Monday Musette – Special Wednesday Edition

by Whit

With so much going on this week, I thought a special edition of the Musette was in order.  Here we go:1. Tyler Farrar won today’s Scheldeprijs, continuing the fine form he’s displayed so far during this year’s Belgian Classics. It’s Farrar’s second win of the season following his victory in Stage 3a of the 3-Days of DePanne. More importantly, it’s the young American’s fifth major top-10 result on Belgian soil this season following his 3rd-place finish in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 9th-place in Ghent-Wevelgem, and 5th-place in the Tour of Flanders. All Tyler needs now is a solid finish in...Continue Reading

Monday Musette – Paris-Nice Wrap-Up, Sad News from Poland, & One Great Ride

by Whit

Here’s today’s Monday Musette:1. Let’s begin with yesterday’s completion of Paris-Nice, where Astana’s Alberto Contador kept his cool to survive an onslaught of attacks from Caisse d’Epargne to win his second Paris-Nice. Give me some credit for predicting the top-3—even though I had Contador and Valverde in the wrong positions. Here’s what we noticed:–Astana and Katusha work well together. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I found it interesting to see Katusha—not Astana—setting the pace at several points during yesterday’s stage. Were they trying to place Joaquim Rodriguez higher on the GC? Maybe, but more likely a deal was...Continue Reading

Monday Musette – Weekend Wrap-up, Great Videos, and Two Rides You Should Do

by Whit

We’ve got a lot to get to today—let’s dive right in!  First, a brief recap of the weekend’s events:1. While I didn’t come right out and say he would win, give me some credit for indicating that Frantisek Rabon was someone to watch for.  Yes, there were bigger names behind him, but at this point in the season, Rabon had to be considered a threat.  Aside from Rabon, Bradley Wiggins seems to be building quite nicely for April and May.  I’m eager to see how well he fares at Paris-Roubaix and the Giro.  As for Lance, Bruyneel’s apparently decided that...Continue Reading

Monday Musette – Cadel, BMC, Ghent-Wevelgem, and More!

by Whit

Here’s what’s on Pavé’s mind this Monday:1. The twitterati were abuzz this past weekend with news of Cadel Evans’ transfer to BMC. Twitter’s an interesting phenomenon as it allows you to witness the evolution of the news as it broke. First it was revealed that Evans did not re-sign with Silence-Lotto; then came the lists of teams with which he might land including SKY, Garmin, Radio Shack, Astana, and AG2R. Teams soon began taking themselves out of the running–with Garmin making a particular effort to clear its name (maybe to prevent Wiggo from growing more hostile?) from the list–until BMC...Continue Reading

Crush the Commonwealth – Report

by Whit

Photo by fxdwhlSeveral of you shared my interest in this year’s Crush the Commonwealth. For a terrific blow-by-blow report, head over to Lockring.not.included where Fxdwhl is in the midst of sharing his experiences. ...Continue Reading