Thursday, July 02, 2009
2009 Tour de France Lanterne Rouge
Who will it be? The one certainty is that it will be someone new, since Wim Vansevenant has retired from professional cycling after his historical threepeat.
One blogger says it's going to be Dave Zabriskie. As much as I love the Big Z, I have my doubts that he would stick around to finish the Tour if he weren't helping the team effort and also feeling well enough to be a contender for a stage win in the Stage 18 individual time trial (immediately after leaving the Alps). If he were at the bottom of the General Classification, that would indicate he had some fairly serious problems like crashing and major mountain bonks and solo finishes.
What's your guess? Anyone care to make some predictions?
One blogger says it's going to be Dave Zabriskie. As much as I love the Big Z, I have my doubts that he would stick around to finish the Tour if he weren't helping the team effort and also feeling well enough to be a contender for a stage win in the Stage 18 individual time trial (immediately after leaving the Alps). If he were at the bottom of the General Classification, that would indicate he had some fairly serious problems like crashing and major mountain bonks and solo finishes.
What's your guess? Anyone care to make some predictions?
Labels: predictions, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Olympics!
I left on vacation the final Saturday of the Tour and was unable to remotely post a final 2008 Tour de France summary; but we heartily congratulate Wim Vansevenant for his accomplishments and move onward!
Cyclist Ahmed Belgasem representing Libya was the final finisher in the men's road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, who finished 21:22 after the first rider across the line.
Update: ACK! My error! I wasn't able to properly scroll sideways on the NBC site (which keeps auto-refreshing, much to my annoyance) and that was just a preliminary split. Oh well, I'm happy to recognize Belgasem's participation for Libya anyway. But he was an earlier DNF.
DNFs also included familiar names such as Dave Zabriskie from the USA and Robbie Hunter from South Africa, also Alberto Contador for Spain and Jens Voigt for Germany, and Stuart O'Grady for Australia. I guess it was pretty nasty air out there.
The actual final finisher came in 90th out of 143 starters, 41:11 after the first place finisher, and represents the nation of Brazil: Luciano Pagliarini Mendonca. He was 3rd in the Pan American Games road race last year. This time around he beat 37% of the starters.
I recommend Jonathan Crowe's excellent DFL blog for ongoing coverage of the Olympics - for those who want to read beyond the simplistic sound-byte headlines surrounding the podium-finisher medalists!
Cyclist Ahmed Belgasem representing Libya was the final finisher in the men's road race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, who finished 21:22 after the first rider across the line.
Update: ACK! My error! I wasn't able to properly scroll sideways on the NBC site (which keeps auto-refreshing, much to my annoyance) and that was just a preliminary split. Oh well, I'm happy to recognize Belgasem's participation for Libya anyway. But he was an earlier DNF.
DNFs also included familiar names such as Dave Zabriskie from the USA and Robbie Hunter from South Africa, also Alberto Contador for Spain and Jens Voigt for Germany, and Stuart O'Grady for Australia. I guess it was pretty nasty air out there.
The actual final finisher came in 90th out of 143 starters, 41:11 after the first place finisher, and represents the nation of Brazil: Luciano Pagliarini Mendonca. He was 3rd in the Pan American Games road race last year. This time around he beat 37% of the starters.I recommend Jonathan Crowe's excellent DFL blog for ongoing coverage of the Olympics - for those who want to read beyond the simplistic sound-byte headlines surrounding the podium-finisher medalists!
Labels: Belgasem, Contador, Hunter, Mendonca, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Tour of California is live
Here's Dave Zabriskie riding today in his National Champion Time Trial jersey on his Felt bike for Slipstream-Chipotle in the opening prologue in Palo Alto.
Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara:
George Hincapie in his High Road kit:
Prologue winner Fabian Cancellara:
George Hincapie in his High Road kit:
Last year's winner Levi Leipheimer in the starthouse for Astana:
Labels: Cancellara, Hincapie, Liepheimer, Zabriskie
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The $87 whiz
Here's another side to the Tour: how to satisfy "nature's need" when you're in front of the public all day? Dave Zabriskie and a few other riders have been fined 100 Swiss Francs for letting it hang out in front of the fans.
I didn't think they were so fastidious about such things in France.
I didn't think they were so fastidious about such things in France.
Labels: Zabriskie
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Stage 11: Marseille - Montpellier
In progress.
It's a flat sprinter's stage with no abandons reported. Christophe Moreau of AG2R had a small crash but is back on the bike. None of the BOP (back-of-the-peloton) riders that we have been following are in the current breakaway.
I'm usually a good speller, but I can never remember how to spell peloton. Peleton. Whatever. I'm only a good speller in American-English.
Don't you love it when CSC lets Jens Voigt off his leash? He's always fun to watch.
Later. . . .
