Monday, July 30th, 2007
Slipstream has signed a Paris-Roubaix winner. My guess is Magnus Backstedt. He is experienced and he may come cheap since he is coming back from some health issues.
Stuart O’Grady just won so I think he might be too expensive.
Fabian Cancellara, maybe. He might also cost a bit too much since he won PR in 2006 and has two stage wins and a stint in yellow this year in the Tour. But he is a pretty versatile rider and Slipstream team director Jonathan Vaughters might put value in that. If Cancellara is affordable he would be a great pick up.
Tom Boonen, no way. Quick-Step has that dude locked up for 2008 and Vaughters could not afford a super star of that magnitude.
Peter Van Petegem, no way. If Vaughters is smart he’ll know this guy is at the end of his career.
Maybe Slipsteam will sign Tommy Danielson for 2008 because I guarantee you that dude won’t be riding for Disco next year. He’ll come cheap since he’ll have washed out of 2 different Pro Tour caliber teams.
Johnny V, please hire me!
Posted by Smithers at 9:45 pm in Pro Cycling | Permalink | 7 Comments »
Monday, July 30th, 2007
MSNBC:
Iraq’s parliament adjourned Monday for an August recess without receiving from the government a series of U.S.-backed draft laws designed to enhance national unity.
Our soldiers and fighting and dying and the parliament goes on holiday.
Why are we still over there?
Posted by Smithers at 2:36 pm in Politics | Permalink | 14 Comments »
Monday, July 30th, 2007
U.S. Army Maj. Chad Weddell describes Camp Al Asad’s Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO) junkyard, December 7, 2006, in Iraq. The yard houses all scrap metal and battle damaged and wrecked vehicles for western Iraq.
It’s a military promo video but when you stop and think about the reality that has created all this junk it is a bit disturbing.
Posted by Smithers at 11:23 am in Politics | Permalink | 1 Comment »
Monday, July 30th, 2007
I love watching the Tour on the teevee. The attacks, the sprints, the mountains, the doping scandals. I love the whole thing from start to finish. Now I am totally depressed that it’s over. So let’s relive the good times and look back at the race this year.
1st GC Alberto Contador: Quite young to win the Tour. Is he connected to Operación Puerto or not? He was kept out of the 2006 Tour since he was a member of the scandal ridden Liberty Seguros team. After being cleared of all charges he was picked up by the Discovery Team and here we are. But his record setting climb up the Plateau-de-Beille along side Michael Rasmussen on stage 14 has led some to speculate that he may not be so squeaky clean after all. I guess we will wait a few weeks and see if his victory is secure.
2nd GC Cadal Evans: Second in both time trials and up there every day in the mountains, Evans has to be happy with his race this year. It appears that both Evans and…
3rd GC Levi Leipheimer: …have adopted the same tactic of limiting their losses to the pure mountain goats on the uphill finishes while trying to put them away in the time trials. It does not make for the most exciting racing but the fact that the podium spots were only separated by 31 seconds proves that this tactic has some value. One or two longer time trials and one of these guys could have the race in the bag.
Good rides: Carlos Sastre, Haimar Zubeldia, Michael Boogerd, Chris Horner
Not so good: Alejandro Valverde, Iban Mayo, Frank Schleck, Thomas Dekker, Christophe Moreau
Green Points Jersey Tom Boonen: He hauled himself over the mountains, he won a couple of stages, he won the green jersey. Ho hum. I don’t know, I guess I was looking for BooBoo to be a bit more dominant in the sprints but, for the second year running, he and his Quick-Step team did not appear to be 100% on the rails.
Mountain Jersey Mauricio Soler: A real stand out this year. By no means indestructible, he showed some moments of weakness on the climbs, but Soler put together a real impressive string of rides in the mountains and was a deserving winner of the mountain prize. I guess we will see if he is a one race wonder or if he will be able to repeat his success.
Scandals: Look at the riders that were involved. Vinokourov, pro since 1998. Moreni, pro since 1998. Rasmussen, pro since 1995. These guys came into professional cycling during the time when doping, especially the use of EPO, was rampant. The fact that they were either caught or, in the case of Rasmussen, simply dealt with by their team is a positive sign as far as I am concerned. As Tom Boonen stated:
The guys who cheat have to get out, that’s easy. The controls are getting better and that’s why they get caught. Now they [Tour organizers and UCI] know where and what to look for. It would be more worrying if they have no positive cases.
There are always going to be cheaters in professional sports, there is never going to be 100% completely clean cycling. But the hope is that the “old guard” of riders who used performance enhancing drugs during the mid and late 1990’s is being replaced by a younger generation who realize that the tests are indeed getting better and who want to improve cycling’s overall image. It is tempting to give up on cycling when the last two Tours have been so rife with controversy, but I really do see it as a positive sign for the sport.
Posted by Smithers at 8:42 am in Pro Cycling | Permalink | 20 Comments »
