2012 Giro top 10 riders in a single word…

Mark Cavendish – Skinny. The pasta king has lost the chub and looks sharp as a tack. Or perhaps the word is envy. Thats what everyone else riding experiences.

Matt Goss – YouBeaut. Australian for ‘looking really competitive’, one stage in the bag and pulling up almost alongside Skinny in stage 5 last night, without the same leadout.

NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas – Taxi. An iron man from Latvia, oops thats Lithuania. Those in-the-know say he can kneecap entire teams, leaving them broken in his wake. A kid to watch.

Robbie Hunter, Ryder, Christian and Garmin team mates in general – Oxygen. They are all around you.

Joaquin Rodriguez, Smokin. Purito has “hot chance” written all over him after Katusha’s performance in the team time trial. Can he stay with it into the mountains, a really great position for him to be in.

Geraint Thomas, Torch. Thats what he’s aiming for, the Olympic games and off to a pretty good lead in with 2nd in the opening time trial.

BOARO, Manuele, you know I’m not really sure. 2nd at Circuit de la Sarthe this year, 25 years old and in his second year at Saxo Bank…. Mist perhaps.

KRISTOFF, Alexander, Thor 2.0 . 25 year old Norwegian has been national road race champion at U23 and elite.

Second great weekend of the Giro D’Italia ahead….

 

 

2012 Giro D’Italia notes and surprises from first TT

In such an even year, there are some sweet surprises. The first stage, a short time trial in Denmark went to Taylor Phinney. So young to be successful at this level.And so is kiwi Jesse Serjent.  The pleasant surprises were many, that Garmin has so many top 20 places in the TT. This looks really good for the team time trial later in the week. A good result in both will improve Hesjedals GC ambitions a great deal. He’s looking pretty good, did well in the TT at 17th, at 29 seconds.

The obvious surprise, Ivan Basso is going well, right amongst the expected contenders. Given that he has been plagued with falls and injury this spring, this surprise is comfortable – afterall Basso already has 2 Giro titles – Basso doing well is like coming home to a hot dinner after a wet winter ride.

What of Marco Pinotti? Known for a bit of TTing, he’s been doing well overall in recent years. A rider to watch. Kreuziger showing his form too, while Scarponi and Schleck didn’t really. Still, its a long race, with so very many mountain stages at the end!

 

Stage 1

Position	Name	Nationality	Team	Time
1	PHINNEY, Taylor	USA	BMC RACING	10:26
2	THOMAS, Geraint	GBR	SKY PROCYCLING	9
3	RASMUSSEN, Alex	DEN	GARMIN-BARRACUDA	13
4	BOARO, Manuele	ITA	SAXO BANK	15
5	LARSSON, Gustav	SWE	VACANSOLEIL-DCM	22
6	NAVARDAUSKAS, Ramunas	LTU	GARMIN-BARRACUDA
7	LANCASTER, Brett	AUS	ORICA-GREENEDGE	23
8	PINOTTI, Marco	ITA	BMC RACING	24
9	SERGENT, Jesse	NZL	RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	26
10	OLIVEIRA, Nelson	POR	RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	27
11	VAITKUS, Tomas	LTU	ORICA-GREENEDGE
12	CLEMENT, Stef	NED	RABOBANK	28
13	HUNTER, Robert	RSA	GARMIN-BARRACUDA
14	BAUER, Jack	NZL	GARMIN-BARRACUDA
15	BODNAR, Maciej	POL	LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE	29
16	GASPAROTTO, Enrico	ITA	ASTANA
17	HESJEDAL, Ryder	CAN	GARMIN-BARRACUDA
18	KWIATKOWSKI, Michal	POL	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP
19	CATALDO, Dario	ITA	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	31
20	POZZATO, Filippo	ITA	FARNESE VINI	32

The most ‘balanced’ Giro in recent history

2012 is just less extreme. Less ‘star’ blinded, less stratospheric, less….  appauling, rediculous, mind stopping. Hopefully less tragic.

There are no hyped supermodel riders under drug investigation. Charges of sadism are not likely over the selection of climbs. And balanced riders who can TT as well as climb get a good shot with both a turning point TTT late in week one and an important long TT, nearly 32 kms, back in as the traditional final stage.

Which isn’t to say the route lacks drama. Tight Italian roads, unimaginable climbs, snow, countryside, coastline….  and Denmark, its all still there.

