Monday Musette – Cross Worlds, Euro Openers, "Therapy", and Belgian Bikes

Posted on February 2, 2010 by

What a weekend!  Cross Worlds, European season openers, and–as always–some other interesting bits to discuss:

1. The obvious weekend story was the East-West showdown at Cyclocross Worlds in Tabor, Czech Republic.  Yes, the Wall has fallen, but a quick rundown of the results indicates a beating reminiscent of Rocky IV (the beginning of the movie—before the funky training-in-a-barn to the sound of “Eye of the Tiger”). 

 Photo Tim Van Wichelen

In the Elite Men’s race, the pre-race favorite, Zdenek Stybar continued his dream season with a resounding win before a home crowd.  While Stybar’s result wasn’t much a surprise, the way in which he won might have been, as the Belgian contingent seemed to have little response to the Czech’s display of power. 

 Photo Tim Van Wichelen

That said, the bigger shock came in Saturday’s U23 race, where another pre-race favorite, Belgium’s Tom Meeusen, went down quicker than Apollo Creed to not one, but two Polish riders–brothers no less! Meeusen–who the winner admitted is a better rider–could muster no better than 4th on a day that began with the young Czech Tomas Paprstka taking the first Rainbow Jersey of the weekend–a taste of bigger things to come for the Czechs.  

When it was all said and done, the only world title heading West belongs to Holland’s Marianne Vos, who stormed away from her competition early in the race—winning her second consecutive World Championship in the process.

While the traditional powerhouses—okay, let’s be honest, we’re mainly taking about Belgium—still have reason to be optimistic about the future, it’s clear that Stybar has a long and successful career ahead of him.  Belgium’s toughest competition might finally come from somewhere other than Belgium.

 Photo Tim Van Wichelen

But don’t worry, my fine Flemish and Walloon friends—you’ll always have beer.  Or will you?


2. In other racing news, the European season is officially underway in France and Italy.  Look for weekend previews to reconvene here every Friday—particularly as we draw closer and closer to more important events.  For now, I find it interesting that 2 new teams—or redesigned teams—took wins over the weekend with Jonathan Hivert punching Saur-Sojasun’s card, and Matteo Montaguti taking a win for De Rosa-Stac Plastic.  

Fotoreporter Sirotti

3. And by the way, I’m officially submitting Saur-Sojasun as an example of a team with kit I actually like.  That might not be saying anything, considering the overabundance of—let’s call a spade a spade—ugly designs filling the peloton this season.  Regardless, I like it—the Gitane’s are a nice touch too.

4. Moving-on, here’s another article from VeloNews on the “therapeutic” merits of PRP Therapy (platelet-rich-plasma).  Unless I’m reading it incorrectly, WADA seems to consider this method okay—for now.  Maybe I’m missing something, but how is this not considered performance enhancement?  Where is the line here?    

5. On Friday, I wrote about what might be considered a looming crisis in French cycling.  One of my astute readers mentioned that the same could be said of Spain.  Footon-Servetto, Euskaltel, and Caisse d’Epargne are Spain’s three Pro Tour teams this year (one more than France).  However, Caisse d’Epargne has already announced that this season will be its last, and Mauro Gianetti seems to struggle every year to put his team together.  And bikes?  Spanish makers BH and Orbea back two of the Spanish squads, but from there the list gets smaller.  Riders?  Aside from Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre, Spain’s doing a better job than France of keeping its home talent at home—at least from a Grand Tour perspective; Alejandro Valverde, Samuel Sanchez, and Luis Leon Sanchez all ride for Spanish teams.  Classics-wise, the best Spaniards ride for teams more suited to their talents: Juan Antonio Flecha and Carlos Barredo come to mind.  

So is the situation in Spain the same as it is in France?  Not quite, but with a major team set to dissolve if a new title sponsor cannot be found, the landscape could change quickly.

6. Not sure where it fits in today’s post, but Belgium Knee Warmers published a terrific article on Het Nieuwsblad.  We’re less than 4 weeks away!