Sadly, we lost three more riders today:
72 ANTON Igor (ESP) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI withdrawls
63 CALZATI Sylvain (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
39 ZABRISKIE David (USA) TEAM CSC outside time limit
This is what I just posted over at Bruce Hildebrand's blog concerning the Big Z:
"Dave Zabriskie was listed as last place finisher in 2 stages (once when he arrived in an autobus of ~70 riders), but was never last place in the General Classification. Calling him the Lanterne Rouge is like calling the stage winner the yellow jersey wearer. Wim Vansevenant is the Lanterne Rouge and has been for 4 stages, and was also Lanterne Rouge for the 2006 Tour."
Although Zabriskie might have been the Lanterne Rouge now, if he had finished inside the time limits today. What a shame he didn't make it to the long individual time trial on Saturday! Seems that spare cycles agreed.
Today a grupetto of 14 riders finished at 10:13 after the stage winner, then Frenchman Benoit Vaugrenard from FdJ was the final official finisher of the stage at 12:26.
That leaves our final five in the General Classification (with Zabriskie gone, Steegmans finishing 57th for the stage, and Hoste finishing 140th) as:
164. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 54h 57' 14" + 1h 45' 36"
165. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 54h 59' 14" + 1h 47' 36"
166. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 55h 00' 12" + 1h 48' 34"
167. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 55h 02' 25" + 1h 50' 47"
168. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 55h 08' 48" + 1h 57' 10"
So Wim Vansevenant remains Lanterne Rouge of the Tour de France for the fourth consecutive stage.
It's a flat sprinter's stage with no abandons reported. Christophe Moreau of AG2R had a small crash but is back on the bike. None of the BOP (back-of-the-peloton) riders that we have been following are in the current breakaway.
I'm usually a good speller, but I can never remember how to spell peloton. Peleton. Whatever. I'm only a good speller in American-English.
Don't you love it when CSC lets Jens Voigt off his leash? He's always fun to watch.
Later. . . .
Sadly, we lost three more riders today:
72 ANTON Igor (ESP) EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI withdrawls
63 CALZATI Sylvain (FRA) AG2R PREVOYANCE withdrawls
39 ZABRISKIE David (USA) TEAM CSC outside time limit
This is what I just posted over at Bruce Hildebrand's blog concerning the Big Z:
"Dave Zabriskie was listed as last place finisher in 2 stages (once when he arrived in an autobus of ~70 riders), but was never last place in the General Classification. Calling him the Lanterne Rouge is like calling the stage winner the yellow jersey wearer. Wim Vansevenant is the Lanterne Rouge and has been for 4 stages, and was also Lanterne Rouge for the 2006 Tour."
Although Zabriskie might have been the Lanterne Rouge now, if he had finished inside the time limits today. What a shame he didn't make it to the long individual time trial on Saturday! Seems that spare cycles agreed.
Today a grupetto of 14 riders finished at 10:13 after the stage winner, then Frenchman Benoit Vaugrenard from FdJ was the final official finisher of the stage at 12:26.
That leaves our final five in the General Classification (with Zabriskie gone, Steegmans finishing 57th for the stage, and Hoste finishing 140th) as:
164. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 54h 57' 14" + 1h 45' 36"
165. VERBRUGGHE Rik 148 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 54h 59' 14" + 1h 47' 36"
166. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 55h 00' 12" + 1h 48' 34"
167. GERAINT Thomas 215 BARLOWORLD 55h 02' 25" + 1h 50' 47"
168. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 55h 08' 48" + 1h 57' 10"
So Wim Vansevenant remains Lanterne Rouge of the Tour de France for the fourth consecutive stage.
Labels: Anton, Calzati, Charteau, Moreau, Nuyens, Thomas, Vaugrenard, Vergrugghe, Voigt, Zabriskie
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Stage 9: Val-d’Isère - Briançon
No reports yet of any unexpected withdrawals in the starting lineup, so I believe we should have 171 riders on the road. And hooray, everyone finished the stage today!
And Zabriskie does it again!! He's listed as the final rider in the stage today!!!!! That's fine - there is no need for him to expend a single extra calorie of effort in this stage doing anything that's not directly related to support of the team leader or making it over the line in front of the cutoff. Final five listed in the stage standings are:
167. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
168. STEEGMANS Gert 176 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
169. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
170. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
171. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
But that belies the fact that 72 riders arrived in the enormous autobus at the end of the stage and were assigned the same time. Wim Vansevenant arrived at the finish line as one of those riders in the autobus and so he does not move up in the overall standings, remaining in the Lanterne Rouge position for another day.
