Editor's Note: Subaru/Gary Fisher pro endurance racer Nat Ross has been sharing daily diaries from the BC Bike Race with VeloNews.com readers. Today, Ross reports on the final stage in Whistler. We just finished the 7th stage in the 2nd Annual BC Bike Race and my body is pretty worked. My legs feel great because I was getting daily massages, and they are accustomed to high mileage in the summer months, but everything else on my body is sore.
Jeremiah Bishop wore a face of bewilderment and agitation as his Trek-Volkswagen teammates doused him in beer at the finish line of Breckenridge, Colorado’s Firecracker 50 on Friday. Bishop, 32, had no idea he’d just won the race and taken the marathon national championship, his first U.S. title as a pro rider. The look changed to one of joy once the Virginian realized that he’d crossed the line first. [nid:79320]
Editor’s note: Every day during the 95th Tour de France, VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson will be writing his “Inside the Tour” column. It will have a more personal slant than most of the pieces he writes. There will be comments on each day’s tactics, insights on what to look for the next day, and stories he has witnessed in the 40 years he has been reporting the race. This first column includes thoughts on the opening stage and what to looking for on the wild roads of Brittany over this first weekend. * * *
A day before the start of the Tour de France is almost too late to accomplish anything significant. Nonetheless, it’s a frantic time for mechanics and support staff as clock ticks down to the start of the world’s biggest bicycle race. Teams build bikes up to the last minute, busses are stocked and there are always bikes, kits and cars to be washed and shined in last hours before the race kicks off. Instead of diving right into a single piece of equipment for this year’s race, let’s take a look at the frantic activity on the eve of the Tour.
Cheerwine Cycling has all but dominated the first two stages of the women’s race at the Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic. After winning Thursday’s time trial, the team took the top two spots in Friday’s 69-mile road race, with Catherine Cheatley and Kristin McGrath finishing one-two. The last step on the podium was taken by Kathleen Billington (Connecticut Coast).
When Lance Armstrong was winning the Tour every year, the only real question before the race was not “Who will win?” but “Can anyone get close to him?” Now, after two totally unpredictable Tours, both of them ruined by doping controversies, it looks like we’re about to start on another Magical Mystery Tour. All the same, it’s still fun trying to peek into the crystal ball.
"He's not the Messiah! He's a very naughty boy!—an exchange between Brian's mum and his followers in Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”
I’m going to start this week’s column with an extended photo caption. On the left is Andreas Hestler, professional mountain bike racer and member of the Rocky Mountain Bicycles team. On Thursday, he and partner Max Paxton grabbed the stage 6 win at the BC Bike Race, a seven-day affair that started last Saturday north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, and finishes Friday in Whistler.
For the second consecutive day, an American team kicked off its Tour de France by unveiling a fresh jersey design created for a new title sponsor. Team Columbia, the former T-Mobile team referred to as Team High Road for the first half of the 2008 season, presented its new look and new sponsor in front of a packed press conference at the Penfeld Parc des Expositions in Brest, France, where the Tour will start Saturday morning.
Spain’s Green Bullet isn’t sweating it. Alejandro Valverde says if he doesn’t win the Tour de France this year, he’s got plenty more in his legs. That’s not to say that he’s shying away from a unique opportunity to become the third consecutive Spanish winner, but Spain’s El Imbatido – “the unbeaten one” – is trying to tamp down over-zealous expectations from national media who are hyping his chances in the absence of defending champion Alberto Contador.