SB Nation User Blog: Chris...

Rock On

Chris... — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:21:20 -0000

Very nice interview with Michael Ball over at Bicycling today. I'm tempted to poach heavily, but in keeping with blogger etiquette I'll just recommend the whole thing and toss out a few morsels. Such as, would you hire Jan Ullrich if he wanted to come back?

MB: Are you kidding? I'd do a backflip. Jan is one of the greatest cyclists of the last 20 to 30 years.

I think this sums up his attitude toward controversial hires like Pevenage, Hamilton, Mancebo, etc. What can you do going forward? In the interview he points out that whatever might be in their Puerto files is known only to the individuals themselves, not you or I, so why bother punishing them? Most people's reaction is, because their activities almost killed the sport. I'm sure if Ball were here, he'd point out: what's the difference between these guys and a few hundred other active riders who didn't get caught? One more pearl of wisdom:

But honestly, these guys are happy to be on their bikes and that's good enough for me.

Redemption is a big motivator. Anyway, Ball also discusses their revamped anti-doping program and the decision not to bother going Continental Pro. Enjoy.

Open Thread

Chris... — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:40:23 -0000

Such an historically slow news day. There are some internal announcements: Ursula has given me about 5 hours of homework to do, including final review of next year's VDS points assignments. Per usual, if you have a real problem with any of the assignments, we'll listen to suggestions for a few days before finalizing the list. Also, a new item: you will only be able to use riders from the list. Last year we said that if you didn't see someone, he was one point, but it became kind of an administrative nightmare adding in the 1-pt'ers for each grand tour. So this year, if you have a hidden name you want to claim, you have to at least email me or Ursula privately to assure they make the list.

After that... Scott-American Beef is playing coy with their new sponsor, as the latter decides which product they want to name on the kit. For some reason this reminded me of a conversation in my head while making kids breakfasts: a list of the top five edible substances ever:

Garlic
Peanut butter
Thai fish sauce
Salt (can centuries of warfare be wrong?)
Wine

Water didn't make the list, as with coffee: these are mere survival matters. Also, I had to eliminate bacon -- too processed. Happy Friday!

Spotlight '08: CSC-Saxo Bank

Chris... — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:49:20 -0000

This project has been evolving slowly, in part because I'm a little unsure how interesting some of the team reviews can be. But that won't be a problem with today's subject: Team CSC/Saxo Bank-IT Factory. As usual, we start with accountability, in the form of my earlier Back Pocket Preview:

Attributes: A roster that would make most DS's drool uncontrollably. Generally healthy history and outlook. Admired widely for almost everything but Riis' riding career. Jens! Potential winners of every event they attend. Poster-boy Nails O'Grady.

On Further Review: Eh, Jens! Voigt is starting to show his age, or at least is getting overworked too early in the year. Stuart O'Grady rode admirably in defense of his Paris-Roubaix title, before injuries and reduced roles intervened. Instead, the story of their roster is that it remains as admirable as ever, but the focus is shifting rapidly to the next generation. In general, their roster consists of guys born before 1980 who declined last year, and guys born after 1/1/80 who improved. Old and in the way: O'Grady, Arvesen, Julich, Gustov, Ljungkvist, Voigt, McCartney, and Nicki Sorensen. Young and busting out: Cancellara, Bak, Breschel, Larsson, Chris Sorensen, Van Goolen. [Kolobnev was a push; Haedo and the Schlecks slipped a tad; Kroon, Blaudzun and Sastre improved against the odds.]

Now, statistically speaking two seasons isn't a definitive trend, and the exceptions include the biggest names on the team. But the latter point proves nothing: captains go up and down for any number of reasons, such as Andy Schleck playing support at the Tour rather than winning the Giro. Overall, aside from the captains, the team is transitioning nicely to Riis Cycling 2.0, led by a new generation of studs named Fabian, Andy, Matti, Chris-Anker and Henrik Gustav. The older guys are mostly very relevant, and the change is more gradual -- even natural -- than dramatic, but is unmistakeable nonetheless. Oh, and in their transition year they still won the team title.

