Are American Cyclists Making A Mistake ?

Lance Armstrong, and many other top American cyclists, competed in the Tour of California in 2009. Then they went to Europe to prepare for and race in the Tour de France. And Lance and many other of the Americans did quite well in France.

Armstrong recently announced, along with Americans George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie, that they would again participate in the Tour of California in 2010. Armstrong will be competing with his new Radio Shack team.

But this time it could be a mistake to compete in the Tour of California. The California race has been trying to become more appealing to world-class riders, and they've been told the way to do it is to include a true mountain leg of the race. The only problem with that is the race has been traditionally run in February, and February weather in the mountains is not conducive to bike racing.

So the Tour of California changed the race to a May date and included a mountain stage -- from Pasadena to Big Bear (over 10,000 feet of climbing). That should make the race more attractive to world-class cyclists. But there is another problem that will probably keep all the world-class riders but the Americans out of the race.

May is the traditional date for the Giro d'Italia -- one of the three most famous bicycle races (along with the Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta) held in the entire world each year. It is also the race that most world-class cyclists use to prepare for the Tour de France.

It is very probable that most foreign riders will choose the Giro d'Italia over the much less prestigious Tour of California, leaving only the Americans to race in California. So while the Americans prepare for the Tour de France by racing each other, the other top riders will be preparing by racing against top riders from all over the world.

Frankly, I think this is a mistake. Except for four or five riders, the California race simply does not have the top competition that will be featured in Italy. That could well mean the Americans will not be properly prepared to race in the grueling Tour de France, and that would truly be a shame considering how well they have done recently in France.

I really hope I'm wrong. But isn't competing against the best the way to beat the best?

Armstrong & Radio Shack Form New Team

Yesterday, Radio Shack announced they had formed a partnership with Lance Armstrong to form a new American cycling team. On his Livestrong web site, Armstrong said, "Radio Shack has agreed to partner with us on this venture and ensure that this partnership and this team stays alive for years to come, continues to be at the head of the peloton. To be able to compete for an American team comprised of the world's top cyclists, supported by the best coaches and staff — I couldn't be happier."

This year Lance Armstrong has competed for the Astana team for free, just to be able to get back into top notch competition. But that team has had financial problems, and went two whole months without paying their riders. There is a good chance the team will not exist next year.

No other riders have been announced. However, the team manager for America's Garmin-Slipstream team said his riders are all under contract for next year and will not be going to the new team. The other current American team, Columbia-Highroad, has not issued a statement, but they did very well on the cycling circuit this year and will probably try and retain the riders they have.

It was also unknown who might be the team manager. But if Astana goes under, that would free up Johan Bruyneel. Bruyneel (pictured) was Armstrong's manager for all seven of the Tour de France wins that Armstrong has.

Armstrong expects some other sponsors to join the effort soon. He is already talking to Trek Bicycles and Nike among others.

Lance has already said he would like to ride in the Tour de France next year, but it is too early to know if the new team will be invited to compete. I suspect they will though. It could really be exciting to see three American teams of quality competing next year.

Armstrong Misses Yellow By A Hair

Stage four was a change of pace for the Tour de France. It was a team trial. Each team raced together against the clock, and they all added to their individual times the time scored by the top five members of the team. The course was a hilly and narrow 39 kilometer course that started and ended in Montpellier. Several teams suffered crashes, and in the end, it was a very exciting stage.

Astana was expected to win the stage and they did. Garmin finished second, Saxo Bank third, Liquigas fourth and Columbia fifth. Astana needed to beat Saxo Bank by more than 40 seconds to give Lance Armstrong the yellow jersey of the race leader, but they won by 40 seconds and Armstrong is now in second place. He is 0.002 seconds behind the leader, Fabian Cancellara. It couldn't have been any closer.

Stage five is a fairly flat course, with only two small catagorey 4 climbs. It should be the last stage for the sprinters to shine, because stage six and seven start a series of fairly mountainous stages. Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (OVERALL LEADERS)
1. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)
2. Lance Armstrong (Astana)..........0.002
3. Alberto Contador (Astana)..........0.19
4. Andreas Kloden (Astana)..........0.23
5. Levi Leipheimer (Astana)..........0.31
6. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin)..........0.38
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Astana)..........0.51
8. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........0.52
9. David Zabriskie (Garmin)..........1.06
10. David Millar (Garmin)..........1.07

GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia)..........70 pts
2. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)..........54 pts
3. Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis)..........36 pts
4. Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank)..........35 pts
5. Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)..........31 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Jussi Veikkanen (Francaise)..........9 pts
2. Tony Martin (Columbia)..........6 pts
3. Koen De Kort (Skil-Shimano)..........6 pts
4. Cyril Dessel (AG2R)..........5 pts
5. Maxime Bouet (Agritubel)..........4 pts

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Astana
2. Saxo Bank..........2.33
3. Columbia..........2.45
4. Garmin..........3.05
5. Liquigas..........4.26

French Unfair To Lance Armstrong

There is little doubt that the greatest cyclist of modern times is Lance Armstrong. He has won the Tour De France bicycle race seven times in a row (1999 thru 2005) -- a feat no other racer has accomplished. This seems to have upset French officials -- probably because their greatest rider was only able to accomplish that feat five times.

They just can't accept the fact that the king of the Tour is not French, or even a European, but a rider from Texas. French officials seem to be convinced that somehow he cheated, and they have had their drug agency (AFLD) test him a ridiculous number of times. But even though he has been tested for drugs more than any other rider, they have never been able to find even a trace of drugs in his system.

When Lance said he was coming out of retirement to race once more, they resumed the testing and were sure they would find something this time. In fact, since last September they have tested him a total of 24 times (that's nearly four times a month and doesn't count the tests he took during races).

This last time, they took blood, urine and hair samples (even though hair samples are not sanctioned by cycling). Once again he tested clean. So now they are claiming there were irregularities during the testing, and they released that to the media like it meant he had somehow cheated.

It turns out that while his assistants were verifying the tester's credentials, Lance went inside and took a shower -- with the tester's permission. When he came back, he took the tests and remained in view of the tester until the tester had completed everything and left. The AFLD is claiming the shower was a violation of protocol, and are threatening to sanction him.

This is ridiculous. It is nothing but French pettiness. They are just jealous because Lance is so much better than their own riders (who aren't tested nearly as often).

Even the head of world-wide cycling doesn't believe Lance is being treated fairly by the AFLD. UCI president PatMcQuaid said, "I would have to say that the French are not acting very professionally in this case.” He said the tests are supposed to be kept confidential and questions why this was leaked to the press.

Lance believes this is just the prelude to banning him from racing in the Tour De France. His tests were negative, so they had to come up with some reason to keep him out of the race.

The whole thing is just sad. I used to believe the Tour was one of the world's greatest sporting events. Now it looks like the French are determined to make it little more than a joke.