(this is not velochimp editor Marcello Prattico… I will give a weightloss update on my training soon)
The Nintendo Wii is a revolution in gaming in that you actually have to move your body, not just your thumbs. So what kind of difference can playing the Nintendo Wii have on your daily routine? A big difference.
For most people this is their most anticipated category. To be honest, I was genuinely surprised by my end results, so I’ll just get right to it. I lost 9lbs! Obviously this doesn’t compare to Jared and the Subway diet, but I started out at a weight that I’ve been at for the past 2 years.
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In Bolivia, the World’s Most Dangerous Road is an attraction for adventure seeking Mountain Bikers.
The “worlds most dangerous road” drops over 11,000 vertical feet as it snakes its way through the Andes to the edge of the Amazon basin. It is the only way provisions can get from La Paz to Coroico and the other small towns in the region. For years it was a one-way road. On specified days of the week you could only go downhill. The other days it was one-way uphill. Currently traffic flows both ways. At some of the more treacherous blind corners, human traffic signalers stand to guide the traffic safely past each other. We are told that the people who do this work are volunteers from one family, a family that lost several members over the side.
Now the road is actually a tourist attraction. Gravity Tours (www.gravitybolivia.com) provides mountain bikes and guides to shepherd riders down the 64-kilometer course. A bus follows behind picking up stragglers and to transport riders and equipment back up to La Paz.
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Not as provocative as the cyclepassion calendar Italian Women’s Team FRW Gauss RDZ released a cycling calendar of its own. Compared to the bikini clad ladies of cyclepassion who I would guess probably don’t ride. The ladies of FRW Gauss RDZ actually earn a living racing their bikes.
Following up on an extremely popular release in 2006. The 2007 calendar features most of the members of the FRW Gauss RDZ Team. To order go to: www.freewheeling.it. I’ll be trying to follow the exploits of FRW Gauss RDZ whenever I can on RAI International.
Looks like Alejandro Valverde will not be donning a magenta jersey after all. Now for my Stephan Colbert moment: Just as I predicted earlier, the Valverde move to T-Mobile was not going to happen. Team manager Eusebio Unzué was able to press the sponsors to extend deals or put in more money. There was enough to give the Green Bullet a solid home for the next four years at more than 9 million dollars (according to cyclingnews.com). That is very close to the rumored T-Mobile deal.
Details of the deal have to be finalized but the Caisse D’Epargne team presentation next week will definitely feature Valverde.
The on-again off again, confirmed but not confirmed move to T-Mobile is not a dead deal yet. The story keeps being denied, but then fresh reports come back to show that there just may be a link between Alejandro Valverde moving to T-Mobile for a price of $10 million Euros for the next three years. This would make the Green Bullet the highest paid professional cyclist in the Pro Peloton.
Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears has been reported to be in a tight situation regarding sponsorship cash. A nice $2 Million Euro buyout may help keep the team afloat. T-Mobile needs a guaranteed rising star since they put all their effort behind Michael Rogers who may or may not pan out as a stage racer.
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Check out exclusive pics from the MaxPowerCycling Team’s Sunday morning training ride on Velochimp.com. After a team meeting in the morning where kit designs for 2007 were finalized, the team headed out into the unusually warm Central New York roads. The plan was for a 45 to 50 mile ride of mostly flat roads. I had to bag it and did a total of 37 miles since Sunday dinner at the parents house was calling. Not bad for January.
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Its not bad enough to have Dick Pund spewing outlandish quotes about Floyd Landis having the nickname “Roid” Floyd and saying that most of the NHL is doped up. Pat McQuaid the president of the UCI decided that he must say something dumb about doping in cycling too. After all why let Dick Pound have all the press? So McQuaid pulls out his old school lace up cycling shoes and places them directly into his mouth. Seriously how do these beurocrats get these top jobs? Are they too busy flying around in their corporate jets not breathing in enough oxygen in the high altitude? Are they missing brain cells from sipping cognac and smoking cigars while thinking about the good ol’ days when men were men and just put a handful of amphetamines in their jersey pockets while climbing the Ventoux?
In case you missed it, here is the idiotic quote.
“There exists today a schism between two cultures. The Anglo-Saxon culture and what I call the mafia-like culture of western Europe (sports.fr assumes this refers to Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain). This western European culture, in a certain way, I wouldn’t say that it condones doping, but it accepts certain practices. The Anglo-Saxon culture, which includes Holland, Germany, England and Denmark, functions in a totally different manner. I believe that it is important that the Anglo-Saxon vision must carry the day. If this is not the case, cycling is dead, ” said McQuaid.
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The NY Times has yet another story on Dick Pound. The French-Canadian Lawyer who is the head of WADA has been in the news regularly as he and Floyd Landis battle about the positive drug test in the Tour de France. Dick Pound has provided the media with several choice “off the cuff” quotes. Most people would think that a lawyer who is the head of a World-wide organization that acts as judge and jury on drug test results should be more diplomatic. In fact it is surreal to read or listen to Dick Pound’s “off the cuff” comments which seem more appropriate in a bar on Friday night than in the New York Times.
… Pound has seized the prerogative of the underdog: fight with whatever you’ve got. Fight fair. Or unfair. His best weapon is his brilliance as a formulator of quotes, his ability to make headlines and call attention to his cause. (He takes great pride in this; one of his books is titled “High Impact Quotations.”) Pound is not a stereotypical Canadian, if you think of Canadians as reticent, nor is he very lawyerly: he assembles whatever facts he can gather, but when they’re not attainable, sometimes just makes them up.
NY TImes
Igor Astarloa is one man who can attest to the legendary curse of the Rainbow Jersey. The Spanish Classics expert who would rather ride on Italian teams (sounds like Oscar Friere) has been in the doldrums since his 2003 World Championship victory in Hamilton Ontario. After winning with Saeco Astarloa switched over to French outfit Cofidis for 2004.
That spring all hell broke loose with drug allegations surrounding the team. Several riders were under suspicion and team management decided to suspend the team from competition until they could resolve the situation. Astarloa was not involved in any of the drug issues, but the suspension of team activities happened during his beloved Spring Classics.
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Ivan Basso may have sparked the latest trend in cycling of racing both the Giro and Tour de France. Basso was unable to ride the double last year due to some doping investigation, but with the Giro win in his pocket he was able to get some trophies from the adoring Italian press by the end of the year. Since then many other pros have looked at doing the double themselves. Paolo Salvodelli announced he is going for the Giro-Tour double as is Iban Mayo. Fresh into his new Sauunier Duval team kit the enigmatic Spanish cyclist is full of hope for 2007.
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