Most balanced about 2012 are the predictions around GC contenders. With the team lists posted, there are ‘considerations’ around every team leader.

Frank Schleck is a late call up, who looked to be aiming for a much later peak. Basso has been utterly invisible in preceeding weeks after a series of crashes and other incidents (Liquigas hardman Smzyd has looked strong in spring). Joaquin Rodriquez won a classic and has form (don’t mention the TT issue). Hesjedal… there or thereabouts. Roman Kreuziger has had as good a lead in as anyone else and following a forceful spring, Astana are looking as tough and eastern block as soviet tanks. Rigoberto Uran, Michele Scarponi (who many give top odds to win)…  Its like a conversation at a drunken table of fans, any name can come out of the hat. Stirrers and breakaway stage winners, Cunego, Geraint Thomas, Tschopp, Ballan.

It all sparks my interest. Less hollywood = more believable, more challenging. My favourite grand tour is back. With two Kiwi riders, Bauer and Serjent!

Karapoti 2012 MTB race, Specialized Epic Erasure!

Postponed for the first time in 27 years after a weather bomb on 3 March, “Karapoti Take2″ two weeks later was a stunner! Perfect, still, clear and half the size of the normally crowded event. Lush New Zealand forest, gut busting climbs and rapid descents through the Akatarawas, pleased to be here instead of the regional road event passing by the startline on the same day.

Akatarawa range in the morning.

Mountain racing is unforgiving – there is no way to hide ‘lack of form’. No drafting. No weakness goes undiscovered in relentless climbs that keep you in the red zone until you see spots dancing like moths in your vision. Ten months on from surgery (stitching an achilles back together), I have a secret weapon to build confidence  -  a new bike.

Start of the Karapoti race is a run through the river. Specialized Epic sure is clean.

The start bursts through a thigh deep running river and on to a sealed section for a short drag race to the start of the gorge track. Sitting in with the front runners is as easy as… road cycling. Spinning up the gorge drops riders who can’t hold intensity, at this point a riding buddy and I are feeling pretty happy about the clear track ahead and the choice of the easier ‘weekend warriors group’.

An hour in, two climbs done and my pace is pretty nice – within 2 minutes of the ‘gold standard’ 3 hour finishing mark that the experts aim for. This snippet of deficit I expect I can make up on the last, long climb. In the past I’ve been strong there.

The Epic was smooth and supple, its an experience I call “Epic Erasure” – all the doubts of 2011 erased by a bike that climbs and descends.

Can't describe how much better the ride is compared to an old Trek 6700 hard tail.

But it wasn’t to last. The middle section of the race pushed me back into the humble corner. Failing to get any food in the first hour (couldn’t get my hands off the bars into my pockets), with complaining legs, I faded across the top of Deadwood and compounded it with a slow passage down the technical rock garden descent. 12 minutes gone from 3 hour target time! A big hunk of time to lose. Mainly about skills really. Watched some beautiful lines as a group of seven riders caught up and dropped down the jagged route.

Grabbed gels during the slow descent (finally able to reach rear pockets) in time to feel refreshed for the bike-carry-run up Devil’s Staircase.

This is 4 or so kms of grovel – pitching up to 30% in places. Its clay-ish. You’re climbing in cleats. Small steps 10 cm wide are just visible in the nearly vertical trail. A decent time means attempting to run with your bike up this.

Achilles recovey is slowest for hill running – its the last part of strenth to return, relying on a strong hamstring and some real power to ‘pop’ you up the step. Even strength, left to right sides, is also needed. I was nervous about this, building a lot of running into my build up (too much in fact).

It went well! Only a small margin on 3 hour finish time lost here (seconds) and no discernable additional agony over and above the zone 5 heart rate and general exhaustion.

Picked up the group of seven on the climb and powered on (3kms/hr) to the top.

The race may only be 50 kms, but it feels like you left civilization back in time. The 4 wheel drive tracks are really narrow slashes cut into forest like a claw across fleeing prey. There is mud. At one point a narrow supple branch caught in the vents in my helmet. I expected it to flick out. It just hung in there, until its spring force popped me backwards off the bike. Jurassic park moment.

The big descent to the last climb opens out into fast and loose gravel trails. Lost my second big hunk of time here.

