Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Tour de France Preview

Velochimp — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:00:45 +0000

Chris Horner Video Interview

Velochimp — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:26:48 +0000

Chris Horner is a professional bike racer for Team Astana. He’s been blogging about his experiences in races such as the Giro D’Italia where he crashed out. Here is a closer look at Horner who seems like the ultimate seasoned pro. He knows where and when to ply his talents and what makes him money. Horner concentrates on what helps the team win overall and boasts that he is not paid to win races. For the uninitiated Chris Horner dominated the domestic racing scene in the 90s and 2000s with Saturn Cycling team. Horner won virtually every race out there and is one of the top talents. Now he is racing in Europe doing his part to help riders such as Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong.

Chris Horner prepares for the Tour de France

Stuey vs Brian like Bruyneel vs Astana

Velochimp — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:29:29 +0000

The new Astana kit design by Johan Bruyneel to show his dissatisfaction with the non-payment of salaries reminds me of this clip from Family Guy.

Giro, Columbia HighRoad Back to Back

Velochimp — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:22:43 +0000

Columbia Highrroad gets back-to-back stage wins with Kanstantin Siutsou. This is one day after Edvald Boasson Hagen. What is the connection other than unpronounceable names and young talent?
Stage 8

Stage 7

Bike Race prank

Velochimp — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:13:58 +0000

Weird prank that involves a regular cyclist being in the middle of a bike race.

Crashes everywhere

Velochimp — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:48:16 +0000

(Lance Armstrong crash)

2009 seems to be the year of the crash. Not only in the pro ranks but in the Weekend Warriors ranks of lowly Cat 3, 4 and 5. Look at top pro racers such as Lance Armstrong, Scott Nydam, Cameron Evans and David Impey crashing and sustaining injuries from severe to usually collarbone. Even twitter cycling heartthrob Liz Hatch suffered a tough crash in a training ride.

(Adam Zimmerman)

In my local scene my Maxpowercycling teammate Adam Zimmerman crashed at Tour of Battenkill. A crash that was captured in Bicycling magazine’s videos.

(watch 3 minutes into the video)

Another teammate crashed twice last week in Binghamton and now needs a new frame. This weekend at Hollenbecks Jason Van Staveren had to be airlifted from the top of Parker Rd. after a tough crash.

This is a tough and dangerous sport, but I cannot remember so many crashes happening at all levels of the sport at such a concentrated time. What could be the cause of all these mishaps? Are we racing to aggressively? Are there so many noobs out on the road with poor handling skills that cause these crashes? Is the sport of triathlon with these strong but not technically astute racers a cause for concern. I’ve ridden with many triathletes who have the speed, but not the skill to ride in a fast moving group. Riding next to some of these riders was a scary situation. I would try to keep far away from some triathletes turned road racers.

Perhaps people are getting into cycling today without learning the proper pack riding techniques. Or it could be a bunch of bad luck culminating into one concentrated time. Whatever the cause, keep it sane when riding out there and always keep the rubber side down.

Rwanda Cycling

Velochimp — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:24:27 +0000

Bikes are popular in Rwanda. After the horrifying genocide, the country is recovering with the help of bicycles. Take lots of large hills and very fit athletes and you get a great foundations for cyclist of the future. Just like the Astana team looks to present a better image of a little-known or maligned country, Rwanda is looking to give people around the world a new view on the African country. Though this team will be comprised of mostly Rwandan riders.

Photograph: Riccardo Gangale

Guradian.co.uk

Conan O’Brien out for a ride

Velochimp — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:15:43 +0000

Conan O’Brien is enjoying the LA lifestyle and is taking to the roads on his Seven cycles bike. Conan is a tall man, so his bike is equally gargantuan. Checkout the size of the head-tube, which could be the length of some folks top-tube. Conan’s hairy white legs are another story.

Conan rides

Liege preview

Velochimp — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:07:37 +0000

Liege Bastongne Liege closes out the 2009 Spring Classics. The lightweight climber types will look to avenge the spanking delt by veteran Davide Rebellin at Fleche Wallone. Liege does not finish with a long steep climb like Amstel and Fleche so the finish is not as critical. The key will be to whittle down the lead group on the numerous climbs leading into Liege. Sprinters such as Valverde and Cunego will have an upper hand if they make it through with a lead group. Here is last year’s finish with Valverde taking the win.

Michele Bartoli’s win in 1997 as he outlasts Jalabert.

Fleche Wallone

Velochimp — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:55:46 +0000

Alll of the favorites together for the final kick up the Mur de Huy. Cadel Evans does the pace making at the bottom to string out the peloton and Davide Rebellin powers up for the win. Great win by a veteran rider who was almost written off into retirement.