7. From Belgian racing to Belgian bikes—sort of.  I met Craig Gaulzetti through my contributions to Embrocation Cycling Journal.  If you didn’t read his piece on VDB, you missed perhaps one of the greatest pieces of writing from 2009.  He’s also a talented frame builder who has recently received some very favorable press for his efforts.  Aluminum’s his preferred frame material, and the style is all-Belgian.  These bikes are tools of a trade and are built to last accordingly.  Aluminum doesn’t have the cachet of other materials currently in vogue, but when you’re building something to be raced in an environment of incessant foul weather and bad roads, “en vogue” is not what you need.

Perhaps I’ve said too much—I hate sounding too “precious” about things like this.  Regardless, check-out Craig’s work—if you’re the right person for it, you won’t be disappointed.

8.  And speaking of bikes, El Cyclista has a terrific new piece about the current color palette of team bikes.  Of the 4 images he includes, it’s tough for me to tell which I like the best.  Aw heck, I’ll just kill two birds with one stone and say “Ridley”.

Thanks for reading!  As always, share your comments below.

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Cyclocross Worlds Elite Men Live Stream

Posted on January 31, 2010 by

Enjoy the race!

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No Renaissance for France?

Posted on January 29, 2010 by

I’m not too proud to admit that I happen to be wrong from time to time. Case in point: during last season’s Tour de France, I did my best to fly the flag for the home team, proclaiming that the 2010 Grand Tour might be the dawn of a renaissance in French cycling. To me, Brice Feillu’s heroic stage win, AG2R’s days in yellow, and Christophe Le Mevel’s top-10 finish, all were signs that the times may be a-changin’ in a nation long-starved for big-time success.

But following yet another lukewarm off-season for the French, I’m starting to second-guess myself. As we enter into 2010, the French status quo has been maintained—at best—but the situation could soon prove to be much, much worse.

First of all, of the 18 Pro Tour teams, only 2 are French. Sure, Pro Tour status doesn’t quite mean what it once did—even Italy only has 2 squads. And yes, there are still 3 French Professional Continental teams (with Agritubel being replaced by Stéphane Heulot’s Saur-Sojasur outfit). But every year it seems that one French team or another needs some kind of Ave Maria just to keep its title sponsor. One year it’s Cofidis, the next it’s BBox, and so on and so forth. Only la Francaise des Jeux seems to have survived the last decade with nary a hint of sponsor dissatisfaction or pullout—a surprising situation when you consider the lack of big wins for Madiot’s boys.

But it’s not only the title sponsors that seem to be growing weary of supporting French squads. Two French teams now have Italian bike sponsors—Bbox and AG2R. True, it’s not the first time: AG2R’s outsourced for years, and Kuota was Agritubel’s bike supplier for two season’s before providing bikes to AG2R in 2010. A big deal? Perhaps not. But something just doesn’t feel right to me about a French team riding a Colnago.

And sponsors aren’t the only ones leaving France for greener pastures—riders are too. France’s best Classics rider—Sylvain Chavanel— already rides for a foreign team—Quick Step. Now the country’s most exciting hope for GC success at the Tour—Brice Feillu—has gone north to Dutch upstarts Vacansoleil. And that French espoir who won the Tour de L’Avenir and the World U23 Road Race, Romain Sicard? He signed a professional contract with Euskaltel. Euskaltel. Clearly something’s wrong when a nation’s best teams can’t even lure its best riders.

Clearly, if there’s any country in need of 1980’s-style Superteam, it’s France. Not a Superteam in the mold of Team Sky or Team HTC-Columbia—multilingual teams comprised of riders from across globe, backed by sponsors with interests straight out of Thomas Friedman’s book The World is Flat. No, France needs a team it can support unequivocally, with French stars riding French bikes for a French sponsor—maybe a Supermarket?  Yeah, I like the sound of that.