The final climb is a solid 600 vertical metres in a few kms. Much longer than you expect, it pitches up to the top…. then does it again, each time you think you are there. Each time the pitch is steeper again. Rode through the ‘prams’ – pushing their bikes, pulled back some minutes and set myself up for a TT style effort back down the gorge to the finish.

Full tilt back down the gorge to the finish of Karapoti 2012. Epic's porcelain paint job 'erased'.

Final time in the 3:20s – not awesome but not bad. Less running more riding required. I feel like I’ve completed a uniquely kiwi rite of passage. And removed all lagging doubts about the ankle.

The circuit breaker ride, pristine day, over the top of the range between work and home

The grass was long, brown and waving in the wind. The trail wound upwards around the crags and civilization was far below. My android phone double beeped and died – Strava app sucking all the juice trying to find a GPS signal. The high valleys peeter out, smoothed by the wind into curves that taper into clefts and crags and finally peaks. Its beautiful, and also unbelievably steep.

Injury recovery, work concerns, previous race placings – everything from the everyday was burnt up with the calories fueling the climb. 18% I guess, over 4wd and stock trails. There are no other wheel prints. Alone, narrow peaks, wind – its elemental and testing on a range.

This was a real circuit breaker ride yesterday. After the effort, I felt un-burdened at the top. Details look like ants, nurtured in the warmth of the summer day, way below on the coast. Up here, its cold, fresh and vital.

6 month update, acute achilles rupture recovery….

Six months and one week on from surgery using ‘firewire’ to reconnect my snapped achilles I can report that everything looks bright! Today’s workouts include 40 minutes freestyle over lunchtime in the pool, reintroduction to running (30 mins walk/run programme) and due to poor weather, probably 90mins on the bike on a trainer tonight. At half-way to full recovery, my ‘recuperation journey’ is at Kuratau on the Taupo Challenge:

My recovery as the Taupo Cycle Challenge.

I am still performing 3 sets of 2 different achilles stretches, twice daily as well as ballet style exercises (standing on my toes, wearing a tramping back-pack full of hand weights ski boots, the odd encyclopaedia….another improvised workout.) I can walk quickly, no issue with stairs, cycle indefinately and run weakly. 30 day plan to strengthen running has just begun.

Hypertrophy of the calf is occurring and it is nearly the same size as the good left hand one. Getting a strong spring back into my step is the current project – the foot acts like a series of spring loaded joins in a cantilever bridge and all the little foot muscles need more ‘pop’. Athletic tape across my foot arch helped to focus the mind on this while walking around during the day. And of course, more overall ankle strength is still needed, to support and match the range of movement of the other leg. There are niggles of weakness – slowly less and less – but I feel like training is progressing nicely through aerobic base and full recovery is at the end of the flat ride ahead!

My old-fashionned cycling training plan, found some sweat identity in the Akatarawas

Finding 15 hours of training in a week is a success in itself. Its an old-fashionned approach to cycling, aiming to get as much time as I can (schedule) on the bike. Nothing fancy, no fast track, no “executives’ shortcut” or time-crunched plan. Which by the way, just sounds really 1980s – flouro sweat bands, afro hair, snickers in hand? Just time in the saddle, converting cell and muscle patterns, synapses and reactions, aerobic, lactate and energy systems back into cycling form. No chocolate, no racing, no Masters ego-trips. Before digital training plans, old school coaches knew that a large (and simple) block of slow aerobic base, provides the metabolic and physical infrastructure for performance. This means riding every single day.  Moderate 15min climbs, ideally 4 x 4-hour-long steady-paced rides each week for 3 weeks, ‘normal’ group rides… Above all, daily frequency. And no strength work. No races.

Its coming, slowly. On Sunday, a five hour ride took me to the top of the Akatarawas in Wellington. Not a massive climb, but a steady 10kms up through native bush. Ferns and large 300 year old trees dripping in moisture, the rain becoming steady and cold towards the top. I love this climb -  it closed for the rebuilding of the bridges at the same time that I dropped out of cycling – snapped my achilles. And just reopened.

You feel the warmth of your breath, climbing in the rain. I found the cadence that keeps my knees warm and lactate free. And get into the pattern of breathing and spinning. Its a fairly fast 6% average incline (guestimate) and I can feel some resilience in my legs from the last 6 weeks riding. You find yourself, climbing. Testing yourself, the big reasons for riding - endurance of the spirit.

