My (awful) Tour predictions

Well, the Tour's finished, and my selections weren't so great. I had Contador, Schleck and Vande Velde in about the right spots, and I picked the Green, White and Team winners, but I chose all the guys who had dire Tours too - Evans, Menchov and Rogers all performed below anyone's expectations.

1. Cadel Evans - 30th
2. Alberto Contador - 1st
3. Andy Schleck - 2nd
4. Carlos Sastre - currently 17th
5. Denis Menchov - 51st
6. Lance Armstrong - 3rd
7. Christian Vande Velde - 8th
8. Mikel Astarloza - currently 11th
9. Michael Rodgers - 103rd
10. Sylvain Chavanel - 20th

Plus Green jersey
Thor Hushovd - in Green

Polka Dot
Carlos Sastre - 14 points (43rd place)

White
Andy Schleck

Team
Astana

And now for a new category - Best Post-Tour Trick (click on photo for link to PEZ Cycling - www.pezcyclingnews.com)

A stab in the dark at Lance's new team

So Lance Armstrong has a new team - and he's signing new riders every minute. Here's my guess at the line up

LA
Chris Horner
Cadel Evans
Jack Bobridge
Taylor Phinney
Levi Leipheimer
Brice Feillu
Mark Cavendish (depending on budget)
Mark Renshaw (depending on Cavendish)
George Hincapie (depending on all of above plus ability to forgive LA)
Simon Gerrans
plus a dozen big motors - anonymous guys like Popo who would be team leader on your average French team.

teamradioshack.com/getready/

My Tour Top 10

1. Cadel Evans
2. Alberto Contador
3. Andy Schleck
4. Carlos Sastre
5. Denis Menchov
6. Lance Armstrong
7. Christian Vande Velde
8. Mikel Astarloza
9. Michael Rodgers
10. Sylvain Chavanel

Plus Green jersey
Thor Hushovd

Polka Dot
Carlos Sastre

White
Andy Schleck

Team
Astana

Lance a bit pants on Twitter

Lance Armstrong has blocked Cycling Weekly on Twitter because they questioned whether it was right that he participated in a small race not (in theory) open to top pros called the Tour of Gila.

I guess that also means his "black book" of people he won't talk to has been reopened, and Cycling Weekly is back on the list (he took them off the list to give them this interview, which won the interviewer an award http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Lance_Armstrong_exclusive_interview_article_273248.html).

So, the LIVESTRONG anti-cancer message is now no longer received by the UK’s best-selling cycling publication. Who wins?

Tyler Hamilton

Busted a second time for banned drugs, U.S. champion Tyler Hamilton has left cycling (but would have been banned for life anyway).

He refuses to speak about his past, but he's full of excuses for the present.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8004759.stm

Well done Tom Boonen

Yesterday, Tom Boonen won his third Paris-Roubaix - the world's hardest one-day cycle race.


For the race Boonen used handmade Dugast tubulars instead of his sponsor's tyres.


Tornado Tom lived up to his name.


Boonen doesn't forget the fans, even after a tough ride (seen here in the Tour de France)

The Lance question

As a cyclist, I often have friends and colleagues ask me "So, do you think Lance ever used drugs?" The problem of course is most people want a one sentence answer like "He's the most tested guy on the planet, he never failed a drug test, of course he was clean." But the answer I really want to give is READ THIS:

http://velocitynation.com/content/interviews/2009/michael-ashenden

Great news for Japanese cycling

Former national road race champion Yukira Arashiro has been signed by French team bouygues Telecom, which is great news because Bouygues will field a team in next year's Tour de France - and Arashiro is a "rouler" - the type of rider made for stage racing, long breakaways and rolling terrain.

The rider has certainly put in years of hard work, riding for the Vang team before getting picked up by Dutch/Japanese team Skil-Shimano.

But now he's in the big league riding the big races - perhaps Paris-Nice, Route du Sud, Paris Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The races you can see on TV - races young kids in Japan can watch on J-Sports. I hope Arashiro scores a few wins so we see more kids go get on a bike.