The final five riders in the General Classification are now:
167. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 45h 34' 34" + 1h 41' 46"
168. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 45h 34' 43" + 1h 41' 55"
169. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 45h 35' 11" + 1h 42' 23"
170. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 45h 35' 37" + 1h 42' 49"
171. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 45h 38' 11" + 1h 45' 23"
And Zabriskie does it again!! He's listed as the final rider in the stage today!!!!! That's fine - there is no need for him to expend a single extra calorie of effort in this stage doing anything that's not directly related to support of the team leader or making it over the line in front of the cutoff. Final five listed in the stage standings are:167. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
168. STEEGMANS Gert 176 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
169. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
170. HUSHOVD Thor 101 CREDIT AGRICOLE 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
171. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 4h 43' 15" + 28' 51"
But that belies the fact that 72 riders arrived in the enormous autobus at the end of the stage and were assigned the same time. Wim Vansevenant arrived at the finish line as one of those riders in the autobus and so he does not move up in the overall standings, remaining in the Lanterne Rouge position for another day.
The final five riders in the General Classification are now:
167. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 45h 34' 34" + 1h 41' 46"
168. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 45h 34' 43" + 1h 41' 55"
169. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 45h 35' 11" + 1h 42' 23"
170. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 45h 35' 37" + 1h 42' 49"
171. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 45h 38' 11" + 1h 45' 23"
Labels: Charteau, Chavanel, Hoste, Hushovd, Kuschynski, Steegmans, Zabriskie
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Carnage in the Alps
I haven't been able to watch the stage yet, so I actually gasped when I saw the list of today's 8 withdrawals:146 PARRA Ivan Ramiro (COL) COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE withdrawls
136 HERVE Cédric (FRA) AGRITUBEL outside time limit
134 FEILLU Romain (FRA) AGRITUBEL withdrawls
86 NAPOLITANO Danilo (ITA) LAMPRE-FONDITAL outside time limit
46 MC EWEN Robbie (AUS) PREDICTOR - LOTTO outside time limit
35 O’GRADY Stuart (AUS) TEAM CSC withdrawls
23 CAVENDISH Mark (GBR) T-MOBILE TEAM withdrawls
21 ROGERS Michael (AUS) T-MOBILE TEAM withdrawls
O'Grady crashed and his injuries sound serious: "punctured one lung, broke his collarbone, shoulder blade, five ribs as well as some bones in his spine".
Personally, I hope this day - with O'Grady and McEwen out - improves old Erik Zabel's chances of wearing the green jersey a few more times, particularly on the last day in Paris. I think the decision to strip his green jersey win from 11 years ago is nasty, particularly when other living Tour winners have admitted to taking anabolic steroids while competing. Like, for example, Floyd Landis is accused of doing. But they're French. (Right now Zabel is in 2nd place with 134 points to Tom Boonen's 147 points, and Boonen couldn't finish the Tour in 2005 and 2006).
Our old friend Wim Vansevenant (Lanterne Rouge for the 2006 Tour, Belgian rider for Predictor-Lotto) is our new Lanterne Rouge from this stage. This is his 4th Tour de France. He's already shown that he's capable of surviving the entire 3 weeks of the Tour, and he's made it to the rest day now - maybe he'll make it to the bitter end.Vansevenant is the seventh man to hold the Lanterne Rouge title in this up-for-grabs Tour, and we're only at the end of Stage 8. However, he's far ahead of five of the previous holders of the title - he's still in the Tour, and they're not. Vansevenant has been earning his paycheck riding in support of his teammate, sprinter Robbie McEwen, although obviously now that tactic will change since McEwen is out of the Tour.
66 riders arrived at the finish line and their well-earned rest day in the huge autobus, all assigned a time of 39:07 after the stage winner. That results in our final five riders in the General Classification as:
168. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 16:51:19 + 01:13:37
169. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 16:51:28 + 01:13:46
170. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 16:51:56 + 01:14:14
171. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 16:52:22 + 01:14:40
172. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 16:54:56 + 01:17:14
Well, if the Big Z loses a couple more minutes to Vansevenant, we may be able to talk about him as Lanterne Rouge after all. I have a feeling he would just laugh and bide his time until the 54-km individual time trial next Saturday, July 21st. Right now he's doing the job he is paid to do out there.
Labels: Boonen, Cavendish, Charteau, Herve Feillu, Hoste, Kuschynski, McEwen, Napolitano, O'Grady, Parra, Rogers, Vansevenant, Zabel, Zabriskie
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Stage 7: Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand
Six riders finished today's stage in a small grupetto, over 24 minutes after the stage winner:175. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 48 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
176. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
177. RODRIGUEZ Fred 47 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
178. HOSTE Leif 45 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
179. CHAVANEL Sébastien 162 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
180. MC EWEN Robbie 46 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 05:17:29 + 00:24:16
The final five riders in the general classification after this stage include some familiar names:
176. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 11:23:09 + 00:39:29
177. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 11:23:35 + 00:39:55
178. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 11:26:09 + 00:42:29
179. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 11:26:28 + 00:42:48
180. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 11:28:24 + 00:44:44
Kuschynski (previous Lanterne Rouge of stages 1-3), Napolitano, and Cavendish are all riding in their first Tour de France. Vansevenant was the overall Lanterne Rouge of the 2006 Tour.