6 months on from surgery, I’m not there yet. But my training recovery is improving – another big benefit of aerobic base. I’ve entered the Taupo ride in 5 weeks - 160 km Taupo challenge, not the race.  I think it’ll feel like the first time.

Spring! Bumper powder snow, cycling worlds, some sunny days on the road bike.

Summer 2011 is around the corner- powder snow, sun and light rain on tarmac sizzling under bike tires, the end of European cycling season, the Rugby World Cup games here on tv and in ‘the Cake Tin’, no season has felt as much like change.  Just back from 3 bumper days on Mt. Ruapehu New Zealand, achilles surgery (firewire) stood the test.

I had my very own Steve Austin moment – reprogramming a rebuilt leg, learning how to get back on edges with a fine balance and get the tips carving again with a new set of muscles.  Week 26 (?) since surgery on April 11, a subtler (better) skiing style – 3 outstanding days, in recent snow in un-groomed gorges and dropping down snow packed faces.

Cadel Evans, Thor Hushovd in Melbourne and Mendriso are history, tonight a new road race world champion joins Tony Martin, new TT world champ for a year in rainbow stripes.  2012 starts here. The year of casts is the past (though officially half way). Out the window today’s spring squall looks to have gaps, or even if it doesn’t turn to sun, a few turns on the spin trainer is all good!

Spring Peloton outbreak…3 Wellington riders need their shots!

Every year it happens. Some new riders join your favourite peloton, with a fully fledged case of frothy-mouthed spring sprint fever. And it happened in the Tarbabies on Sunday. Three riders joined in group 1, not  regulars, their eyes wide with blood lust, surging on every pull and splitting the peleton with attacks 40km into a 130km base ride.

Symptoms of the infection include:

1.  No clearly defined training goal (or single key target event). Requires questionning – take care to avoid frothy spittle.

2. Inability to converse softly. Spring sprint disease floods the rational thought areas of the brain. Thoughts surfacing come out through an act of ego.

3. Perceived invulnerability to traffic. Those infected believe they are strong and fast enough to survive both half wheeling and vehicle dodging.

4. “The king is dead, long live the king” – the ride leader will be quizzed and tested. In our case our Sunday, the purpose of the ride was challenged, as well as the ethos of peloton riding.

Those of us with base training plans left the peleton group. The smart ones picked it early and pulled back during the demon- test-your-mojo- descent undertaken in the first 3 kms. Others sat back during the sprint charges at km 40. The ride leader left the group at km 50. They were last seen heading towards a muddy track, high up in the Akatarawas….

 

Wk 22 since achilles tendon surgery, in search of muscle bulk

My first base block of  cycling training is in the legs. Squeezed into the skinny pins. Cycling doesn’t use calf muscles (gastrocnemius, soleus) as heavily as explosive sports like running.  Cycling has more emphasis on quads and gluts. So my cycling will not achieve the hypertrophy (bulking up) of calf muscles that I need to make a full recovery.

Just how sick of ‘tip toe’ step exercises can you get? 2 stretches x 3 sets of 15, 2 strength exercises x 3 sets of 15, all done 3 times daily. Plus weights. Plus swimming for ankle joint flexibility. Pretty darn sick and bored with repetitive exercises!

But I’ve got to a great place – 6 long rides and 1000 odd kms cycling the “world’s best little cycling city” over the last 3 weeks means I have a base to start training from. 2nd base training period ahead, 3 weeks looking for longer rides, in the spring sun. I’ll be re-finding all the little coastal and bush clad roads around Wellington – magic!

Cooking and cooked (before & during) the 2011 Vuelta

Training and racing nirvana is being ‘on form’, hitting the moment in biochemistry, biodynamics and psychology where everything falls into place. And you ride that perfect race. Power, focus, confidence. When everything peaks at the right time, the ride of a lifetime happens.

2011 has probably proved that a successful ‘double’ with the Tour de France is no longer possible. The Vuelta and the Giro have become progressively harder. And the expectations of viewers has become more ‘natural’. If a rider is winning 4 weeks before a 3 week tour and looks powerful, light and unbeatable, it is interesting to see if they have peaked too early.

The Tour of Poland proved itself a perfect lead in to the Vuelta. It brought young winners to success on stages. The Tour de France…. not so much.

