Wannabe Bike Girl

First off, sorry for not approving comments faster. I would have done it Tuesday, but I got distracted by … Well. Did any of you know that Cofidis has a little piece of land on Second Life? No? Well, I found out Tuesday morning — and there went my morning.

Yes, I do play on SL and yes, I love it. Anyway, here’s one of the snaps my sister took with my new (free) Cofidis kit and a rather larger than life-size (SL life-size at any rate) photo of one Sylvain Chavanel.

For more, go here. Yes, I know this makes me a huge nerd, but I already knew that.

Tom Boonen is sorry. For what, I’m not sure. He read a statement that said:

“Lately, my name has appeared several times in the news in a negative manner. I realise that with this I have hurt my family, my friends, my team and my fans. I wish to apologise for that. But I am not perfect. I will accept the consequences. You will understand that in spite of everything that has been written, rightfully or wrongly, I am not here to defend my conduct.”

Well, okay, fine. But you didn’t say, “I’m sorry that I made cycling look bad and let my fans down.” Maybe I’m expecting too much. And then he went on to talk about how he needs to take some time, blah blah blah. You know what, I don’t care how much pressure you’re under, that doesn’t make doing cocaine right. Okay, you’re young(ish) and you’re the most famous cyclist in Belgium, if not all of cycling, right now. You’re a hero to thousands of people (adults and children). I get that you’ve made a mistake, but for god’s stake, start taking responsibly for your actions. I know this isn’t doping, but seriously, this is a problem I have with athletes. You might lead a charmed life, but we understand that you’re human. And, maybe if you started acting like it, we’d be more willing to forgive you.

I think I’d be okay if Boonen said ‘what I did was wrong and I’m sorry.’ I expected people who doped to say the same thing. All of these denials and avoidances make you look guilty, not innocent — even if you are. Which is the root of the problem, there’s no privacy. I don’t think the Boonen scandal has been handles any better than Hamilton/Landis/whoever doped/didn’t dope. Probably Millar’s admission (regardless of when it happened) and then apology was the best we’ve had, and it wasn’t that great.

But back to Boonen, I might have even felt sorry for him (I mean, I pity him, but I don’t really feel sorry for him), but then his team had to go and make excuses for him.

“Nobody is perfect,” said Team Manager Patrick Lefevere. “We will keep a close eye on Tom but he will certainly remain with the team.” He then announced that Quick Step had prolonged its sponsoring contract for an additional three years. “The sponsors continue to have confidence in the team and in Boonen,” he added.

SO WHAT? I don’t care that he’s not perfect, I mean, yay that’s great. But he broke the law, though they didn’t find any on him/in his house/whatever. There’s more in this article. I just don’t understand why there won’t be any punishment, other than his being uninvited to the Tour de Suisse and TDF. But then again, he is a superstar in cycling, so maybe everyone will bend over backwards to make things okay for him. I suppose the only way this could end well for me is if he admitted what he did, apologized and then said it wouldn’t happen again and, you know, did something about it.

I know this won’t happen, this is sports and not real life. There won’t be much punishment, QS will keep him on and in a month’s time we’ll have forgotten all about it. Because we like to keep our heads buried in the sand as much as the next fans. Not that I’m bitter.

I have not always been Tom Boonen’s biggest fan, though I used to like him a lot (back before I was really invested in riders like Chavanel, Gilbert and Werner). But the more popular he’s become, the less I like him. This is because I am one of those fans. The more popular you are, the less likely I am to like you. But the other reason is just because Boonen seemed to be a little cocky, to put it nicely. I have no idea what he’s really like, he could be a great guy. But I definitely didn’t get a good impression of him. That, of course, doesn’t me squat, which is fine. I mean, what do I know about the personalities of bike racers? I wanted Armstrong to be a stand up guy, and he isn’t really (even if I do appreciate what he’s done for cancer research).

And because of what team he’s on and the past of some of his former teammates (doping issues), I wouldn’t be surprised if Boonen dopes. And, to be perfectly frank, I cannot believe he hasn’t been caught. But, he hasn’t, not that that’s saying much, because you never really know. So, if a report from Belgium (or France or whatever) came out and said Boonen tested positive for doping, I wouldn’t be surprised.