It could happen, non? Maybe Chavanel grows tired of playing 3rd fiddle behind Boonen and Devolder at Quick Step. Maybe the Feillu Brothers begin regret trading wine and foie gras for tulips and Heineken. After all, when was the last time you heard of someone successfully pulling the anti-Van Gogh, leaving France for career success in the Netherlands?

Am I being too hard on myself and the French? Maybe. But are we indeed witnessing the renaissance of French cycling? Unlikely. Instead, the Dark Ages seem destined to linger a bit—at least until someone comes along with the money and wherewithal to do something about it.

So while the world might be getting flatter for some, if you’re a fan of the French, it’s looks to be all uphill from here.

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Wednesday Cross Report and Power Ranking

Posted on January 28, 2010 by
The 2009-2010 cyclocross season is winding down, but there’s still one major event on the itinerary: the World Championships this weekend in Tabor, Czech Republic.  Erik’s back again this week with his Weekly Report and Power Ranking.  For more–including Erik’s in-depth World Championship Preview, visit his website, The Run-up.  As always, leave your comments for Erik below.
Just when I had written-off Niels Albert’s chances for a Worlds repeat, he comes storming through to surprise everyone, winning the final round of the World Cup in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. Needless to say, it was a bittersweet weekend for Albert, because Zdenek Stybar did just enough to take home the World Cup overall, finishing 2nd. Stybar received a heap of help from his teammate Kevin Pauwels who finished 3rd and never really challenged Stybar’s bid for his first World Cup title. Pauwels was followed across the line by fellow countrymen Klaas Vantornout and Sven Nys to fill-out the top-5. And, with the Belgians picking up 6 of the top 10 spots, they’re clearly ready for the World Championships this weekend. Behind the Belgian brigade, Gerben de Knegt finished inside the top-10 in one of his final few races in his home country this year, while American Jonathan Page managed to hold-on to his early success to finish 8th. All in all, it was a very exciting final round of the World Cup; and a number of great story lines still remain for the World Championships this weekend in Tabor, Czech Republic.
In Holland, Albert picked-up the win, but Stybar wound-up with the jersey. So who’s Number One this week? Time to find out:
1. Zdenek Stybar (1) – Stybar did just enough to take the World Cup overall with his 2nd place on Sunday. In the end, that’s good enough to stay Number One here. The Czech National Champion will have a lot of pressure on him in front of his fellow countrymen this weekend in Tabor. So far, he’s been able to handle it well, but Worlds is all about national teams, meaning Stybar will be without much help and almost all alone against the Belgians this weekend.
2. Niels Albert (9) – Albert simply rode away from the leaders on Sunday and really never looked back. He jumps-up 7 spots this week and seems to have found the form that brought him early season success. A few weeks ago, he said a Worlds repeat was out of the question. However, with Sunday’s performance, he’s on my list for the podium, and could definitely pick-up the win.
3. Klaas Vantornout (3) – Vantornout continues to quietly ride his way into the lead group, hanging-on for several top-5 finishes. He hasn’t shown the ability to attack the “big boys”, but always seems to be near the front when the winning moves are made. With a bit of luck and some great legs, the Belgian could find himself in the middle of the battle for the Rainbow Jersey.
4. Sven Nys (2) – Nys was the best of the chase group in Hoogerheide, raising a lot of questions. The most popular regarded Nys’ decision to race on Saturday in a meaningless Belgian race (which he won). The other big story was Nys’ comments about Sunday’s race not mattering ahead of Worlds. Bottom line: Nys needs to win on Sunday to make everyone forget his antics and excuses.
5. Erwin Vervecken (5) – Vervecken narrowly missed a second consecutive top-5 World Cup finish on Sunday. With his recent string of success, Vervecken has to be a favorite to podium in his final World Championships. Here’s a good tidbit to chew on: Vervecken has won three World titles; his first came in 2001—in Tabor.
6. Kevin Pauwels (na) – Pauwels’ podium finish launches him back into the rankings. He remains a wild card for a podium spot at Worlds, but it would take a lot of luck for him to take the top step. Regardless of how he does, Pauwels is another young Belgian who will have plenty of opportunities to pick-up a World Championship jersey in the future.
7. Tom Meeusen (4) – Much like Stybar, Meeusen wrapped-up his U23 World Cup overall with a second place in Hoogerheide. Meeusen is the odds-on favorite to win the U23 World Championships in Tabor, and is another Belgian superstar-to-be. He has already proven that he can race with the best in the world and thus remains in the rankings.
8. Gerben de Knegt (7) – de Knegt may not be the Dutch National Champion, but he has proven this year that he’s the best rider from his country. He’ll lead his nation on Sunday in Tabor and should finish inside the top-10. A podium spot seems out of the question at this point, but de Knegt continues to surprise everyone—even at age the of 35. Imagine if Nys (34), de Knegt (35), and Vervecken (38) were to finish on the podium!
9. Bart Aernouts (8) – Aernouts has rarely cracked the top-5 this year, but rides consistently in the top-10. His consistent season has earned him a Worlds spot. Clearly, he’s capable of a top-10 in Tabor, but anything better would be major surprise.
10. Jonathan Page (na) – Page’s 8th place on Sunday surprised everyone, including myself. As a result, Page will have a second row start in Tabor along with a lot of confidence. While he’s capable of a top-10 this weekend, I think a podium spot is out of the question. That said, he shocked the world in 2007—could he do it again?
Dropped this week: Bart Wellens (6) and Steve Chainel (10).
Unless you haven’t been paying attention, the 2010 Cyclocross World Championships take place in Tabor, Czech Republic this weekend. Overall, it’s been an incredibly exciting year and the World Championships promise to be no different. Belgium and the Czech Republic will both start seven riders, each country receiving a bonus rider due to having the current World Champion (Albert) and World Cup overall champion (Stybar). Belgium will start four former World Champions (Wellens, Nys, Vervecken and Albert). The odds-on favorites are Stybar, Nys and Albert, but a surprise could be lurking around every turn. All in all, it promises to be a battle to the end, one that I cannot wait to see. Enjoy the fireworks!
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Monday Musette – Caisse Says Goodbye, Chemistry, Monkeys in Heat