Potentially overcooked from the Tour de France peak 4 weeks earlier includes a number of riders who crashed out (all RadioShack GC challengers, Van den Broeck, Wiggins, this list is pretty large following the carnage of July). Cancellara, off form in July continues the longest season, as does Martin and Cavendish. Cav has departed the Vuelta with nothing left in the legs. I guess he has no choice but rest and I don’t see how he can peak for the worlds. Tony Martin is on fire right here, right now, winning the Vuelta TT. Cancellara – in the top 5 in the Vuelta TT, looks like a careful build to the world championship TT. He’s not too ‘hot’ right now, giving room to ride into a peak. Wiggins, looked like he peaked too early for the Tour (before crashing out) and now dropping behind Froome…

Also interesting are the riders who contested the Giro, who are riding a double peak season. Nibali, Menchov, Scarponi, Le Mevel, in fact 6 of the top 10 from the Giro including the young dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk. Did Bauke Mollema ride the Giro? He looks a lot like joining Nibali on the Vuelta podium!

Bike setup – Anthony Chapman used video analysis to make big watt gains

Through a series of small changes, my polar power meter tells me Anthony has profoundly improved my cycling performance and also comfort/endurance on the bike. His visits to Wellington New Zealand are announced in cycling club emails every now and then, following recommendation from a friend I decided now was the time to solve lingering questions about my position on the bike.

The video setup follows purple spots drawn on my knees, hip and back, allowing the movement to be slowed and traced. Knee, hip, foot, back, neck, arm angles were compared for ‘most powerful and effective’ positions.

It was a pretty understated affair. We pause for 20 minutes, in a cold garage (mid winter here) so Anthony can crunch the figures and talk me through the computer analysis. I put a top and jersey on. Much of what he is considering is the application of much bigger bodies of knowledge than we discuss.

But the practical outcomes are many and small – and didn’t include seat height, which was right. Changes to bar angle, cleat position, crank length, STI placement and some quietly given advice from a physiotherapists perspective on back shape, hip angle and foot movement.

Its an hour and a half long session. I finish back on the bike. Power feels so direct and unimpeded, right down to the souls of my feet. Bars feel low, in control and the bike extremely ‘balanced.’ I am horribly heavy (Week 15 post surgery to tie my achilles tendon back together) which video analysis documents.

On the wind trainer afterwards, the gain for a similar perceived effort is (conservatively) 14%. My achilles does benchmark perceived effort quite well, its abilities allow only so much effort. The best $200 investment in my bike yet. The change is as big as a full year’s training.

Also for polar users, the polar cs600 power setup is not as effected by the harmonic hum of a windtrainer as many expect, if it is the quieter fluid type. Which are more ‘road real’ anyway…..

40 mins at 110 watts on the #cycling wind trainer, Wk 15 #achilles recovery .

I’m on the comeback from an acute achilles rupture and surgery on 11 April 2011. I started physio and got back on the bike 2 weeks ago (week 13). Today I cycled for a whole 40 minutes. I’ve worked up to this from a 10 minute routine 2 weeks ago. Physio says increase cadence but not load now and stay at 40 minutes duration until the achilles tendon becomes more flexible. I saw the surgical person at the fracture clinic today (monthly check in). He said “6 more weeks before any real load or weights.” He is also interested in range of movement in the ankle.

So from the surgeon’s perspective, week 21 is the return to real training. From the physio’s perspective, ankle is too inflexible to do much more than address flexibility of the tendon and joint, which can’t move much above ‘flat to the ground.’ Massaging the joint, stretching 3x daily, its all uncomfortable and very necessary. Light cycling is not easy – a long way to go!

40 minute’super easy’ ride data: 12.7 kms, power balance: 52% L / 48% R leg, 110 watts, cadence 84.

My target is still to get around the Taupo cycling event in late November. 160kms, 1500m of climbing, 4 months to get ready!

The time trial of his life! #TdF 2011 all or nothing time trial, results.

