Stories and news from Neil's sometimes twisted view

Bobbie scores himself some ass

That was an interesting weekend. The Belgians got flicked from the two classics that had their name all over it.

Of the past ten editions of Omloop Het Nieuwsbladand, six have been won by Belgians. Out of the abysmal weather conditions came Spaniard Juan Antonio Fleche. He’s been known as the guy who comes close, but doesn’t seal the deal. I think he got the extra speed knowing that the Sky super-bus with individually warmed captain chairs were waiting for him.

The real kick to the junk was the following day at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne. As you know weather conditions were the factor in that day’s race. And out of these miserable conditions another surprise winner – Bobbie Traksel. Unlike Fleche, Traksel rides for the Vacansoleil squad whose budget isn’t quite on par with Sky. Traksel played it smart and saved his effort for the right moment, about 150 meters from the line.

“I still can not believe but I am proud of the donkey that I got a late winner. Every year I was jealous of the winner who went home with that ass,” said an elated Traksel. That’s a quote I like to hear! Read more »

Lance looks thrilled

A couple years ago Trek unveiled their 2008 Madone road bike in Madison, Wisconsin. This new Madone was a break from the OCLV frames we’d seen from them in the past, so it was a big deal for the company. The Madone was launched with a lot of fanfare in a theater in downtown Madison with not only word wide press but their dealers as well. After the presentation was over, myself, a friend and a few marketing people from Trek decided to go out. It was still early and we’d heard Main Street was the place to be. Long story short – we stayed out to a point that the company’s marketing people who were with us and our ride back, called it a night. I’ve been lost in all sorts of foreign countries and found my way to my hotel so I wasn’t worried about getting back to the ours in Madison.

When the bars closed my buddy and I found a cab that would take us back to our hotel for the remaining amount of money we still had in our pockets. Good times.

The following morning all the attending journalists were going to ride the new Madone and the recently retired Lance Armstrong was going to join us. Needless to say that was like throwing chum into the ocean. All the journalists were worked up into a frenzy about getting a chance to ask Lance something. As we prepped our Madones in the hotel parking lot, Armstrong, out of the blue, rolled over looking to get the ride started and over with. I actually don’t blame him. He must have known he was going to get hammered with cycling questions during the whole ride. I had another idea though.

We rolled out of the hotel and immediately it began- the jostling to be next to Lance. I snuck my way behind him and I could already hear him fielding such questions as, “what was your favorite climb?” Finally, I slid in next to him and introduced myself. I asked the obligatory questions about the Madone, he responded appropriately hitting all the bullet points in describing the bike. After his replies I deviated from the script.

I launched into telling him about our time on State Street. He seemed to be honestly interested in the good time my BFFand I had. Perhaps it was the welcome break of describing over and over the ride qualities of the Madone that made my conversation interesting. By the time I was done regaling him with stories of passed students in the gutter, tossing a sofa into the street, running up bar tabs and waking up CyclingNews’ James Huang for cab money, it was well over five minutes. I knew that it was better to end the conversation on a high note of our stupid late night antics than just puttering out with a lame story of eating hotel breakfast food. I told him thanks, slid off the front and back into the group of quote hungry journalists. Read more »

It’s been a full week for me and I’ve been pulled in numerous directions. Of course we have the Olympics in full swing, which has kept me captivated during prime time, the Team Type 1 training camp and banging out interviews with their riders, the Volta Algarve showing how well everyone’s off-season training is progressing, Landis on Larry King with his “exclusive” interview, and finally the event we were all waiting for – Tiger Woods’ apology. So with all that going on I’ve barely had time to write or even train. C’est la vie.

"All you're left with is a plaid thermos..." the wolfman

I took a quick trip south to Gainesville, Georgia to check in with the Team Type 1 boys. The local Holiday Inn was the site for their training camp and they took over the place. The exercise room was piled high with bike boxes and the mechanics building up the team issue Colnagos with full 7900 Dura-Ace. There are plenty of great bikes out there, but you really can’t go wrong with a Colnago. I sat down with the principle riders on the team, but I also spoke to Englishman, James Stout, a rider on the Team Type 1 development squad. He has an interesting background: Oxford graduate, PhD student in Spanish studies, teaching history at the University of San Diego, professional cat 3 racer, part-time model and possible terrorist. Hopefully soon I’ll transcribe the interview and post it. I honestly had a good time talking to him.

I was invited to ride with the team during the camp and I was prepared until the day’s route was outlined. It included several climbs that the Tour de Georgia featured. Also, the team would be riding “full gas” with hill-top primes. I did a gut check but still thought I’d tag along. Then when I woke up for the morning ride the outside temperature was about 26 degrees. Screw that! I hit the snooze button and went back to sleep.

Not all was lost as I banged out interviews when the riders returned and ran up the team’s bar tab in the hotel. Pretty standard stuff.

While I was there I was also in the middle of trying to post my “exclusive” interview with Floyd Landis. His name popped up in the international press as the French issued a failure to appear summons against him. This resulted in a media storm that amazed both Landis and myself. He still can’t believe that during the Olympics his computer hacking story was, at times, the lead! If you missed his Larry King interview it’s posted here.

Finally, the Volta Algarve must be sending tremors through the peloton. Contador takes today’s mountain stage with Leipheimer in third. Sure, the terrain is nothing compared to what Contador will face in July, but the mental games have begun.

After taking the leader’s jersey Contador said, “I am thrilled by the work that has been done by the team. Everything has gone perfect. I was able to finish the job, but victory is primarily because of my teammates.” While his individual performance was strong, I’m holding off judgment on the depth of the Astana Tour squad.

From race reports it looked like he had a lead-out to the bottom of the climb and he lit it up from there. The Cyclocosm blog pointed out an interesting quote from Armstrong back in 2004. I wonder how many sit-ups Platinum Fitness is making him bust out right now?

Wish me luck on this weekend’s racing. I’ll be toeing the line at the Greenville Spring Series and flying the flag for the Hincapie Development team. Tomorrow morning before my race I’m a guest once again on The FredCast podcast. I’ll try to be enlightening.