Problems: Their grand tour GC chances probably represents their weakest element. Young guys saddled with high expectations. Someday they'll get outbid by wealthier teams for their top riders. A bit light on pure sprinters.

On Further Review: More of the same? It's funny, Riis's charges won a grand tour for the second time in the history of CSC, and once again the winner was out the door before the champagne went flat. Last time it was Ivan Basso being cast into the ether from the OP dragnet; this time it was the tenuous Riis-Sastre relationship collapsing under duress. Still, they pulled off a Tour for the ages, and Sastre's departure does nothing to tarnish a brilliant team victory. In fact, with Andy Schleck ripening nicely, Sastre's exit clarifies Riis' path to more grand tour success. Also, Breschel gives him another big, formerly elusive prize: a homegrown, serious sprinting threat.

Key Rider(s): Fränk Schleck. After Carlos Sastre, who's turning 33 this year, Schleck the elder is next in line for grand tour captaincy, assuming his kid brother needs a bit more seasoning (let's be reasonable here, people). He didn't get much love last year, with no mega-wins in April and some bad days in the mountains of the Tour, but even his bad years are good years: 8th-ranked in CQ points at 1525, both personal highs. Maybe Le Tour isn't his bag, but with the right program he's got a lot of wins in those legs.

On Further Review: Fränk did his job, scoring oodles of points for the team tally, but I wonder if he hasn't lost his job, or certain aspects of it, in the process? At the Tour, he proved once more that he's in the Valverde/Cunego class of three-week riders: good but highly unlikely to ever win. In the classics, he proved once more that he's a solid guy who will always be there, but may well never win a sprint. He and Larsson seem to be headed in opposite directions after this year, and Kolobnev could easily take charge in the hilly classics as well -- particularly if the investigation into Fränk's Fuentes connection goes anywhere. Taken together, the Elder Schleck's stock is sinking fast enough to warrant a NYSE listing.

Key Moment: Hm, tough one. Cancellara at Flanders or Sastre at the Tour... either one would represent a spectacular breakthrough for a team with a lot of hardware already. But I wouldn't bet on either.

On Further Review: Well, Cancellara's Flemish season finished a distant second to his efforts on the Via Roma, so I think we can safely go with Sastre's Tour win. As I said above, even with Sastre leaving, the style in which the win was executed pretty much cements Riis' legacy as a great Director, or at least personnel manager (assuming the win reflects their balding, white braintrust more generally).

Passing Thought: 27 riders from 14 countries... and not a single Italian? Talk about blatant bias. Here's hoping Riis chokes on a herring.

On Further Review: Riis will never win a popularity contest, but I personally have a ton of respect for him. His style is a tad abrasive (cough), and his checkered past makes it easy to call him a hypocrite on doping issues. Fine. My take on him is that he truly doesn't care what people think of him; he's got a job of running a team in real-time, and is extremely effective in his focused way. He doesn't get sentimental about guys on their way out, he doesn't take to conversations about his own past. He, instead, just builds the best team for the most races and hopes their record will drown out any dissent. The result? He's completely turned over the sponsorship, using the usually-devastating loss of a loyal and generous sponsor to actually make a better situation: similar money (I think?) from Scandinavian investors.

It's not entirely unusual for a manager to become the lightning rod, and have that benefit the team. If Frank Schleck is ever reprimanded for doping (pre-2007), it will be another hit to Riis' image, but it will also redirect all of the negative attention from the team itself. Everyone will be talking about that bastard Riis, and to some extent Schleck (again, IF this goes anywhere). Meanwhile, with Rasmus Damsgard certifying the team's present compliance, they'll be flooding the peloton with young talented studs in every corner of Europe. The pressure and focus will be at least partly distracted from the real action and the current stable of riders. And once again, the results will speak for themselves.

Uh Oh

Chris... — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:39:31 -0000

Not another damn cycling blog.

Update: and another one!

Youtubery

Chris... — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:59:10 -0000

h/t Jens...