Stage 20 Results
1  MARTIN, Tony (HTC-HIGHROAD)                     55' 33"
2  EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING)                       + 00' 07"
3  CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO BANK SUNGARD)   + 01' 06"
4  DE GENDT, Thomas (VACANSOLEIL-DCM)              + 01' 29"
5  PORTE, Richie (SAXO BANK SUNGARD)               + 01' 30"
6  PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE)      + 01' 33"
7  SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI)    + 01' 37"
8  CANCELLARA, Fabian (LEOPARD-TREK)               + 01' 42"
9  VELITS, Peter (HTC-HIGHROAD)                    + 02' 03"
10 TAARAMAE, Rein (COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE)
11 DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN-CERVELO)              + 02' 08"
12 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald (SKY)                     + 02' 10"
13 VOECKLER, Thomas (EUROPCAR)                     + 02' 14"
14 MONFORT, Maxime (LEOPARD-TREK)                  + 02' 36"
15 KOREN, Kristijan (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)
16 MALORI, Adriano (LAMPRE - ISD)                  + 02' 38"
17 SCHLECK, Andy (LEOPARD-TREK)    

3am New Zealand time, glued to the screen. 
Is it enough? Is he going to maintain / gain / blow up? 

The best viewing this year, Cadel Evans takes 2'31 out of Andy Schleck, 
murdering the 57 second deficit he had to take the yellow jersey, 
barring incident, to Paris.
General Classification after Stage 20
1  EVANS, Cadel (BMC RACING)                       83h 45' 20"
2  SCHLECK, Andy (LEOPARD-TREK)                      + 01' 34"
3  SCHLECK, Frank (LEOPARD-TREK)                     + 02' 30"
4  VOECKLER, Thomas (EUROPCAR)                       + 03' 20"
5  CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO BANK SUNGARD)     + 03' 57"
6  SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI)      + 04' 55"
7  CUNEGO, Damiano (LAMPRE - ISD)                    + 06' 05"
8  BASSO, Ivan (LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE)                 + 07' 23"
9  DANIELSON, Thomas (GARMIN-CERVELO)                + 08' 15"
10 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE)        + 10' 11"

Only 2 plays left: Alpe d’Huez and the TT #tdf Can Cadel gain 57 seconds?

Only 3 days left in the 2011 Tour de France. Its been so much more, an epic this year – with Norwegian sub-plots, Hushovd & Gilbert star studded stages, the fantastic young talents, Voeckler riding on spirit and spew, the demise of Mr. Spanish Steak, Andy on attack and my pick performance, turbo-diesel Evans.

Cadel Evans, now having faced generations of GC competitors, still sounds like the working man next door. And here he is, improved and dropping Sanchez, Basso, Contador in the chase to pull back the Schleck escape. Almost single handed saving over 2 minutes up Galibier. Thats a classy ride!

Chances are he’ll be chasing Frank in stage 19 tomorrow. Then if no time changes occur, how much time can a TT give up, this late in a punishing tour? The harder the tour, the smaller the differences, as exhaustion creates an entirely new normal.

In 2010, TT in stage 19 was 52kms, in Bordeaux. Cadel Evans pulled out before the final TT after breaking his wrist. Andy Schleck finished 44th fastest. 6.14 down on Cancellara and 2 minutes plus down on the likes of Menchov, Roy, Geraint Thomas (as a comparison to Evans).

2009 Andy Schleck  finished 2nd and Cadel Evans 29th in the tour, stage 18 TT, 40.5kms in Annecy, Cadel to0k 31 seconds off Andy.

2008 stage 20 TT, 50kms, Cadel finished 7th (Stefan Schumacher was 1st ahead of 2nd place Fabian Cancellara!) Andy Schleck finished 30th, 2 minutes and 3 seconds down on Evans, who finished in overall 2nd place to Carlos Sastre.

Overall, commentators talk about Andy having an improved TT on earlier years. His careful buildup in 2011 makes this hard to benchmark, while Cadel is typically quite powerful. Following 3 weeks of racing and 3 mountain stages, times will be less reflective of the difference between climbers and powerful riders – if the exhaustion level is high, the gaps will come down a lot!

Cadel! Cadel! Cadel! Evans matches and rides away from Contador.

Cadel Evans is good for cycling (I’ve said it before) and in the Tour de France stage 16 into Gap, the tenacity and commitment of ‘cuddles’ inspires me again. He just doesn’t give up!

Awe is the only way to view his skills on the descent, in the wet, (thank you mountain biking world championship,) and then a powerful push to the finish to put time into all the GC riders. Chapeau!

Thinking about what it must feel like to see Contador attack off the front, 2x…. Not an hors categorie mountain, but enough to drop touts les Schlecks. Thats the moment when you ask yourself what the cycling means to you. Hell, what you mean to you. Evans has the mental toughness to not let him go when others are. To win this thing.