What will surprise me? This (link to the Podium Cafe post)! It’s all taken from an article in the Belgian paper HLN and, according to people at Podium Cafe, Boonen tested positive for cocaine. You can read a lot more about it at the PC link, but holy shit y’all. Cocaine! I never would have guessed. I mean, we don’t even know if it’s true — though if it is, this is definitely bad for cycling.

Not just because it’s drugs, I mean Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu tested positive for cocaine and is currently representing his country in the European Championships. The reason this is such a big deal if it’s true, is because Boonen is an icon for loads of young cyclists and cycling fans. He’s what these young riders want to be and who lots of cycling fans admire. If he was doping, this would be one thing. I mean, sometimes we all feel like everyone dopes (and some of Boonen’s teammates have been caught and/or confessed), but perhaps we live in a bubble, but drugs?

I don’t know. I’m curious to see how this plays out. There’s some history here I’m not clear on (relating to a friend of his testing positive for cocaine as well and issues with his driving, more details again at the at PC link), but if this is true … Well, it’s a train wreck waiting to happen.

Boonen photo (c) remid @ flickr.

Four years ago, that would be 2004, the Olympics were going on. Our only worry/whatever was who was going to get called up, would be focus on the Tour or the Olympics. Doping was only a minor issue (oh, how naive some of us were) and everyone who wasn’t named Lance Armstrong or USPS were getting along just fine, including the race organizers.

Four years can be a very long time, and oh how things have changed. Ignoring the doping issues, which I will because I feel like sometimes it’s all we talk about (and it kind of is, much of the time). There’s these issues with French races and the UCI. Yesterday, TDF organizers said that they wanted to take steps to stop fighting with the UCI.

“We have asked the FFC to sanction the Tour de France and the AFLD (French anti-doping agency) will be in charge of the controls before and during the Tour de France,” Prudhomme announced.

There’s more here, including how the UCI is upset about ASO’s decisions regarding the Tour. It’s getting completely out of control. But then today (one day later!), there’s talk of sanctions (more talk, I should say). What will they be? That is the question, but apparently the UCI won’t ban people from the Olympics.

“It’s in our capacity but it’s not in our heart to sanction athletes that have prepared for four years for an Olympic Games,” McQuaid said on Wednesday. “No matter how grave the situation might be, or how disloyal we feel the French federation has been to the UCI, I don’t see the Olympic Games being touched.”

Which, I have to say, is a good thing. But, to be perfectly honest, they need to sort something out now. In some ways, this reminds me of UEFA and/or FIFA verses the rest of the footballing world. The organizations are fighting amongst themselves, with no regard to how it affects the riders and the fans. And at this rate, they’re going to end up alienating everyone. They will probably cause races to go under (without the support of the UCI, some races will probably be unable to go on, at least as they do now).

And they’re doing a fine job of punishing cyclists who just want to race. But then again, this is probably all about money. And when it comes right down to it, money is what makes sports go on, not the athletes themselves (talk about fucked up logic, but there you go). We see it all the time in the United States with our top leagues (NFL, MLB, and NBA) and in Europe with UEFA (both the international and club tournaments) and within countries (especially Spain, England and Italy, but others, too). This is a reality that fans will have to accept, money is what makes things happen. Sure, you might have cyclists who ride for the love of the sport, but if there’s no money for races, no one’s going to come and watch.

It’s a no-win situation for anyone and the different organizations keep trying to not find a solution. Sure, they might say they’re trying to sort things out, but I don’t buy it. This is just more drama drama for the sake of publicity and with no end in sight. Someone is going to have to bend and break down and give in. But at this rate, that’s the last thing anyone wants to do.

So, ASO, UCI, FFC, and everyone else. Grow up! Suck it up and deal. Maybe y’all should stop behaving like idiots and look at what you’re doing to the sport. You should be coming together to fight cycling, you should be having talks to end these issues and stop punishing cyclists who just want to race. Stop making things about yourselves and start remembering that what you do impacts people. Not little toys on bikes, but real, actual people who are trying to make a living doing what they love.

Don’t ruin this sport. Make it better. Protect the riders that you’re supposed to care about. Get off your high horses (ALL OF YOU) and talk. Fix this. Because if you don’t, it’s only going to get worse.

photo (c) Captain Physics @ flickr

So, the 2008 Giro d’Italia ended this past weekend and I have to say that I watched, maybe, three stages (parts of three stages, that is). I love cycling, don’t get me wrong. And every time Sylvain (or Phil or Kjell, etc) win something, I’m extremely pleased. But I just couldn’t get excited about the Giro. Even when I was talking up the race to my father, when my parents were here for the first weekend, I just couldn’t really work up the enthusiasm. I’m not really sure why, though.

