Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

AP Photo/Elsbeth Schouten

Alberto Contador gave Discovery Channel and the Tour de France organization A.S.O. a surprise win today. The 24 year old Spaniard also won the white jersey of best young rider to boot. Hopefully he will avoid the same fate as the last man to wear Yellow and White in Paris, Jan Ullrich. Contador [...]

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Michael Rasmussen is still reeling from his firing from Team Rabobank. The 33 year old racer is back home giving interviews about his sudden sacking while leading the Tour. Whether he was doping or not, the missed tests and obfuscation of his whereabouts created enough concern from Rabobank management to sack the racer [...]

The real reason Michael Rasmussen was dumped from the Tour? According to The Daily Show not only was he suspected of doping, he was also smuggling plums.

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With all of the stress both on and off the bike it seems like a great day to let a breakaway go for the win. Eight men moved clear of the peloton and gained a big lead that ended up with Daniele Bennati easily taking the win over the remaining three breakaway companions. [...]

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Team Rabobank has pulled Yellow Jersey wearer Michael Rasmussen out of the Tour de France. Rasmussen is also out of a job to boot. This was a result of violating team rules on the issue of his missed out of competition tests. Basically Rasmussen was lying to team management about his wearabouts saying [...]

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The Pyrenees stages of the Tour have whittled down the list of contenders for the 2007 Tour de France to two names. Michael Rasmussen is still in Yellow but has a relentless Contador ready to pounce into the lead. After yesterday’s well played out win on Plateau de Beille, Contador and Discovery Channel [...]

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Wow the Albi TT was nothing but surprises all around.
Rasmussen does not meltdown or lose time. In fact he catches and passes his three minute man Alejandro Valverde.
Alejandro Valverde put in a time around Alessandro Ballan’s whoo must have been riding simply to get through the TT and hunt for stage wins in [...]

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Alberto Contador is exciting to watch. His high cadence pace and aggressive attacks in the mountains have made him one of the more entertaining cyclist in the Tour de France. This weekend ’s stages were among some of the more exciting stages in the past few years. The trend we can see [...]

Now that the Apline section of the Tour de France is over, Michael Rasmussen safely in Yellow possibly until Saturday’s Time Trial at Albi.The Time Trial will be the key to Rasmussen winning the Tour overall. The famouse meltdown that he experienced in the Tour’s last Time Trial in 2005 is legendary. The Danish climbing [...]

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Alexandre Vinokourov’s charge for the Mailliot Jaune could be a lost cause for 2007. Vino could not hold the pace of the top contenders and finds himself several minutes behind. Vino has been battling injuries and the pain showed today as he was riding with the group of second flight contenders and came [...]