Cycling 2010

[Bluebeard]

Well, Phil Deignan is out of the Vuelta now - no word on why that I have seen. Just a bad season all around, and a particularly bad time for his to have to drop out. Any word on him getting a new team yet?

[Bluebeard]

Anton was very impressive today - as the climbing started I thought it was going to be a walk in the park for Mosquera. Anton will need every second he can get for apodium finish though, as he tends to lose roughly 30-45 seconds every 10k of a time-trial.

Great performance by Roche to stay with the big boys today - finished 13th into Andorra, still 8th overall, though Frank Schleck has crept up to level on time with him.

[Billsthoughts]

Well, Phil Deignan is out of the Vuelta now - no word on why that I have seen. Just a bad season all around, and a particularly bad time for his to have to drop out. Any word on him getting a new team yet?
radioshack or lotto apparently

[Bluebeard]

Fantastic performance from Nic Roche today to finish 6th, moving up to 5th overall! Keeping it over the next few days will be tough, but we are looking at a possible top 10 from him.

Shame about Anton's crash - I had thought he had a very good chance of staying in the jersey up to the time trial.

[Billsthoughts]

today and tomorrow are the two remaining mountain stages? whats roches chances of taking time off some of the others in the TT? felt sorry for igor anton. broken arm apparently. along with gettign scraped to bits!

[Mr A]

Don't think Roche will do much in the time trial, whatever progress he makes will probably be in the mountains.. he really is going very well indeed.

[Billsthoughts]

great stage todya as well. roche unreal to be still in there.

[Bluebeard]

Great performance again today - it really looks like Schleck is hanging on to Roche for dear life! Shame that Velits got away and slipped into 4th, when it was looking for a little while like Roche might sneak into 4th. It would be an immense performance if he could hold onto 6th though. We'll see how tomorrow goes - another good performance, and a slip by Tondo and/or Velits (my tip to fail tomorrow) could be very good news for Nic. If he manages to put in YET ANOTHER great performance, he would have just the TT to worry about losing major time on. Fingers crossed.

[Mr A]

Roche back up to fifth having passed Velits and Tondo but lost out to Schleck and with a decentish gap to those behind him. 3 minutes off the lead. Anybody have any idea what the rest of the top ten are like in time trials?

General classification after stage 16
1 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 70:24:39
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:00:33
3 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:00:53
4 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:02:16
5 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2R-La Mondiale 0:03:01
6 Peter Velits (Svk) Team HTC-Columbia 0:04:27
7 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:04:29
8 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 0:04:43
9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 0:04:53
10 David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:06:23

[Bluebeard]

Nibali strikes me as the best of the top 5. Rodriguez, Mosquera, and Roche all probably lose about 35-50s per 10k judging by previous performance, Schleck possibly more, though I don't think it will be enough for Nic to get 15s back on him. What will be key will be how they cope with the rest day, and how their position inspires them. Of the next 5, Danielson and Garcia would strike me as being the best, Tondo being the next best of them. Velits I don't know so much about - Dodge might be able to enlighten us if he is back yet? Danielson could overtake Nic if he has a bad trial. For the win on Wednesday, I'd be reckoning Bruseghin or Cancellara.

We still have the Bola Del Mundo to go on Saturday too - a very good chance of a final shake-up there.

[Mr A]

WTF? Six one news just gave Sunday's report on the Vuelta, saying Barredo won and Roche was 6th. Good old RTE!

[Billsthoughts]

rte news just gave the result from two days ago when baredo one as todays result. very poor.

[Billsthoughts]

loads of irish interest tour of britain...www.tourofbritain.co.uk

[Dodge]

Ended up not catching the Vuelta live as a French air traffic controller's strike delayed the flight by a few hours. Watched a bit of it on TV though (during siesta time) and the coverage is brutal. Didn't even show Roche crossing the line when he finished 5th. in fairness they have the results up quickly.

Roche is actually a better time trialler than most of those around him. He cold make up a small bit of time but unlikely to challenge. Saturday's stage is the big one

[Mr A]

Yeah, when I was watching the stage on Friday the coverage was poor, it was very hard to tell what was going on apart from who was in front. It wasn't helped by the fact that the roads were so packed with people, so close to the riders that even from the helicopter shots it wasn't very clear.

[Mr A]

Roche off very soon. In his Indo piece he says he'd be happy to stay 5th, but also mentions that he could gain time, especially on Schleck.

[passinginterest]

Hoping for a miracle ride and a podium place. His articles in the Independent really make for great reading. I have the live updates from cyclingnews open in the office and will be checking back regularly.

[Mr A]

Updates here too: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/cycling/livematch/406692.html

[Mr A]

Podium looks very unlikely but 4th a possibility..


Nicolas Roche is 54th after 31km, but crucially seems to be pulling back some time on Frank Schleck.