Posted on January 25, 2010 by

1. Some bad news broke last week when Caisse d’Epargne announced it would no longer sponsor a professional cycling team following the 2010 season.  Saxo Bank, Milram, Caisse d’Epargne—that’s 3 Pro Tour title sponsors.  I said it once and I’ll say it again: this is not good.  I know that we keep seeing new sponsors enter the sport, but when programs of such stature lose them, there are bound to unexpected side effects.  

In this case, here’s one: I still think the reason Alberto Contador was willing to ride another year for Astana was because he knew he would have a safe landing place in the form of Caisse d’Epargne in 2011.  By then—assuming the Caisse were still around—Valverde would have exhausted his team’s dwindling hopes for Tour de France success and a frustrated-by-playing-second-fiddle Luis Leon Sanchez might have left for greener pastures, paving the way for Contador to play messiah.  No chance for that now—unless a new sponsor is found—quickly.  Maybe this is just the excuse Fernando Alonso needs to take the plunge?  Gosh knows, Unzue has the infrastructure necessary to run a team at the sport’s highest levels.  Why would Alonso start from scratch when he can buy his way in at the top?

And don’t forget Quick Step.  How ironic would it be for Contador to have a bad year with Astana, no Spanish safety net, and end-up with Quick Step–riding an Eddy Merckx?

2. When I was in high school, I was obsessed with Chemistry class (at least as much one can be while still trying to get dates with mildly attractive girls). At the time I remember being incredibly impressed with the Periodic Table of Elements—how could such seemingly disparate elements fit together so neatly to form one tidy little diagram?  It boggled me then and still does now.

