Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

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

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

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.

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.

Watch live video from abdel55 on Justin.tv

Thanks to cyclingfans.com for the link.

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

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.

Caisse D’Epargne had a double success today as both Luis Leon Sanchez and Joaquim Rodríguez. Both took over the overall lead in Paris Nice and Tirreno Adriatico respectively.

Climb up Montelupone coverage.

More climbing with Rodriguez attacking.

Alberto Contador bonked in the final few kilometers of Stage 7 at Paris Nice as Louis Leon Sanchez launched a well timed attack. Sanchez took over the lead from Contador.