Well how about that....we have MORE racing on TV! I watched the first stage of the Larry H Miller Tour of Utah today....of course, the overall vibe and production of the telecast is a real letdown after le Tour. I guess the biggest thing I miss is the booth...Todd, Bobke, Christian, Jens, and of course P&P. THAT broadcasting lineup is hard to beat...but this is being shown by Fox so there's none of the above. But hey...it's RACING in August!
I think the biggest excitement of the day was seeing Taylor Phinney not only back on the bike (after FOURTEEN MONTHS of NO racing!)...but up there at the end taking 3rd on the stage! That has to be a HUGE moral booster for him, as he was unsure how he was going to be in race conditions. I'd LOVE to see him win a stage...he is SUCH a class act! And then there's the news about Tommy D! Positive for synthetic Testosterone! He claims it's bogus...we can only hope so...if the B sample comes back positive it will likely be a lifetime ban for him....I can only hope he's telling the truth and it was some sort of fluke in testing...but sadly, I think it's very (VERY) rare for that to be the case. Oh Tommy boy...what did you do? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let this be wrong! (and on Garmin Sharp too....the team based on being clean). So last years winner is OUT of the race literally overnight.
A bit of GOOD news is that Chris Horner is in...and after being runner up 2 years in a row, he's anxious to do that one step up on the podium. I sure hope he does well and wish him the best of luck for sure...when they interview him, he's just a different class of speaker than most cyclists...he would also make a FANTASTIC announcer when he finally does hang up his shoes. Being on a US domestic team there's pretty much zero chance he will get another shot at the Vuelta which he did NOT get to defend last year, after being withdrawn from at the last moment...THAT really hurt because he was looking pretty good!
OK. I'm tired after watching the stage...so I'm off to the snooze-sack. Have a great week and happy racing!
GO CHRIS!!!!
I'm looking forward to the tour of Colorado (or whatever its proper name is). I didn't really get to see much of Utah as I only get one of the Fox sports channels and couldn't watch in the afternoons. It seems to me that Horner did quite well considering his team, but sheesh he must be SO disappointed in his season. I saw that he is still complaining of respiratory issues since last year (and complaining that he couldn't get a TUE for inhalers). I think any hope of returning to the Pro Tour must be gone now and that makes me sad!
ReplyDeleteHappy to see Phinney back! That was such a huge injury and long recovery, and I was really beginning to wonder about him. There really have been a crazy number of racer vs. moto/car incidents this year, and it seems like BMC has gotten the worst of it! Do race staff not like them?
Also I was shocked at the Danielson news. Sincerely hope that it was a supplement issue (someone has successfully proven that in the past) but if that is a chance then why take any such thing? I hope this doesn't hurt the team's prospects. I see that Dan Martin is jumping ship, Ted King is retiring. That was a great win by Dombrowski though! Surely brightened up their season which I think has been a little disappointing to date.
On a side note to that, when I was at the yearly critical care nurses' conference this past May, one of the presentations was about supplements, vitamins etc and how FEW have actually got in them what is on the label -- and this includes those sold at major retailers like Target-- either way more, or less, or none of the supposed vitamin/herb/enzyme/etc at all, or adulterated with who-knows-what. The presenters strongly recommended buying only USP certified items -- the only chance that one will actually get what one thinks one is getting.
Tom Boonen won a stage at Eneco! That made me smile. Nice to think the old boy has still got it (and did I ever think that I would refer to Tommeke as "old"?) even if only at a smaller (but nice) race.
Haven't heard about any fires close to you, Matt, hope things settle down out there.
It is really starting to feel here like late summer -- the cicadas and frogs are singing their heads off, the air smells like ripe grass, and tomatoes are ripening on my vines. Love it but is makes me a bit melancholy at the same time -- schools start next week and I realize that I will seemingly just blink and it will be cold again. The thing I hate about being in my 60's -- time really does just zip by. Oh well.
TTYL, Rae
Is anyone else watching the tour of Colorado? I've been seeing at least the final hour of some stages via the TourTracker livestream, since I don't get Universal Sports -- I think they are airing the final stage tomorrow on NBC though. Shall we just rename the race "The BMC Invitational?
ReplyDeleteCelebrated my birthday yesterday with a 12 mile hike. Today after working 12 hours I am sitting with ice on my foot and reminding myself that my 61 y-o body isn't quite as forgiving as I want it to be.
Still trying to make plans for Richmond, only a month away! I can't decide if I would rather see the team time trial or the men's road race. They are a week apart, and as much as I would like to, I can't stay for the whole week (don't want to spend that much $ I mean). I am leaning toward the time trial -- it is nice to wander around and see the teams warming up and cooling down. I think that there are more opportunities for pictures, autographs and such at the ITT but the team trial is more interesting to me overall. Rohan Dennis looks on form to win the ITT -- is Cance competing? I believe Tony Martin is.
Rae
Hey Rae....I am CONSTANTLY reminded that getting old is a bi$%h! But as long as you don't do any permanent damage, then hey...live large! I did another 94 mile road ride today (done the same ride the last 6 Saturdays in a row now). It's mostly on base, where it's safe and sane...I'm just too afraid to do much off-base road riding around here anymore. For some reason we seem to have a much greater number of people NOT paying attention than when I go up to San Jose/Sunnyvale. I can't hardly tell you the depth of my hatred for the WIND...it's been killing me every Saturday...no remorse either...it's very indiscriminate in it's crushing of road riders souls. Of my 94 miles each Saturday, roughly half of that is into the wind (or a crosswind, which is even worse). Being solo, there's just no escape. I watch my average speed drop and drop every time I turn heading anywhere close to north. Stupid wind. And hey...Happy Belated Bday...I turn 55 in Sept...usually Greg and I are up backpacking for it...but won't happen this year...too much going on.
DeleteAnyway, I'm quite disgusted that NBC Sports doesn't have the US Pro Tour of Colorado Challenge (they REALLY need to just make it "tour of Colorado" for crying out loud). That AND the Vuelta are on USN, and for whatever reason, the DTV Sports package doesn't have it this year (it did last year, as I watched the Vuelta). Rats...I was counting on watching both now that my Sunnyvale trip was cancelled (I was supposed to drive up this last Wednesday). I had it cancelled as we head over to Germany for Oktoberfest on Sept 15th (well, we spend the first few days in Boston and THEN head to Munich).
Due to that trip I have no hope of making it to Richmond...which is sad, as Jeannie's sister lives there so I'd even have a place to stay! Damn...maybe NEXT time...it's just bad timing for this year. Hope you make it...should be fun. Good luck!