It might be related to doping, who wants to watch a race where there are so many riders who are (to me and others) under suspicion of doping. But I’m not entirely sure that’s it. It could also be that I’ve taken playing favorites to a whole new level, which is both horrifying and hilarious. Horrifying because I used to love to watch cycling for the sake of cycling (and I suppose, if it was available as easily, both legally and illegally as tennis and football/soccer, I might still do it). But it is also hilarious because I kind of expected something like this to happen.

It could also be that maybe I just don’t care as much, and this blog would kind of be a testament to it. Or it could be that I work six days a week and it’s hard to follow cycling when you’re always busy. But I think most of those are just excuses. I think it boils down to the idea that it’s all of this things, and probably more. Cycling is failing at endearing itself to me in many ways. I don’t have that burning desire to find out about the “new” teams and new players.

I stick with boys I’ve followed in the past (Sylvain, Kjell, Philippe, Edvald, etc) and I just find it hard to put more work into something that is so … fickle, I guess. And cycling has become a fickle sport. One day people will rail against, oh, take the winner of the Giro this year, Contador. And then two days later, he’s riding hard (how, I ask, how?) and then winning the Giro (second GT, doesn’t anyone think this is weird?).

I remember not so long ago when it was ‘wow, the Giro is great because no one is dominating it!’ And then July would come and we’d be all ‘damn, it’s gonna be Armstrong again.’ But few people (people whose blogs I read, journalists, etc) would have the guts or the desire (and yes, those two are different) to criticize Armstrong. We just accepted that he was good, better than the best (we’ll never really know for sure if he doped or didn’t dope, unless he confesses. And while I don’t like Armstrong, I do kind of admire both what he did — the winning — and how he took himself out of things. Retiring at your peak is never easy).

Times have changed, but still, cycling fans don’t always ask the right questions. Granted, I don’t know what they are and I live thousands of miles from where all the races take place (regardless of if they’re in the US or Europe or Australia or whatever). But that doesn’t stop me from wondering what the hell is going on. I mean, why do we so readily accept that Contador could be doping and yet not bat an eye when he wins the Giro? Maybe I’m just looking in the wrong places, maybe he is clean, maybe … I don’t know.

I don’t have answers, maybe there aren’t any. But whatever is going on, it’s going to either keep it up or something worse is going to happen. Everyone expected this year to be better, cleaner, but I have to say, is it? Will it be? Or will this year’s TDF (because that is when everything happens, since cycling still hasn’t convinced the world that other races matter) be even worse than last year.

My goals, as a fan, are simple. I want my riders to come through. I don’t want Cofidis kicked out so that Sylvain has another incomplete tour on the books. I want Philippe to win stages. I want Sylvain to win stages. I want Kjell to win stages. I want the riders I love and adore to do well, and I don’t want this sport to keep sliding down hill.

People say it’s improved, that things are better. But, I gotta say, I’m not seeing it.

The two photos on this post are (c) to Alberto F on flickr.

Edvald Boasson Hagen has a lot going for him. He’s young, he’s strong, he’s Norwegian Time Trial champion (best everyone’s favorite Norwegian, Thor Hushovd). And, best of all? He’s winning.

When I first hear that Hagen was going to T-Mobile, I was upset (same with Mr. Thomas Lövkvist). But, it turns out that T-Mobile went away, replaced by High Road and … Even though they have Hincapie, who I don’t like, the team is pretty awesome. Which was totally a surprise for me.

Speaking of surprises, unrelated to Boasson Hagen though, Slipstream turned out to be a dud for me. Not the team or their accomplishments, but the fact that they changed their style (in my eyes). Last season they were this upstart, US team with nothing to lose. This season they’ve imported talent — good talent, don’t get me wrong. But it feels like a thrown together team. I know that, really, this is an off year, but I miss the fun that was Slipstream last year.