I’m not sure if you read Cyclocosm (if you don’t, you should), but this wowed me in a way that takes me right back to Mr. Rea’s 10th grade Honors Chem. Class.  Nice job, Cosmo.  Although I do have some ideas…

3. Every once in a while, someone somewhere gets a little too “poetic” with a race recap.  Case in point: VeloNews’ report on Saturday’s Stage 5 of the Tour Down Under.  Here was my favorite over-the-top use of figurative langugae:

“…his [Sanchez’s] victorious right arm circling like a lasso and left hand beating the Caisse d’Epargne logo on his chest like a monkey in heat”

Like a monkey in heat?  What’s that look like, VeloNews?  Oh wait, we’ll never know—because you deleted it.

4. And speaking of the Tour Down Under, the race ended yesterday with another circuit race victory for Team Sky.  All in all it was a fantastic event for all who took part; inspired racing, great weather, and only a handful of abandons meant everyone is going home happy—especially Andre Greipel, the first leader of the Pro Tour Ranking.

5. And how about Liquigas’ new wunderkind: Peter Sagan?  Was it me, or was he in just about every major breakaway?  It will be interesting to see how he performs back on the Continent—the European one, that is. The kid’s got pedigree too: in 2008 he won the Junior World XC Mountain Bike Championship and took silver in cyclocross. Look for him to continue to impress come Classics-time.  Liquigas is looking more and more like one of the most loaded teams in the peloton.

6. It was a good start for my prognosticating too—Andre Greipel was an easy pick for the overall, but even my dark horse got in the act when Chris Sutton won the final stage.  Not too shabby—for January.

That’s it for today’s Musette.  What’s on your minds as January closes and February beckons?

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Weekly Cross Report and Power Ranking