The photo of Cavendish "off the back" above is from Stage 1, by Simon Clayson, when he finished 3rd from last.
Labels: Cavendish, Chavanel, Hoste, Kuschynski, McEwen, Napolitano, Rodriguez, Van Summeren, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
Friday, July 13, 2007
"That would be cool"
. . . what Dave Zabriskie said about being in the Lanterne Rouge position. See the interview here.
We love you, Dave, don't change a thing.
"What game play?"
We love you, Dave, don't change a thing.
"What game play?"
Labels: Zabriskie
Stage 6: Semur-en-Auxois to Bourg-en-Bresse
The official list of abandonments is still free of entries for today, which is hopeful news for Geoffroy LeQuatre, Benjamin Noval and Andreas Klöden, but it may not have gotten updated today yet. Noval and Klöden have been cleared to start. It looks to be a cookie-cutter flattish stage today, heading southeast with a couple of category 4 climbs.
Cyclingnews.com says that LeQuatre did finish outside the time limit, but was reinstated by the jury due to his crash (and I hope, a little bit, due to his brave finish). However, his team manager says that he will not be able to continue today.
Update: Yes, indeed, Geoffroy LeQuatre, the brave French rider for Cofidis, was subsequently listed as a DNS on the official page of withdrawals. We wish him a speedy recovery. Noval and Klöden were able to finish today's stage. The Daily Peleton says "Vinokourov has lots of stitches in his knee while Klöden has a broken coccygeal vertebra (tail bone)", and notes Noval was visiting the race doctor during the stage, so we've got several riders who are hoping the rest day comes quickly.
Speaking of time limits, does anyone have a link to the cutoff times for the 2007 stages? I haven't been able to find them. They're kind of complicated, because they depend on both the rated difficulty of the stage and also the time of the winning rider. And then they can be waived by the jury for special circumstances, as well.
Our new Lanterne Rouge is Italian rider Enrico Degano of the wildcard entry Barloworld. He crashed in the feed zone today but recovered sufficiently to finish 16th in the stage. However, in yesterday's stage 5 he was the penultimate rider ahead of Geoffroy LeQautre and finished 23:11 behind the stage winner.
In other coverage, James Raia has trotted out the standard Lanterne Rouge article again this year.
Cyclingnews.com says that LeQuatre did finish outside the time limit, but was reinstated by the jury due to his crash (and I hope, a little bit, due to his brave finish). However, his team manager says that he will not be able to continue today.
Update: Yes, indeed, Geoffroy LeQuatre, the brave French rider for Cofidis, was subsequently listed as a DNS on the official page of withdrawals. We wish him a speedy recovery. Noval and Klöden were able to finish today's stage. The Daily Peleton says "Vinokourov has lots of stitches in his knee while Klöden has a broken coccygeal vertebra (tail bone)", and notes Noval was visiting the race doctor during the stage, so we've got several riders who are hoping the rest day comes quickly.
Speaking of time limits, does anyone have a link to the cutoff times for the 2007 stages? I haven't been able to find them. They're kind of complicated, because they depend on both the rated difficulty of the stage and also the time of the winning rider. And then they can be waived by the jury for special circumstances, as well.
Only six riders lost time today, and notably, the final finisher was on a solo breakaway for 190 km:
178. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 05:21:52 + 00:00:53
179. CARDENAS Félix 212 BARLOWORLD 05:21:55 + 00:00:56
180. BURGHARDT Marcus 22 T-MOBILE TEAM 05:22:59 + 00:02:00
181. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 05:20:59 + 00:00:00
182. CHEULA Gianpaolo 213 BARLOWORLD 05:22:59 + 00:02:00
183. WIGGINS Bradley 149 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 05:24:41 + 00:03:42
Our final five riders in the General Classification are now:
179. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 06:09:12 + 00:19:17
180. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 06:10:11 + 00:20:16
181. NAPOLITANO Danilo 86 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 06:10:28 + 00:20:33
182. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 06:12:24 + 00:22:29
183. DEGANO Enrico 214 BARLOWORLD 06:15:14 + 00:25:19
Our new Lanterne Rouge is Italian rider Enrico Degano of the wildcard entry Barloworld. He crashed in the feed zone today but recovered sufficiently to finish 16th in the stage. However, in yesterday's stage 5 he was the penultimate rider ahead of Geoffroy LeQautre and finished 23:11 behind the stage winner.In other coverage, James Raia has trotted out the standard Lanterne Rouge article again this year.
