Rick Scott's Weekly Rap: The Paris is Nice Episode
20 March 2009By Rick Scott
It is on! The 2009 racing season has hit full-stride across Europe. Two big stage races in France and Italy are already history and the season’s first monument is on-tap for this weekend.
The Beat
The European campaign is officially underway as the Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico stage races are in the books. In France, we learned that Alberto Contador (Astana) is the only one who can beat Alberto Contador. After besting all comers in the short opening stage time trial on flat terrain, Contador climbed his way back into the yellow jersey by winning the difficult Queen Stage (Stage 6). The fat lady was warming up in the opera house, but apparently someone forgot the feed her. Contador “bonked” in the final kilometers of the penultimate stage, which is when energy depletion occurs from not eating and drinking enough. He lost three minutes on Stage 7 to stage and General Classification winner Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d’Epargne). Contador went out with guns blazing the next day in an audacious attempt to take back the jersey to no avail, but he won the hearts of French fans with the courage he displayed throughout the eight days of racing. The French love them some panache.Got to give a shout-out to Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde, who rode the final 20 kms alone to win Stage 4, the first solo conquest of his career.
While Paris-Nice (“the race to the sun”) leans a bit more towards the climbers, the world’s best sprinters were in full regalia at Tirreno-Adriatico (“the race between two seas”). Garmin-Slipstream’s Tyler Farrar shocked and awed the field when he won Stage 3 ahead of Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad), Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) and Robbie McEwen (Katusha). Shazam! Back-to-back Amgen Tour of California stage winner Cavendish defiantly won the final stage ahead of America’s Farrar (not to be confused with “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrara). Italian Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni-Androni) won the overall. Bravisimo.
There was also a wicked cool one-day race in Italy that included 57 kilometers of white gravel sections, including some very steep climbs. Columbia-Highroad’s Thomas Lovkvist put the form he gain racing at the Amgen Tour of California to good use by winning the 191-km Eroica Toscana, the biggest prize thus far in his young career.
The season’s first “monument” takes place this weekend in Italy. At 298 kms, Milan-San Remo is also the longest one-day race. Some say it favors sprinters, and every sprinter out there would love to win this crown jewel at least once in their career, but sometimes an all-rounder or even a time trial specialist can steal the day. That’s what happened last year when two-time Amgen Tour of California prologue winner Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) surprised with a late escape from the bunch to win solo. Unfortunately Cancellara won’t be back to defend his title. The Olympic gold medal time trial champion is trying to regain his form after dropping out of the Amgen Tour of California with illness followed by crashing on his shoulder shortly after he returned to the bike. He’s riding and even racing, but doesn’t feel he has the form to be competitive in Milan-San Remo. Two other big names also missing the show are World Road Race Champion Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank). Ballan is ill with a herpes-like virus that will keep him out of the entire spring classics campaign and Freire is still recovering from the injuries he sustained after crashing at the Amgen Tour of California. Three Amgen Tour of California stage winners are mentioned amongst the Milan-San Remo favorites: Boonen, Cavendish and Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam).
In the U.S., the men’s National Racing Calendar is finally about to get underway next week in California at the Redlands Cycling Classic. The domestic peloton will feature a number of the teams we saw in action at the Amgen Tour of California including BMC, Rock Racing, Fly V Australia presented by the Successful Living Foundation, Ouch Presented by Maxxis, Bissell, Jelly Belly, Colavita/Sutter Home and Team Type 1.
The Flow
Add another Amgen Tour of California stage winner to the injured list. Saxo Bank’s Frank “I love Palomar Mountain” Schleck missed a corner on a descent while training and crashed off the road. He took seven stitches on his chin and deeply bruised his wrist as his badges of honor. Schleck finished 2nd overall at Paris-Nice and was on rippin’ form. He should be back in the pack by the end of the month… Cavendish will take a flyer from road cycling to hit the track to compete for Great Britain at the Track World Championships in Pruskow, Poland at the end of the month. His directors say that Cav works on his leg speed on the track, which he’ll then deploy to stomp hapless victims when he returns to the road. The guy is already the fastest sprinter in the peloton on the road. How much faster can he get? Geez… Some of the teams have been announced for September’s Tour of Missouri. Already signed up for some tasty barbecue are Astana, Cervelo TestTeam, Columbia-Highroad, Garmin-Slipstream and Liquigas. Oh…and the twenty teams competing in July’s Tour de France were also announced. Last week, the U.S. sports media made a big deal about a college basketball game that lasted six overtimes with the total playing time being just over 3 hours and 45 minutes. Professional bike races like the Amgen Tour of California average 4 to 7 hours with some lasting even longer. But in cycling, there are no timeouts, no substitutions and no halftime. And then the cyclists do it again the next day. And the next day. And the day after that. For one to three weeks…# # #