Paris Roubaix Videos

Velochimp — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:50:26 +0000

Tom Boonen was the King of the Hell of the North this year again. Tornado Tom earned the victory this year by powering into the Roubaix velodrome on his own. The decisive moment came at Carrefour de l’arbre when Boonen made a move with Thor Hushovd. Hushovd crashed into a corner which gave Boonen a 10 second gap over a chasing Pozzato. Pozzato could not narrow the gap and came in at around 47 seconds.

Juan Antiono Flecha’s crash which took Hoste and Van Summeran out of contention.

Highlights and crashes:

Here is an extended video of the ride through the Arenberg Forest one of the toughest sections of cobbles.

Final Km of Paris Roubaix

Queen Bicycle Race video (NSFW)

Velochimp — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:54:36 +0000

Never saw the video for Queen’s Bicycle race until today. The video picks up from the album cover featuring naked women riding bikes. The flashes of naked women riding bikes are very brief mixed in with Queen performing.

Thanks to sf.streetsblog.com :The World’s Best Music Videos Featuring Bicycles for the link and the writeup of videos featuring bikes.

Milan San Remo Cipressa climb

Velochimp — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:43:02 +0000

Cipressa 2009
Uploaded by burnie87

Milan San Remo Final Km

Velochimp — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:04:19 +0000

Amazing sprint by Mark Cavendish to take back 4 to 5 bike lengths to pip Hausler for the win.

Did Hausler’s weaving sprint cost him the win? He weaved from one side of the road to the other and back while Cavendish was bearing down and eventually won the sprint. Hausler had a great jump on the sprint getting a good 4 to 5 bike length lead as he approached the finish line. Cavendish seemed to put his sprint into overdrive to catch back Hausler and get the win by only inches.

Milan San Remo Live Coverage

Velochimp — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:59:24 +0000

Watch live video from abdel55 on Justin.tv

Thanks to cyclingfans.com for the link.

Cancellara and Ballan to miss Milan San Remo

Velochimp — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:08:45 +0000

(Photo from flickr user Darcy McCarty)

Defending Milan San Remo winner Fabian Cancellara and World Champion Alessandro Ballan will miss the start of Milan San Remo. Cancellara is battling poor form and sickness that has been reoccuring since his prologue win at the Tour of California. Cancellara dropped out of Tirreno Adriatico this week and is trying to establish a program that will allow him to return to top form for the Classics in the next few weeks. Cancellara will race in next weeks Settimana Coppi e Bartali.

I regret not being able to do Milano-Sanremo which for obvious reasons is a race that has a special place in my heart, but I need to be realistic. It’s the best decision based on the form I have right now and more importantly, for family reasons, I wasn’t able to do the race on Saturday either way. I want to stay focused and since I had to exit Tirreno-Adriatico, I need to get more stability and I can only get that from racing and continue my work. I look forward to be gaining more form in the Italian stage race and hopefully, that will help me get some progress and form.

Meanwhile World Champion Alessandro Ballan has been sick with Citomegalovirus which means that he will have to stop racing for 15 days to recuperate from the infection.

Interestingly one of the transmission methods of Cytomegalovirus is through blood transfusions. Hopefully this is not the way Ballan contracted the infection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytomegalovirus

Ballan has been having a tough early season so far having to miss Kuurne Brussels Kuurne and Het Volk due to lack of form/sickness. Could this be the curse of the Rainbow Jersey taking hold again?

Tirreno Adriatico Stage 7

Velochimp — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:56:01 +0000

Michele Scarponi wins Tirreno Adriatico. Today’s final stage saw a sprint finish with Mark Cavendish beating Tyler Farrar. Farrar’s second place shows that his earlier stage win was no fluke as he mixed it up with the top sprinters.

Tirreno Adriatico Stage 6 final kms

Velochimp — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:56:27 +0000

Stage 6 provided for a big change with some big names making a move to topple Astana and race leader Kloden. Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi and Stenfao Garzelli mounted a strong attack that resulted in a stage win for Scarponi and the new overall lead. Ivan Basso seemed to be testing his legs for the Giro with teammate Vincenzo Nibali helping with the work. Basso did not just use his teammate to gain time advantage, he was also seen pulling at the front to drive the pace.

Tirreno Adriatico Live Coverage

Velochimp — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:24:12 +0000

Watch live video from tv seba on Justin.tv

Live stream on RAI 3 and Gazzetta.it

Thanks to cyclingfans.com for the links to live coverage of Tirreno Adriatico

Paris Nice Stage 8

Velochimp — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:08:24 +0000

Alberto Contador tried to take back the overall after a disaterous day in the mountains where he lost his overall lead to former teammate Luis Leon Sanchez. In the final stage 8 Contador battles valiantly to reclaim the top spot. Follow the final few kms.