Labels: Burghardt, Cardenas, Cavendish, Cheula, Degano, Klöden, Kuschynski, LeQuatre, Napolitano, Noval, Vinokourov, Wiggins, Zabriskie
Thursday, July 12, 2007
A basket of apples
That's what Dave Zabriskie received from town officials at the start of Stage 4, in recognition of his last-place Lanterne Rouge finish in Stage 3. He's working hard out there, I hope he can manage to eat a few.In related news, this inspiring story of his future brother-in-law, cyclist Saul Raisin, is worth reading.
Labels: Zabriskie
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Stage 4: Villers-Cotterêts to Joigny
Today's stage saw the withdrawal of one rider, Xabier Zandio, a Spaniard on the Caisse d'Epargne team. He was in 178th position in the General Classification. This reduces the peleton to a total of 186 riders.Thirteen riders lost time on the stage today as they straggled in after the main peleton. Ten of them gained more than two minutes:
177. VANDEVELDE Christian 37 TEAM CSC 04:40:28 + 00:02:41
178. DE GROOT Bram 53 RABOBANK 04:40:28 + 00:02:41
179. ARVESEN Kurt-Asle 32 TEAM CSC 04:40:28 + 00:02:41
180. RIGHI Daniele 87 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 04:40:28 + 00:02:41
181. CARDENAS Félix 212 BARLOWORLD 04:40:28 + 00:02:41
182. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 04:40:32 + 00:02:45
183. VERDUGO Gorka 79 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 04:40:53 + 00:03:06
184. SPRICK Matthieu 127 BOUYGUES TELECOM 04:40:55 + 00:03:08
185. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 04:40:56 + 00:03:09
186. DI GREGORIO Rémy 164 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 04:45:45 + 00:07:58
Again, many of these are riders like Dave Zabriskie who was undoubtably worn out after taking several big turns on the front of the peleton chasing down the breakaway, in support of their team leaders.
The order at the bottom of the GC has been shaken up a bit and Di Gregorio gaining nearly 8 minutes today puts him into the Lanterne Rouge position for the first time:
182. DE GROOT Bram 53 RABOBANK 19:54:42 + 00:04:47
183. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 19:57:04 + 00:07:09
184. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 19:57:25 + 00:07:30
185. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 19:58:56 + 00:09:01
186. DI GREGORIO Rémy 164 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 19:59:26 + 00:09:31
Zandio and Di Gregorio were both involved in a crash at about 62 km on the course today, which forced Zandio to abandon from a fractured collarbone. It took nearly 20 km for Di Gregorio to chase back to the peleton, with the aid of his teammate Lilian Jégou, but he still required treatments from the Tour doctor for an injured elbow at about 95 km. It was reported he was so injured that he needed help from a teammate with his musette bad in the feed zone, and he was struggling as he dropped off the back of the field with about 15 km to go to the finish line.
In other Lanterne Rouge press, there's a somewhat snarky piece at Bicycling.com that refers to the Lanterne Rouge as "first worst". That's certainly not what I would call some of the hardest-working, least-recognized riders in the peleton, but YMMV.
Update: Lanterne Rouge Rémy Di Gregorio has broken a bone in his arm which will require surgery, so he will be a DNS for Stage 5. We wish him a speedy recovery and a quick return to form. That will bring the number of riders down to no more than 185 in tomorrow's start.Labels: Arvesen, Cardenas, De Groot, Di Gregorio, Kuschynski, Righi, Sprick, Vandevelde, Vansevenant, Verdugo, Zabriskie, Zandio
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Stage 3: Waregem - Compiègne
Stéphane Vervalle captured Tomas Vaitkus's pain after the crash in Stage 2. He had surgery that evening for multiple breaks of his thumb.Despite the incredible size of the pileup in yesterday's stage, and an endless 236.5-km stage to ride today, Vaitkus was the only rider involved to leave the Tour. 187 riders remain.
Fully 14 riders lost small amounts of time in today's stage as they straggled in after a long, long ride:
174. ARVESEN Kurt-Asle 32 TEAM CSC 06:36:52 + 00:00:37
175. ANTON Igor 72 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 06:36:58 + 00:00:43
176. TOSATTO Matteo 178 QUICK STEP - INNERGETIC 06:36:58 + 00:00:43
177. HINAULT Sébastien 108 CREDIT AGRICOLE 06:37:04 + 00:00:49
178. ZANDIO Xabier 19 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
179. CUESTA Inigo 34 TEAM CSC 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
180. BENNATI Daniele 82 LAMPRE-FONDITAL 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
181. DE GROOT Bram 53 RABOBANK 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
182. NUYENS Nick 145 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
183. CHARTEAU Anthony 104 CREDIT AGRICOLE 06:37:07 + 00:00:52
184. ONGARATO Alberto 187 TEAM MILRAM 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
185. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
186. O’GRADY Stuart 35 TEAM CSC 06:37:12 + 00:00:57
187. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 06:37:20 + 00:01:05
Cuesta, O'Grady, and Zabriskie probably wore themselves out working hard to protect the yellow jersey on their teammate Cancellara - which paid off enormously, saving Cancellara enough energy on the long route to allow him to dramatically won another stage today.