Posted on January 22, 2010 by
Erik’s report is a bit late this week–he was in Roubaix doing some advance scouting for his Worlds predictions. He’s back now though, and has provided his weekly dose of commentary. For more, check-out his site, The Run-up.
With a bevy of freshly-crowned National Champions, the cyclocross world returned to a bit of normalcy this past weekend with the penultimate round of the World Cup in Roubaix. The course, which finishes on the famed Roubaix Velodrome, has become famous for its harrowing descents and horrific conditions. Sure enough, the sloppy mud and technical nature of the course led to a natural selection containing all of the big names—except Niels Albert who was clearly suffering from the broken rib he received thanks to a run in with a drunk fan at the Belgian National Championship. Zdenek Stybar was the strongest on the day; he rode clear of the rest of the top-5 with a few laps to go. As a result, he takes sole control of the World Cup and UCI Points overall rankings. Behind him, Klaas Vantornout managed to pick-up second place ahead of a self-proclaimed “not fresh enough” Sven Nys. Last year’s winner, Erwin Vervecken, ended-up 4th, a handful of seconds ahead of Bart Wellens.
The two biggest disappointments of the weekend had to be Francis Mourey and Petr Dlask who finished 21st and 22nd, respectively. As a result, both men are dropped from this week’s Power Rankings. Lars Boom also dropped-out of the Rankings when it was announced that the Dutch National Champion will not be a part of the Dutch Worlds Team due to his desire to focus on the Classics—a bit of a shame if you ask me. From an American standpoint, the biggest disappointment of the weekend came on the women’s side of things when Katie Compton was forced to the sidelines due to persistent leg cramps. As a result she lost her lead in the World Cup and UCI Points overall rankings. And speaking of the Americans, Jonathan Page was the top US rider, finishing 18th. Ryan Trebon made his European debut; he finished a disappointing 39th.
Zdenk Stybar deserves top honors this week, but where does the rest of the field stand? Time to find out:
1. Zdenek Stybar (2) – With only two weeks remaining before the World Championships, Stybar seems to be making all the right moves. After a solid first half of the season, Stybar has come on hard and as a result he currently leads the World Cup and UCI Points overall rankings. With only one World Cup remaining, the pressure is squarely on the Czechs shoulders—not to mention the pressure he’ll face one week later when Worlds are in his backyard.
2. Sven Nys (1) – Nys claimed he lacked the “freshness” to win after a very hectic week. (Sounds like another lame excuse for not winning.) He’s out of contention for pretty much everything except the GVA Trophy. However, all will be forgotten if he picks-up a rainbow jersey in a few weeks.
3. Klaas Vantornout (4) – Vantornout continues to climb the rankings after a very strong late-December and early-January. Right now, I consider him the second-best rider in Belgium—even though he got the better of Nys this week. A trip to Worlds is nearly locked-up for Vantornout; a podium finish is not out of the question.
4. Tom Meeusen (8) – Meesuen won another round of the U23 World Cup this weekend and jumped-up the rankings this week. He’s the best U23 cross rider in the World right now and has proven that he’s one of the top Elite riders as well. The real issue for Meeusen: he’s already being called the next Sven Nys—talk about a tough position to be in.
5. Erwin Vervecken (na) – At the beginning of the year I promised that Vervecken would surprise everyone with one last, great, performance. Honestly, I thought a repeat was in the cards on Sunday in Roubaix. Either way you look at it though, the 38-year-old made his bid for a Worlds spot. He still has some time to pick-up one last “big win,” but to see him race Worlds one last time would cap-off a great farewell season for the superstar.
6. Bart Wellens (na) – Wellens has been very inconsistent since returning to racing after battling a nasty virus. The 4-time World Champion admitted he was unprepared for the Belgian National Championships, where he finished 14th. However, he bounced-back in Roubaix with a superb 5th-place. It’s hard to imagine he’ll be left off the Worlds team, but with his inconsistency it could be a big risk to take.
7. Gerben de Knegt (7) – de Knegt continues to ride very well and hasn’t let his narrow loss to Boom last weekend effect him. He remains the top Dutch rider in the World and his country’s best hope for a medal at Worlds. The 35-year-old is still on my short list of podium contenders; I think he could surprise quite a few people at Worlds.
8. Bart Aernouts (10) – Aernouts finished 7th in Roubaix and as a result, added his name to the Belgian Worlds candidate list. So far, Albert is the only rider guaranteed of a spot since he’s the defending World Champion. And, if you go by my recommendations Aernouts and Pauwels (who once again failed to make the rankings) would get the last two spots (of the 7 allotted for Belgium). It’s amazing to think that some of these riders may not even make the Belgian Worlds team.
9. Niels Albert (na) – Last week Albert got bounced from the rankings; this week’s 8th-place finish hasn’t done much to change my mind. If Albert’s ribs heal a bit more I think he may be able to make a last minute charge for the World Cup and, perhaps, another World Title. Albert’s a true wild-card at this point, but one that cannot be ignored. After all, he still leads the Superprestige series and is within striking distance of the lead in the World Cup, GVA Trophy and UCI Points.
10. Steve Chainel (na) – Chainel’s posted back-to-back top-10 finishes in the last 2 rounds of the World Cup. He had huge support from the hometown crowd in Roubaix and for a few laps it looked like he was going to surprise a number of people. It will be very interesting to see how he does this weekend; he continues to improve every week.
Dropped this week: Francis Mourey (3), Petr Dlask (5), Lars Boom (6) and Dieter Vanthourenhout (9)
With one weekend remaining before the World Championships in Tabor, all eyes will be on Hoogerheide in the Netherlands for the final round of the World Cup. Niels Albert trails Zdenk Stybar by only 16 points. Can the Czech hold on, or does the World Champion have a surprise in store? While it will be our last chance to see where everyone stands before Worlds, this weekend will mark Tim Johnson’s first appearance in Europe. The former Worlds medalist and current US National Champion has taken an unorthodox approach to Worlds (by training in California) and it’s time to see if it will pay-off. As previously mentioned, Katie Compton failed to start last week in Roubaix and has been forced to watch her World Cup title slip away. Can the American bounce back right before Worlds? Or is her season done for good? All in all, a lot of questions will be answered this weekend. But I’m sure a bevy of new ones will arise just in time for the World Championships.
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