Giro d' Italia 1956: Charly Gaul en Monte Bondone (via wenck)

Open Thread

Chris... — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:38:52 -0000

Wife on travel?

Check.

Nanny out sick?

Check.

House full of boys all day?

Check.

Kids bike up on the trainer?

Check.

Update: If you're looking for something more substantive, hop on over to the Cycling Examiner. James Raia has set up shop there, and has an unexpected take on Lance's Tour aspirations.

American Classic

Chris... — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:51:52 -0000

We have the American Grand Tours: California, Georgia and Missouri (well, had, in Georgia's case). We have people supposedly planning a nationwide Tour of some sort, which is fun to think about and ridicule on occasion. We have Philly Week, a series of tough races for the continental circuit and a few Europeans as well. There's even the Cascade Classic, Sea Otter, and I'm sure I'm leaving off a few more big names.

That's a lot of stage races, and not much in the way of Classics. We need an American Classic.

Yes, Philly is one. In fact, to this day that remains America's signature one-day event. Greenville is up and coming, but as the US Championships its appeal beyond Americans will likely be limited. (Do they even still invite foreigners?) Really, it's Philly and that's it. Notwithstanding the Manayunk Wall, it's a GP course that ends in a sprint sometimes. Excellent race, to be sure. But not classics material.

In my mind, a Classic isn't a circuit race. Beyond that, the requirements are minimal, other than it be hard. In Ursula's massive thread from this weekend (which I am still digesting), there is some discussion of the lack of an alpine classic, following the demise of the Classique des Alpes. Can you tell where I'm going with this?

We need about 150 miles. Start in Colorado Springs, wind your way up to Leadville, or Crested Butte, or better yet A$pen (if that's not too far). Make it beautiful -- this would be the easy part, pretty much anything off the interstate. Do it in August, a post- TdF event, like the old Coors Classic... if the Euros liked that beast, maybe they'd like a one-day event better? Scrap the Tour of America and refocus the energies here. Synch it up with the Tour of Missouri, so the Euros don't think they are coming over for just one day. [OK, that's totally different racing, but whatever.] And find at least a 1km climb for the finish line.

Brilliant, right? right? [cricket sounds...]

brief UPDATE: Am I dreaming? Certainly, in the short term. Economics aren't my forte, but this seems like a bad year for bold new ideas. Or! Maybe this is exactly the time for bold new ideas! In any case, I can wait til 2011, but that's it.

Question of the Day

Chris... — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:00:00 -0000

As the proud, recent owner of a doohickey that measures road grades, I can now say with authority that riding up a 20% incline for any length of time (over a minute) is inhuman. This raises an important question:

Can the state be enjoined, pursuant to the Eighth Amendment, from requiring any person to ride the Angliru?

I say it's a close call. Had I been general counsel to the US Postal Service in 2002, I would have required riders to sign some sort of disclaimer that they rode the Vuelta of their own free will. Going forward, it won't be an issue for the US government, though the 8th springs from English law, circa 1689, so perhaps Barloworld's lawyers might take a look into this.

Monday Madness

Chris... — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:33:45 -0000

"Bruyneel: Lance can win!" The problem with times like these is, the only "news" consists of cyclists talking about racing. And we all know how candid and interesting that can be.

Still, speaking of Lance, here's the anatomy of a Tour invite: 7-time winner comes back, says he's amped for the Tour. Head of family that owns tour passes, son takes over. Son says bad things 'bout 7-time winner. Smarter member of family (a/k/a comptroller) smacks son upside head. Son schedules meeting with 7-time winner.

As for old guys on the comeback, Vino challenges those who think he doped (positive tests and all...) with "Do you really think I was so stupid?" Um, dude, we were being nice. The alternatives are worse... Happy Monday!

Open Thread

Chris... — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:34:05 -0000

Let's see... Team Sexy Back is at boot camp. Italian media are speculating about the 2009 Italian Worlds team (that would be 11 months away). Over in Opposite World, Lance Armstrong and Filippo Simeoni are friends. Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Anyway, enjoy the slow months. There are only two of them.