However, with a 9-minute deficit, our current Lanterne Rouge Aleksandr Kuschynski may not be dislodged until the mountain stages. Here are our final five riders in the General Classification after Stage 3:
183. AUGE Stéphane 142 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 15:16:22 + 00:04:14
184. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 15:16:29 + 00:04:21
185. HERVE Cédric 136 AGRITUBEL 15:16:29 + 00:04:21
186. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 15:16:32 + 00:04:24
187. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 15:21:09 + 00:09:01
Auge joined the breakaway today at about 58 km before the finish, and tonight will sleep in the polka-dot jersey.
Labels: Anton, Arvesen, Auge, Bennati, Charteau, Cuesta, De Groot, Herve, Hinault, Kuschynski, Nuyens, O'Grady, Ongarato, Tosatto, Vaitkus, Vansevenant, Zabriskie, Zandio
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Stage 1 to Canterbury
Cyclingnews.com tells the tale of the first rider to abandon from the 2007 Tour de France: "Eduardo Gonzalo [Ramirez] of Agritubel injured his right shoulder after 67 kilometres in Maidstone and crashed out of Le Tour, so 188 riders will start tomorrow as the Tour returns to France."Contrary to reports on Versus today, this was not Gonzalo's first Tour - he finished the 2006 Tour in 99th place in the General Classification and 16th place for the young rider's jersey.
Ouch! Eurosport reported that Eduardo Gonzalo crashed into the rear window of the Caisse d'Epargne team car.
Seven riders finished today's stage behind the main peleton:
182. LANCASTER Brett 186 TEAM MILRAM 04:40:30 + 00:01:29
183. VANSEVENANT Wim 49 PREDICTOR - LOTTO 04:40:33 + 00:01:32
184. ZABRISKIE David 39 TEAM CSC 04:41:28 + 00:02:27
185. HERVE Cédric 136 AGRITUBEL 04:41:46 + 00:02:45
186. CAVENDISH Mark 23 T-MOBILE TEAM 04:41:46 + 00:02:45
187. AUGE Stéphane 142 COFIDIS CREDIT PAR TELEPHONE 04:41:46 + 00:02:45
188. KUSCHYNSKI Aleksandr 156 LIQUIGAS 04:46:49 + 00:07:48
Generally, finishes of this type on flat stages are the result of either late crashes or a rider coming late to the line because of exhaustion after working hard for his team leader during the day. Occasionally it's the result of a mechanical problem for the team leader, and the domestique gives up his own wheels to the leader and waits behind for the team car.
2006 Lanterne Rouge Wim Vansevenant was given high praise by stage winner Robbie McEwen for his supporting role: "You could see on television how much work guys like Wim Vansevenant and Johan van Summeren did trying to bring me back to the peloton after my crash. It took a very long time because, at the moment I crashed, that's when the race really started going full gas. I don't think it was any coincidence that they started riding a bit faster when I was off the back but well, it's just incredible how much work my team did to bring me back. This is the perfect way to repay them for their effort."
Dave Zabriskie's story today is similar: "US TT champ Dave Zabriskie (CSC) crossed the finish line in 184th, 2'27" back as the American dropped off the pace in the final kilometres after his hard tempo work on the front today for his teammate Cancellara."
Today's late finish gives us a new Lanterne Rouge, Aleksandr Kuschynski, a native of Belarus who rides for Liquigas. Alternatively, spelled Aliaksandr Kuchynski on the Liquigas website. He apparently exhausted himself while off the front of the peleton for a lengthy time during the stage in a breakaway, chasing down sprint points. He earned a total of 6 sprint points which puts him into 20th place in the chase for the green jersey.
Labels: Gonzalo, Kuchynski, Kuschynski, Ramirez, Vansevenant, Zabriskie
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Will they be riding FELTS and wearing ARGYLE?
There's a rumor going around that some big guns are heading to Slipstream next year. But not participating in the Grand Tours, which would be criminal! Names bandied about include some of our favorites like Zabriskie and former Lanterne Rouge Backstedt.
Hmmmm. . . . I really would love to see them on a Felt, same as I ride, though.
Hmmmm. . . . I really would love to see them on a Felt, same as I ride, though.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Tour of California disapointment
Sigh. I guess it was too much to hope for, a grand Tour within the United States.