Contador is over playing possum, but I would love to see Evans finish off a great tour performance and take top place on the podium in Paris. Wouldn’t be bad for a BMC team which has left it all on the pavement, either. The really big mountains ahead, more demon descents (like tomorrow into Pinerolo) show us the diesel Cadel!

A cleaner peleton = closer racing. But I am a drug-addled spectator #tdf

Dominating, attacking moves, particularly in the third week of a punishing Tour de France, may just be a thing of the past. I think I’ve got used to unnatural accellerations – Contador on Mt. Etna this year comes to mind. The experience of watching this kind of racing – the chilling moment when one rider can simply ride away from all others in a single swift move - is so very different from real world racing, perhaps its (finally) time to put away “fantasy cycling”, forget the ego rush of the doped-up 1990s / 2000s and enjoy the tactical subtlety of tour racing today.

Because road racing is about ‘protecting the legs’, support in the mountains, fuel, timing and in the real world, its about a small number of seconds. Not minutes. Its time to take off the addled glasses – time to lose the expectations of the drug years. That kind of spectacle was unnatural. For my own experience, I can’t remember a road race where the winner was completely away on their own, out of sight of all other riders by minutes, (or I was too far down the field to know).

It is going to take a lot to real in Voeckler. Even though the Alps don’t suit him, this race is in the real world. Where all riders will come to the TT in an extremely exhausted state. Where seconds will be hard to find in the mountains. Looking forward to close and clean racing tonight!!

Dumb and dumber, Voeckler and Contador play possum. #tdf

“I can’t possibly win, you take it.” “No, I couldn’t…. well I may, but I couldn’t possibly just yet.” Voeckler and Contador are so busy not winning the Tour de France, I think I may just have to go and throw up.

“Voeckler discounts Tour chances” the spin doctors say. He says he has zero chance of winning in Paris. So, looking at his achievements, he has won ten big races this year, successfully (and easily) stayed with the GC contenders in the Tour de France mountain stages so far. Absolutely zero….  really? I think I’d be going with something more like “The Schlecks are too afraid to try a sustained attack, I feel great and I am never giving up. This TdF belongs to France and I am going to ride everyone else into the tarmac. Or die trying.” Maybe Voeckler can’t hang onto yellow on the 14% ramps in the Alps. But don’t give it up without a fight.

And Contador – a rider who at least does attack, with ruthless pleasure. Sitting back on ‘Giro legs’, well within stiking distance. At least he’s not having another war of manners with Andy Schleck like 2010! The question is, is he stuffed or playing the biggest, multiple stage, game of possum ever played?

In the meantime, the road racing even-ness of Cadel Evans, Ivan Basso, Frank and Andy Schleck leaves me longing for the competitive rush of Spanish steak, just to see a rider, all heart and lungs, lay it on the line to win the Tour.

My pick, Evans and Contador will both take a big risk. For those who don’t, ‘looks like a pigeon, acts like a pigeon, TASTES like a pigeon!’

How much time does a Schleck need over Contador before the TT? #tdf

2010, Tour de France stage 19, Contador took roughly 30 seconds off the nearest Schleck in a 50km time trial. But this was discussed as an unusually poor performance for the Spaniard. In stage 19 the year before, over a shorter 40kms Contador took a full minute and a half.

So, one resurgent mountain stage for Contador and it becomes a very different race from the Schleck lock down on the road at the moment. If they truly have it, blow him away tomorrow, stage 14. Fortune will only favour the bold!

The New Generation in the 2011 Tour De France, underneath the Slo-Mo.

So the first mountain stage is done, with the GC contenders forced to show their hands over 200 kms and 3 huge climbs. Now there is the possibility of a rather slow-motion, attackless grind to the end to discover which of the Schlecks, Basso, Evans, Sanchez is least worst at time trialing….  Please don’t let it finish this way!

Geraint Thomas, Jeremy Roy, Johnny Hoogerland and Danielson (unexpected in the top 10 in his first tour?) are turning it on for viewers. The ‘most combative’ jersey and these young stars are where the action is now. Tony Martin will probably go for a stage win too, now GC has moved to the climbers. Voekler and Voight are keeping respect for tough as guts riding alive for the old guard.

Stage 13 has ‘unexpected break’ written all over it….. Cadel Evans thinks Phil Gilbert will take it. If someone(s) can get away over the one massive climb to Col D’Aubisque, then there is 40kms of mainly descent to the line – perfect for demon descenders.