Cycle Mode Tokyo part 2 - Mini velos, Cervelos and velos

Dark days for the Tour de France

Re-testing began Monday on samples taken from riders at the Tour de France this year. It is said two 'big name' riders and 12 others are under suspicion. Names have been named but I'm not going to do that here. If the names mentioned are found positive I really don't know how cycling can move forward. Some of the guys mentioned are (were?) my heroes, so I really hope there's no truth in the rumours.

Lance to buy the Tour de France

Multi-millionaire cyclist Lance Armstrong is tipped by the Sydney Morning Herald as a potential buyer of the Tour de France organization. This would surely be the final nail in the coffin for the sport. I, for one, will not watch an event owned and run by this awful man. (click on the title for the article)

I'm pleased to see I'm not alone: http://cyclingfansanonymous.blogspot.com/

Tour of Japan

The Tour of Japan starts in Osaka tomorrow and makes its way to Tokyo, via Nara, finishing next Sunday. The Tokyo leg starts in Hibiya at 11am and ends at Ooi Wharf. It's well worth watching - Tour de France stage winner Leon van Bon will be riding, as well as some great riders from Australia.



Check out Cyclingnews.com for more details, or go the the Tour of Japan website: www.toj.co.jp

Operación Puerto reopened

It was interesting to see that the investigation Operación Puerto has reopened not only in Spain but in Italy too.

Those of you who don't know the background might like to read this:
http://www.ergogenics.org/414.html

The athletes who might be shown to be involved include cyclists, soccer players and other top athletes, including runners.

One name to keep an eye on is Miguel Angel Peraita, who has some interesting connections in the running world.

Tokyo Cycle Mode 2007 part 3 - dreaming of a white xmas?

It wasn't all white. This Cherubim caught my eye. An exercise in black minimalism it has beautiful rear stays, uncluttered by a rear brake caliper (which is tucked away behind the bottom bracket shell).







And the worst of the show? The awful spelling errors on the Campagnolo stand. The Japanese company that prepared the stand and the catalogue (Campagnolo Veroce or Newtron anyone?) should hang their heads in shame...

The cleanest Tour de France in years?

It's counterintuitive, but I believe this year's Tour de France has been one of the cleanest ever. For the first time since the mid-80s the testing has caught up with the doping - which meant a lot of riders got caught. Riders who, in previous years, would still be riding.

There's also a big push from the ranks of the French, British and (most) German riders to clean up the sport.

As for my predictions?

Well Cadel Evans has ridden to a fine 2nd place. The best-placed Aussie ever. Only 23 seconds off first. Oh, and Cadel is clean.

The green jersey was won by another clean rider - Tom Boonen. Not my pick, but I'm happy he won.

The polka dot jersey went to the Colombian, Soler. Soler's performance is another indicator that there's fewer drugs being taken. He is the first Colombian to win a mountain stage since EPO (which mimics the effects of altitude training) was introduced. Colombians winning is a good sign.

My pick for the white jersey competition was Amets Txurruka, who is wearing the white jersey today because Soler and the overall winner were both also young riders. So Txurruka is the highest placed young rider not already wearing a more imprtant jersey. Geddit?

I've always been told that if you can't say anything nice about someone you shouldn't say anything at all. So I shall not say a word about the "winner" of this year's Tour.

Tour de France

Earlier this month I tried to predict who would win the various categories in the Tour de France.

The yellow jersey goes to the person with the lowest elapsed time for all the stages - the leader of the race. The green jersey goes to the best sprinter - based on points given for crossing the line first, second, down to 25th place, as well as some 'bonus' sprints (nasty sprints placed in the middle of a race - imagine having to sprint your guts out at the 35km mark of a marathon and then keep going). The polka dot jersey is for the best hill-climber, again based on points given, this time for crossing mountain peaks first. And the white jersey goes to the best rider aged less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden.

My choices were:

Yellow - Cadel Evans
This prediction looks like coming true. Evans is in second place and looks very strong.