[Mr A]

Roche could be in danger from Sastre :(

[Bluebeard]

****e on Velits anyway. Real danger for Roche's spot.

UPDATE: Velits has gone 4th at the 31k point, Roche 5th. Hopefully Roche will pull back in the last bit, or Schleck will stumble.

[Schumi]

He gained some time on Schleck but not enough. Down to 6th overall I think.

[Mr A]

Disaster :(

1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 71:19:49
2 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia 0:00:39
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Team HTC-Columbia 0:02:00
4 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:44
5 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:03:45
6 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 0:03:45
7 Tom Danielson (USA) Garmin-Transitions 0:03:55
8 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Ag2R-La Mondiale 0:04:03
9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 0:04:13
10 Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:05:43

Friday will be all important though.

[Dodge]

Not a disaster. Made time on Schleck, lost time on those he was expected to lose time to (bar maybe Tondo). He'll get 40 seconds + on Danielson and Tondo on Friday

BTW I despise people who throw out allegations willy nilly but that Velits TT has come out of nowhere. His previous best TT at any kind of level was 10th in this years Tour of the Basque country. He was 5 secnds behinf Rodriguez then. He beat him by 6 minutes today

[Billsthoughts]

please god he gets thrown out for doping before end of tour :)

[Bluebeard]

The Velits TT is astounding the more I think about it - you would expect him to be watched by cameras if he were tipped.

Anyway, ignoring that until someone else like WADA looks it up, Roche is theoretically only 19s from 4th. Danielson is not likely to last in the mountains, but everyone else who is just above him, and perhaps Sastre below him has proven that they can climb this tour, including Tondo although I agree he could lose out. I think he may need to contest the odd intermediate sprint for bonus seconds (they do provide a bonus, don't they?) and pick up a few on Schleck and Sastre, who I think only had the one good climb in him this year and we saw that on Monday. I note that Rodriguez might still be on a downer after yesterday's efforts - he was completely cooked - and it wouldn't surprise me if he were to be dropped today or tomorrow as the sprints wind up.

[Mr A]

WTF? Roche has disappeared from the results lists on the official site and on Cycling News. Hoping that's just a screw up...

Edit- yes it was, phew!

[Dodge]

Roche actually made 4 seconds on some (Tondo, Sastra, Danielson)

[Mr A]

Yep, all good when the gaps are so small.

On the Velits thing- Roche seemed to feel in his daily piece that he had a bit of TT pedigree at least, albeit yesterday was an exceptional performance. That said, I immediately thought the same as you guys.

[Dodge]

I've looked up his records. He certainly doesn't have a pedigree in TT. Even when he won the world u23 road race in 2008, he finished 15th in the u23 TT

[Dodge]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/deignan-close-to-deal-for-2011?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=news_headlines

Deignan talking to 3 teams (1 protour) and expects a deal to be signed next week. No indicators apart from saying Sky wasn't one of them.

[Grey Boy]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/deignan-close-to-deal-for-2011?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=news_headlines

Deignan talking to 3 teams (1 protour) and expects a deal to be signed next week. No indicators apart from saying Sky wasn't one of them.

Thats great to hear. Can see him going to AG2R what with Roche being the main man now.

[Bluebeard]

Relieved it looks like he has got a ride and that it isn't Sky. Is it wrong to be kind of pleased that they are generally doing poorly?

[Dodge]

No, I'm delighted. Brailsford came across as ridiculously smug that his track methods would work wonders with the road boys and turn Wiggins into a Tour de France winner almost overnight. They'd be nothing without Boasson Hagan

[Billsthoughts]

it was lotto and radioshack he was talking to according to kelly one day on the commentary on eurosport.

[Dodge]

Official results have missed Roche and Schleck again!

Looks like Velits and Nibali gained a few seconds too

[Billsthoughts]

roche punctured at some stage according to the eurosport feed then they dont mention it again!

[Stuttgart88]

No, I'm delighted. Brailsford came across as ridiculously smug that his track methods would work wonders with the road boys and turn Wiggins into a Tour de France winner almost overnight. They'd be nothing without Boasson Hagan

By all accounts they were hugely unpopular at the Tour, driving Jaguars as team cars and cutting off the team bus from public view, both big no no's according to tradition. Also, Wiggins' training & weight managment regime looks to have backfired.

The Garmin approach that Wiggins smugly derided upon moving to SKY mustn't have been so bad after all.

[Bluebeard]

I particularly like the fact that their best results from a Brit rider this year came from Russell Downing, who they really pulled awful faces about signing because he wasn't a big name, and only raced in Britain. He must be disappointed that he only signed for them. Looks like Sky was Wigan, not Man U, after all...

Roche gained some seconds on Schleck and Sastre, and topped Danielson today. Tomorrow could be a massive day in his career. Fingers crossed it is.

