Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

This video has it all, tilt-shift video, urban fixie ala Lucas Brunelle barrelling down NYC. Thanks to www.cyclelicio.us and bikemonkey on twitter.

Empire from Empire on Vimeo.

Lance Armstrong was not at the Tour presentation, but he did give his reactions to the 2009 Tour route today.

First off, Lance likes the innovative route of the 2009 course that starts in Monaco with a 15km hilly TT and visits Barcelona and Girona, Spain.

“The route of the 2009 Tour de France strikes me as innovative and very interesting,” Armstrong said.

“From its start in Monte Carlo with a 15k time trial, to the reinstatement of the team time trial, to stages in my old hometown of Girona all the way to another visit to my old friend the Ventoux, I could not have hoped for a different Tour.”

That is well and good, but what about the red meat? Will Lance ride in the 2009 Tour and if so will he support Contador or will he demand to be numero uno?

“As to the leadership of the Astana team in 2009, it’s illogical to pre-select a leader for any race in October of the previous year,” Armstrong said.

“I have been around long enough to know that cycling is a team sport and I am fully committed to supporting the strongest rider in any race, whether that’s me, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, or Andreas Kloden.

Hmm, he is not saying he will ride in support of Contador, but he is not saying he won’t. But this statement clearly leaves the reigns of leadership wide open. Lance Armstrong has been around in cycling log enough to know that his Tour teams basically revolved around supporting Lance Armstrong’s road to victory. The USPS/Discovery Channel team had a clear number one rider and there really was no number two option. Look at the 2006 Tour when Discovery rode like a headless chicken.

There is not much doubt that Contador is the best stage racer in the world at this moment. But, Astana could be playing coy and trying to use its strength to “protect” Contador. Team CSC looked like they were supporting Frank Schleck for overall victory until Sastre attacked in the mountains with the help of the Schleck brothers constant marking of their rivals.

So, this will be an interesting development to watch. Is Astana being coy about Contador? Will Contador wish to spread his wings and go to another team where he is a clear leader? Or will Contador end up playing super domestique to an 8th Armstrong Tour win? This will be a fun year.

The 2009 Tour de France route was unveiled today in Paris. Notibly absent was Lance Armstrong who is Twittering from Austin and developing a radical new TT position. The Tour contenders in Paris including Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans liked the course.

The first stage is a 15km hilly TT in Monaco. The Team Time Trial is back on Stage Four. Ventoux on Stage 20. If the race is tight coming into the final stage it would provide for an epic finish. However, the course looks very grueling and could be well decided by then.

Only 55km of Individual TTs with a 38km Team Time Trial. The race looks to favor someone of defending champion Carlos Sastre’s ability. Not explosive in the TT, but a good enough climber. Sastre’s new Cervelo team has some horsepower with Thor Hushovd for the Team Time Trial, but it remains to be seen how his team will match up with Alberto Contador and the powerful Astana squad.

Team Saxobank may have a chance to bring Andy Schleck into contention since the shorter TT options may be forgiving to the young rider.

Everyone is waiting to see what Lance Armstrong does in July. Johan Bruyneel said that chances of a Lance return to France are 50/50.

Here is the list of stages.

Stages for the 2009 Tour de France

Stage 1 – July 4 – Monaco – Monaco, 15km (individual time-trial)
Stage 2 – July 5 – Monaco – Brignoles, 182km
Stage 3 – July 6 – Marseille – La Grande-Motte, 196km
Stage 4 – July 7 – Montpellier, 38km (team time-trial)
Stage 5 – July 8 – Le Cap d’Agde – Perpignan, 197km
Stage 6 – July 9 – Girona (Spain) – Barcelona (Spain), 175km
Stage 7 – July 10 – Barcelona – Andorra 224km
Stage 8 – July 11 – Andorra-la-Vieille – Saint-Girons, 176km
Stage 9 – July 12 – Saint Gaudens – Tarbes, 160km

● – July 13 – Rest day at Limoges

Stage 10 – July 14 – Limoges – Issoudun, 193km
Stage 11 – July 15 – Vatan – Saint Fargeau, 192km
Stage 12 – July 16 – Tonnerre – Vittel, 200km
Stage 13 – July 17 – Vittel – Colmar, 200km
Stage 14 – July 18 – Colmar – Besanon, 199km
Stage 15 – July 19 – Pontarlier – Verbier (Suisse), 207km

● – July 20 – Rest day at Verbier

Stage 16 – July 21 - Martigny (Switzerland) – Bourg-Saint Maurice, 160km
Stage 17 – July 22 – Bourg-Saint Maurice – Le Grand Bornand, 169km
Stage 18 – July 23 – Annecy – Annecy, 40km (individual time-trial)
Stage 19 – July 24 – Bourgoin-Jallieu – Aubenas, 195km
Stage 20 – July 25 – Montélimar – Mont Ventoux, 167km
Stage 21 – July 26 – Montereau-Fault-Yonne – Paris Champs Elysées, 160km

10 flat stages.
7 mountain stages
1 medium mountain stage.
2 individual time-trial stages.
1 team time-trial stage.

http://www.letour.com/

Cool tune and contrast. Douchebag messenger and poseur lady riding through NYC on a tres-hipster Masi fixie with checkerboard painted forks and a cruiser bike respectively.

The video does make you want to ride. Link via Carlton Reid on Twitter and Quick Release TV

Took some video of the Men’s Open race. Here are some raw videos from several points on the course.

The start

The first set of barriers.

The technical S section. There is a little crash near the beginning.

This is a little jump heading back to the start finish line.

More videos to come.

Saturday’s Syracuse Cyclocross Grand Prix had a great turnout and some nice weather. Jochen Woicke the race director put on a great event yet again as several Cross racers descended to Liverpool’s Long Branch Park for a day of racing.

Jan Maloff has been running an annual Holiday bike giveaway prgram for years here in Syracuse, NY. The program usually involves getting hundreds of broken bikes fixed up by local volunteers. The Onondaga Cycling Club would lend a hand by fixing some bikes too. Just before Christmas the bikes are given away for free to underprivileged families so that kids can have a nice present.

The problem Jan Maloff saw was that each year they would usually see the same bikes. Plus when kids would start riding their bikes, small problems such as flat tires or various adjustments could lead to the kids throwing out the bikes again. The solution was to provide free bike repair year round so that kids can keep riding without having to search out for repairs. Jan Maloff is doing this to promote a healthy lifestyle for kids who otherwise could not afford it.

Here is a recent news story:

Daniele Bennati sprinted to his final season win over Luca Paolini in the semi-Classic Giro del Piemonte. This is a flat race that finished up in a bunch sprint.

Finish line video as Petacchi romps to the win. Unfortunately for AleJet he was not on French soil battling in Paris-Tours.

Interviews with the contenders.

Il Killer del Spoltore takes the win in the hilly late season classic in Italy. Tuttobiciweb.com has been posting video reports from their site. The commentary is in Italian, but you get a glimpse of one of the great fall classics in Italy.

The Finish

Pre-race interviews. Cadel Evans has a great command of Italian since he is married to an Italian lady.