Green - Robbie McEwan
An amazing sprint on Stage 1 made me think I'd definitely opted for the fastest rider. But a crash, also on Stage 1, made it impossible for Robbie to hold onto the handle bars up the steep mountains, and he lost too much time and was eliminated.

Polka Dot - Michael Rasmussen
The leader of this category is my pick - Michael Rasmussen. Although he is not wearing the jersey because he is currently leader of the Tour. He will be the Polka Dot jersey winner if he makes it to Paris. A major drug cloud hangs over him at the moment. He has been banned from riding for his national team up to and including the Beijing Olympics. A former friend has alleged Rasmussen tried to trick him into carrying Biopure blood into Italy for him. Rasmussen's career might be over. (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/tour_de_france/article2116022.ece)

White - Amets Txurruka
My rider is 6th in this category, 24 minutes down on the leader of the white jersey competition, Contador. However, Txurruka is a climber from the Basque region, so he will be saving something for the Pyrenees, where the Basque fans form a corridor of orange to cheer their riders on. Txurruka won't beat Contador or Gerdemann, but he could finish third overall.




Regarding my running. I still have lung pain and I'm waiting for my MRI scan on August 13. I'm fine - I still ride to work and the pain is no big deal, but not running is frustrating. I don't get the results until August 20.

Courier bikes in Tokyo

Here's a couple of bikes that get well used. The black one I snapped at night and I didn't get a chance to see what it was. I don't even know what the hubs are, I'm sure lots of you do know. The blue one is a Panasonic (I think). The shot-in stays should be a giveaway, but I'm not that great at remembering who offers what style.








Also, the Tour de France starts tomorrow, and I think it'll be a great one for the Aussie riders. I'm tipping:

- Northern Territorian Cadel Evans to win overall (a dark horse, but has had better form than the red-hot favourite Alexandre Vinokurov)

- Brisbane's Robbie McEwan will take the green jersey for best sprinter

- The hill-climber's polka dot jersey will go to the Dane Michael Rassmusen (no Aussies can match him in the mountains)

- The white jersey for the best young rider will go to Amets Txurruka.

But back to the Aussies, I predict Brett Lancaster will win a stage as will Stuart O'Grady (look out for O'Grady on stage 1 on Sunday).

The other not so hard to make prediction is that the Astana team will be raided more than once to check for drugs. In fact, not only will their hotels be raided, their bins will be emptied, wives' and girlfriend's cars checked, and massuers frisked. Despite riding in blue, they're known as the Men In Black - shady characters who seem to be a little too strong.

Oh, and followers of the Brits - the prologue is tailormade for Bradley Wiggins. He'll have a tough time beating Fabian Cancellara, but I think he might just do it. In Chris Boardman he's got the best coach in the world.

Some more pics of "Project 6.8"

Here's a few more pictures of my bike. It's slowly coming together. I still need decals - I'm thinking of contacting www.vcgraphix.com for them. After that it's new wheels, ergo levers, rear mech and chain. But as you can see, the bike is looking pretty good already:


It's so difficult to take a good picture of a bike! But this gives you an idea what my bike looks like.


From the front


From the back (nice new seat)


I drilled the centre of my Cinelli bar plugs out and cut off some of the internals. Saves 3g for two plugs.


My rear mech has been tuned a lot. It's a very old Campagnolo Mirage 9-speed. I've drilled the body and plate. I've put Tiso jockey wheels on it and I've put an old Campagnolo Nouvo Record back plate on it from 1984 (it only weighs 7 grams, see below). All of the smaller bolts have been replaced with Minoura alloy bolts. The cable adjuster screw is also taken from a Nouvo Record rear mech. I've saved about 20 grams.




6 alloy bolts. I've replaced the bidon cage bolts, mech cable bolts, and front mech hanger bolts with Minoura alloy bolts.

I need a good name for this bike. I'm really not sure what to have as a decal. If you've got any suggestions please leave a message for me here, or on the Weight Weenies forum (http://weightweenies.starbike.com/).