How about maybe some live coverage so that we don't have to wait up until eleven to see the stage finish on a weeknight here on the east coast?
Or at least a live web feed?
Or maybe even results online within an hour after the stage finishes?
Throw us a bone here, organizers!
Mostly I'm really disappointed that my personal favorite pro rider, Dave Zabriskie of CSC, crashed out today. I hope he's not badly hurt. I'll continue to watch the TofC and hope that another of my favorites, Ivan Basso of Discovery, does well, but he's probably going to be keeping a very low profile riding in support of Levi Leipheimer.
Oh well.
Update (Tuesday): The Amgen site seems to be working today, hurrah! And it is pretty slick, I'll grant that. Though it should have been working two days ago already. And I still can't understand why the officials gave Levi the gift of the leader's jersey yesterday after the crash 10K back from the finish line.
How about maybe some live coverage so that we don't have to wait up until eleven to see the stage finish on a weeknight here on the east coast?
Or at least a live web feed?
Or maybe even results online within an hour after the stage finishes?
Throw us a bone here, organizers!
Mostly I'm really disappointed that my personal favorite pro rider, Dave Zabriskie of CSC, crashed out today. I hope he's not badly hurt. I'll continue to watch the TofC and hope that another of my favorites, Ivan Basso of Discovery, does well, but he's probably going to be keeping a very low profile riding in support of Levi Leipheimer.
Oh well.
Update (Tuesday): The Amgen site seems to be working today, hurrah! And it is pretty slick, I'll grant that. Though it should have been working two days ago already. And I still can't understand why the officials gave Levi the gift of the leader's jersey yesterday after the crash 10K back from the finish line.
Labels: Basso, Leipheimer, Tour of California, Zabriskie
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Stage 9: Mountain fever epidemic
American Dave Zabriskie, riding for CSC, dropped out of the Tour de France today at about the 10 km point in Stage 9. He was visibly exhausted and demoralized. He said he had an "overall extremely bad feeling in my whole body" and called his withdrawal "a bad moment in my life". He said of his dizzying descent from leader of the Tour to withdrawal from the race, "I was way up here and way down there - it's a crazy sport".Commentator Bob Roll criticized the CSC team for leaving Dave alone on the side of the road bleeding after his crash near the finish line of the team time trial, and indicated that the experience must have contributed to his poor performance the last few days.
Dave hopes to recover sufficiently to go on to the world cycling championships in a few weeks. Bravo, Dave, good luck and thanks for giving us spectators such a great ride on your first Tour de France! As his teammate Jens Voigt said, "Whatever happens, he's still my hero. He gave the team a great start with the stage win and the yellow jersey. He beat Lance Armstrong and that doesn't happen very often."
Also withdrawing today from the Tour de France: Jose Angel Gomez Marchante, a Spaniard riding for Saunier Duval who broke his collarbone in an accident in the feed zone; Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, a Spaniard riding for Liberty Seguros who crashed at the 4 km mark going at a speed of about 30 mph, but fortunately suffered only severe bruising. [Update, July 23: Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano has been diagnosed with a broken coccyx (tailbone), 12 days after he pulled out of the Tour de France. The rider underwent a new MRI scan this week due to the persistent backaches he has suffered since his bad crash on stage nine of the race. The Liberty Seguros rider must take a break and allow the injury to heal, with rest the only treatment for the fracture. Manolo Saiz will wait for him to recover before designing his program for the rest of the season. In theory, the Vuelta a España is a big objective, providing he can get into condition for the race. ]
Also abandoning were two riders who experienced trouble starting on the Category 2 climbs yesterday: Jaan Kirsipuu, an Estonian sprinter on the Credit Agricole team (who routinely withdraws from the Tour in the mountains) who was dropped by the peloton at 5km; and Luciano Pagliarini, a Brazilian on the Liquidgas team (a sprinter and teammate of Magnus Backstedt).
That leaves 175 riders still in the peloton as the race heads into the Alps after a rest day tomorrow.
Iker Flores maintains his position as Lanterne Rouge, last in the General Classification, with an aggregate time of 1:12:25 behind the maillot jaune. He had a solid finish in 101st position for the stage today, however. From the Euskaltel-Euskadi team site after Stage 6 on July 7, a really bad translation from the Spanish: "The equipment this good. Iker Flores this a little sore due to the fall that underwent the other day, but good, is logical. Of to the Alps one recovers here safe. By the others, all we were well, with the high moral. If it were not thus, equal already we would have gone away. We have margin and we aspired to make pretty things in this Tour."
The only rider to finish significantly behind the major groups in Stage 9 was #34 Daniel Becke, a German sprinter on the Illes Balears team, who crossed the finish line last by himself about 5 minutes in arrears. Becke was 4th in the 1st stage of the Vuelta a Alemania last year.
