has a flat, straight time trial every other Thursday and a short, but intense hill climb in Park City the other Thursdays.

This is a very good cycling community with dozens of organized rec rides every week and a USAC sanctioned race just about each week.

I like the road races better because it's Point A to Point B and even if I get dropped, I can keep on going without getting embarassed by getting lapped by the other 'beginners' in my classification.