Stefan Schumacher’s blistering Time Trial performances at the Tour were certainly a surprise to many. Apparently when someone like Schumacher or Riccardo Ricco performs above and beyond expectations they are most likely doping. Meanwhile Leonardo Piepoli was positive for CERA (Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator) which is not a shock since he was implicated as an accessory to Riccardo Ricco. Just when you think cycling is moving on, there are more revelations. We have not heard the finale of Frank Schleck’s involvement with Dr. Fuentes of Operation Puerto fame either.
Cancellara has the form now with a Gold medal performance at the Olympic Time Trial in Beijing. The Gold follows a Bronze in the Olympic Road Race where Cancellara used his devastating burst of speed to bridge a gap from the peloton to the winning breakway group.
DANIEL GARCIA/AFP/Getty Images
After twice being beaten by Stefan Schumacher in the Tour de France Cancellara must be particularly happy to pass the German racer on the way to scoring a Gold medal.
AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images
Stefan Schumacher did not have the same luck/form/ etc. that produced two TT wins at the Tour de France.
AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev
Leipheimer added to the US medal tally with a well deserved Bronze medal.
(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
Kristin Armstrong takes the Gold in the women’s TT.
Stefan Schumacher is the man who can separate the regular cycling fans from the “just following the Tour” fans. There was a huge shock in the news when Schumi took the Yellow Jersey. Who is this German coming from no where? A relative nobody gets to shine in Yellow. Well Stefan Schumacher has quite a few wins including an Amstel Gold win and several small stage races.
American fans of cycling will remember a particular moment when cycling Schumi (not F1 Schumi) robbed George Hincapie from a win at the ENENCO Tour.
In 2006 Schumacher, now riding for Team Gerolsteiner, won the Eneco Tour of Benelux by one second after colliding with his main rival George Hincapie in the closing metres of the final stage, when time bonuses were available for the leading finishers. Schumacher claimed he had collided first with a spectator and the race jury accepted his story.
Schumi also had a little problem with Amphetamines last year after the World Championships and was at risk of getting a long ban from the sport and at least losing his job at Gerolsteiner. Instead he received a six month ban that ended in March.
Schumacher won a TT before in the Tirreno Adriatico in 2007, and was also tipped by Cancellara in a pre TT interview as someone to lookout for in the race. So welcome non-rest of the year cycling fans, we missed you and say hello to Stefan Schumacher.
Schumi (Stefan Schumacher) and Tintin (Davide Rebellin) have been a powerful duo in the last two hilly Classics races. Schumacher has been getting better results since his breakout performance in last years Giro. Amstel Gold is a major win for the young German.
A dramatic finish in the ENECO Tour (Tour of Benelux) saw Hincapie hit the deck in a controversial finish. George Hincapie looked set to bring home the win after several attacks by Vincenzo Nibali were neutralized. Nibali was seen as the biggest threat even though he was 11 seconds down.
In the final sprint Philippe Gilbert took the win ahead of the pack which saw Stefan Schumacher hook Hincapie. The hook resulted in Hincapie crashing meters from the finish while Schumacher grabbed a four second time bonus that allowed him to take the lead from Hincapie and win the ENECO Tour overall.
Schumi says that he swerved to avoid a spectator, but pictures of the finish show Schumacher and Hincapie with enough room on either side. Schumacher must have swerved violently to cause Hincapie to crash. Regardless, Schumacher must face some sort of penalty for not keeping his line. Instead he was awarded the overall victory.
Schumacher afterwards explained “I started the sprint on the inside, and as I was going along, one of the spectators caught my left arm. I almost fell and my bike swerved to the right.”
Hincapie was upset with the result and almost refused to cross the line. He had some heated words with Schumacher after the finish. The judges ruled that Schumi’s move was OK and Discovery’s protests fell on deaf ears. Regardless of intention, it seems that if a rider does swerve violently in a sprint they should suffer some sort of penalty.