Labels: Backstedt, Becke, de Galdeano, Flores, Iker, Kirsipuu, Marchante, Mountain Fever, Pagliarini, Roll, Saiz, Voigt, Zabriskie
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Stage 8: They made it!
The former maillot jaune wearer, # 29 Dave Zabriskie of the USA riding for CSC, finally arrived at the finish line last in Stage 8 after a difficult ride, 51:12 after the stage winner. He was within one minute of being eliminated. That moves him from first overall at the start of the Tour all the way down to the penultimate position, 179th place in the General Classification. He must still be experiencing the aftermath of his dramatic fall during the team time trial. He described his symptoms: "It's stiff. It's a little hard to breathe, my knee is painful.... That's what happens when you fall off."
Martin Dugard described Dave's day in Stage 8: "David Zabriskie, who was experiencing the ultimate cycling high by winning the yellow jersey a week ago, had a wretched day today. He finished so far behind the field that Lance Armstrong had already changed out of his cycling shoes, answered preliminary interview questions, and completed the length[y] podium ceremony. Zabriskie looked scared before the start today, as if he would rather be anywhere else in the world than here. A few more finishes like today, and he may be."
Other finishers in the back of the pack in Stage 8, perhaps experiencing some difficulties on the climbs today, were Jean-Patrick Nazon (A2R); Jaan Kirsipuu (CA); and Luciano Pagliarini (LIQ).
Returning to the Lanterne Rouge position, in last place overall in the General Classification, #194 Iker Flores of Spain riding for Eukaltel Euskadi. He crossed the Stage 8 finish line at 46:05 after the stage winner. It was reported before Stage 4 that he has some hip and knee injuries. Flores was off the front of the peloton for a while about 5 km into the stage in pursuit of the two breakaway riders, but was caught again within 3 or 4 km.
Former Lanterne Rouge #127 Janeck Tombak of Estonia, riding for Cofidis, despite being a sprinter showed some ability in the mountains and made up time, crossing the finish line in 142nd place for the stage, 17:41 after the stage winner.
Even better, our first Lanterne Rouge #87 Leonardo Piepoli of the Saunier Duval team had an outstanding day in the hills, showing off his climbing skills by finishing in the first pack (along with his American teammate Christopher Horner, Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, et al.) only 27 seconds behind the stage winners.
Labels: Armstrong, Flores, Horner, Iker, Kirsipuu, Nazon, Pagliarini, Piepoli, Tombak, Ullrich, Zabriskie
More abandons
Cyclingpost.com reports that Christophe Mengin, the brave Stage 6 breakaway rider from Française des Jeux, has decided to withdraw from the Tour prior to Stage 8. He was close to a solo stage win at that time but fell and fractured a bone near his left eye, and his eye subsequently swelled shut.
Procyclingnews reports on three more dropouts: "Ukraine’s Serhiy Honchar also abandoned, leaving the Domina Vacanze team without their leader. Ag2r’s Sylvain Calzati, victim of a series of crashes most notably on a set of damp railway tracks that crossed the course late in stage seven, was the first rider to abandon Saturday’s stage. Soon after, Illes Balears’ Isaac Galvez, who crashed in the finishing straight yesterday, also abandoned."
It was also announced that the Dutch Davitamon-Lotto rider Leon van Bon gave up due to an injury caused by a spectator in Friday's stage 7.
These losses leave a total of 180 cyclists remaining in the 2005 Tour de France peloton.
It does indeed seem that the dreaded Mountain Fever has struck down several riders already in the Tour!
At 172 km David Zabriskie was 28 minutes behind the peloton. Even if he finishes Stage 8, with that long of a time gap he may be eliminated by the judges.
Procyclingnews reports on three more dropouts: "Ukraine’s Serhiy Honchar also abandoned, leaving the Domina Vacanze team without their leader. Ag2r’s Sylvain Calzati, victim of a series of crashes most notably on a set of damp railway tracks that crossed the course late in stage seven, was the first rider to abandon Saturday’s stage. Soon after, Illes Balears’ Isaac Galvez, who crashed in the finishing straight yesterday, also abandoned."
It was also announced that the Dutch Davitamon-Lotto rider Leon van Bon gave up due to an injury caused by a spectator in Friday's stage 7.
These losses leave a total of 180 cyclists remaining in the 2005 Tour de France peloton.
It does indeed seem that the dreaded Mountain Fever has struck down several riders already in the Tour!
At 172 km David Zabriskie was 28 minutes behind the peloton. Even if he finishes Stage 8, with that long of a time gap he may be eliminated by the judges.
Labels: abandonments, Calzati, Galvez, Honchar, Mengin, Mountain Fever, van Bon, Zabriskie