[Bluebeard]

Ah well, 7th isn't the worst result ever. Shame about Tondo getting back in contact, and worse about Velits mystery TT the other day, but 7th is the best Irish result in a GT since Kelly won the Vuelta in 88, building, so to speak, on Deignan's 9th last year. Some great performances in the mountains from Roche, including today, in one of the toughest and most competitive Vueltas in recent years. I think Schleck should thank him personally, as it was Nic's wheel he sat on for most of the Vuelta.

Speaking of Saxo - I see Riis has released Cancellara - another moment of Riis rashness, I suspect. Given the staff they have had, and compared with how many Grand Tours they won, is Riis the single worst GT manager in the sport?

[Macy]

I particularly like the fact that their best results from a Brit rider this year came from Russell Downing, who they really pulled awful faces about signing because he wasn't a big name, and only raced in Britain. He must be disappointed that he only signed for them. Looks like Sky was Wigan, not Man U, after all...
They're more like Newcastle - paying inflated grand tour challenger money for one off performers... Biggest problem for them is Brailsfords two hats - someone like Thomas should be concentrating on the road, and more particularly lightening up for the mountains - he'll lose three years double jobbing for the track ahead of the olympics. Good call on Downing - interesting he's not rushing to sign for another year...

A great result for Roche imo. Time Trailling is something that can be improved through specific training and wind tunnels etc, whereas you can't learn to climb mountains. Hopefully it'll be enough to ensure full backing of his team mates for next year - goal must be top 10 in the tour now?

[Dodge]

A top 10 in the tour and some effing wins! He's established his credentials now as a fine rider but he needs to geta couple of big wins to keep moving up the ladder.

Interested to read he doesn't have a time trail bike to train on. He's already said this is his number one priority. I think the fact he lost no more than a minute on any stage to some real mountain goats bodes very well. he didn't crack once. A huge breakthrough

[Dodge]

In the newly published world rankings, Roche has climbed to 32nd with Dan martin slipping to 48th. Ireland remains in 17th place.

Importantly for Roche his Ag2R team climb to 17th place (which means automatic qualification for the grand tours next year). Cervelo are still ahead of them but every point counts.

Only the Tour of Lombardy is left this season (for ranking points). Dan Martin has targeted a good result here

[Stuttgart88]

Not having a TT bike is unbelievable really.

[Dodge]

Contador tests positive for Clenbuterol at le tour

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5836/Alberto-Contador-positive-for-clenbuterol-at-Tour-de-France-team-claiming-food-contamination.aspx

UCI say needs further investigation

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5837/UCI-says-Alberto-Contadors-Tour-de-France-doping-positive-requires-further-scientific-investigation.aspx

We'll see how it plays out. The level is certainly bannable but looks like Contadors whole management team are completely on the ball and coming out first, with facts and scientific studies to back them up, shows they're trying to control the situation

[Dodge]

Reports now that Mosquera and David Garcia failed tests at the Vuelta.

Going to be a long, long, long weekend for any cycling fans


Of course the Mosquera and Contador cases aren't related bu in the eye of the media, they'll be seen as further proof of each other

[Spudulika]

I know it's innocent until proven guilty, but contaminated food is a bit much. While I'd like to think that at least some cyclists are drug free, it just looks less and less likely. As Paul Kimmage said - a clean tour would mean slower times, sprints and therefore less interest.

[Dodge]

This year's times were significantly slower than in previous years. One climb, lead by Contador, was 7 minutes slower than when pantani rode it in 98. 7 minutes over a 40 minute ride...

There's also been studies done to show that european beef had high levels of Clenbuterol.

He'll need fairly hard evidence to back his claim up though, so we're looking at another "great" champion dethroned

[Dodge]

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2010/09/contador-tests-positive.html

Pretty informative article

[Bluebeard]

I note that Beppu (I think) at Radioshack has also had a similar positive this year, but was able to plead the contaminated food line too. According to Don Caitlin there was a case in 2008 with the swimmer Jessica Hardy where it was found to be in supplements. I'll be interested to see how this will be reported generally. It was a headline on US Sports reporting as of yesterday. I suspect this case will be one to watch for a while though, coming as the Federal investigation into US Postal is starting to probe slowly towards the heart of the team.

The news about Mosquera is a genuine surprise to me - I had thought that he looked vulnerable on occasion at the Vuelta. Heart breaking for Pino, who has been trying to do things right, and has been having trouble getting a sponsor for next year. Bad news for Vacansoliel. Funnily enough there is also word of suspicious substances being found at Riccó's house who just signed for them. Looks like it is time for him to cut another close personal associate loose again.

With the world championships also comes some restoration of the ranks of world cycling. Cancellara wins with Miller second and Martin (Tony, obviously) third. David McCann finished 25th, 4m52 down. For comparison, the best Slovakian placed 8s down on him, in 27th. A certain Peter Velits, time-trial wonderkid finished 32nd at 5m26. Maybe some more test results from the Vuelta still have to be processed...