I think I’m just too picky and spoiled to be a Slipstream fan, which sucks because I like Steven Cozza, Trent Lowe, and Lucas Euser. I liked the NY Times article my mother sent me last year. I like how these guys are really dedicated. But I just don’t like the team. I suppose I had it coming. I have always said that it’s hard for me to like teams in cycling. Never hard for me to dislike them, just hard to like. I had that problem, even when I liked Christian Werner on T-Mobile, hell even back in the days when I liked Hamilton and Armstrong (ugh). I think that maybe the only team I really liked completely was FDJ, and that didn’t last.

Anyway, I lost the point somewhere around here. Just that while High Road isn’t my favorite, I do like Boasson Hagen and I especially like it when he wins things.

Photo (c) jaydoubleyougee @ flickr.

It’s becoming harder and harder for me to watch cycling. And before you jump to any conclusions, let me make a couple of things clear. This post has nothing to do with the price of cycling.tv, nor the availability of free streams or doping in any way. Instead, this has to do with the way my life has changed. And what I say when I mean watching cycling, is really everything that goes with it. Watching and following it online (whether at cyclingnews or Podium Cafe).

None of this is related to doping, which I am sure many people expect. But, instead, this is directly related to working. I go to bed early and get up early or I got to bed late and get up late. My sleep schedule is directly related to one thing — work. The thing that makes cycling different from soccer is that cycling tends to go on longer, the start times aren’t readily available to me (at least not as easily as the soccer ones) and most of the races tend to start when I’m rushing around getting ready for work.

Really, I love going to work at 9 am on a Saturday morning (I work every Saturday, just so you know). I’m not really whining about my inability to watch, mostly the fact that it’s a pain in the ass. Especially this year. For the first time my boys are doing well. Or at least they were (kidding, I know they’ll win again). But this is the year that I feel the only race I can watch in full will probably be the TDF and only if Verses is showing it and I can record it. Otherwise, I just don’t have the time.

And now for the thing that’ll shock some of you. I don’t care that I can’t watch. I get far too much into sports and my emotions are wrapped up in the riders (players/teams) that I love. And when they lose, it’s like I’m losing (read this to see what I mean). Which means that watching this stuff is stressful. We’re talking nerve-wracking, stomach twisting, make myself sick kind of stress. Yes, I know this makes no sense and it’s probably unhealthy, but this is how I am a fan. I already follow so many sports that watching one less live is much better for me. Of course, that doesn’t stop me completely from having an emotional response. I practically cried when Sylvain won some of the races/stages.

I get emotional about sports, it’s who I am. And cycling is clearly no exception. I miss watching cycling, up to a point. I don’t miss hating the riders who win when my boys don’t. I don’t miss the heart-in-throat moments as the finish line approaches. But I do miss the excitement, the thrill of watching my favorite rider cross the line. But the world rolls on without me, it’s not necessary for me to watch every race that Sylvain races in. Last year I watched almost every single match Arsenal played. I can’t do it this year and I had to tell myself that it’s not that important. I watch what I can and that’s okay. And the same applies to cycling.

Not being able to watch the races doesn’t make me less of a fan. It might make me disconnected and out of touch, but it doesn’t mean I love the sport any less, because I don’t.

(The Dwars door Vlaanderen picture in the post was taken by lieven_vs @ flickr).

I haven’t posted about this, mostly because I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to say. I mean, you’ve read the posts below. Everyone knows how I feel about Sylvain. It’s … I don’t know, this isn’t something I’m used to. Kind of like when Arsenal got to the Champions League final or the Buckeyes were in a third national championship game in the 2007 season.

These are things that happen. Especially to people I like. And yet here we are. Sylvain’s won two good races and stages of two more huge races. He’s having an extraordinary season and I am at a loss for words. Which probably means this blog post will end up being huge. But moving back to the whole thing about Sylvain winning. To me, it’s not unexpected. I always believed he could do it, I just never thought he’d find the right races. Even during the Tour, you could see the determination, the drive that he has to win. It was just waiting for the right way to manifest itself. And it turns out, that way is found in Belgian.

I have never believed he was capable of winning the Tour de France and I’ve said so, many times. Even Sylvain himself has said that’s not what he’s capable of either. I know the French are looking for a Tour winner. They heaped so many expectations on Sylvain that it’s obvious this was one of the reasons he hasn’t won anything at TDF. Last year, though, was something special. He came so close to winning stages. He drives breakaways and he took KOM points and jerseys and was fantastic. It was clear to me that he’s only getting better.

If you ignore his two stage wins and the day of yellow at Paris-Nice, because he’s won smaller French stage races (and stages of French races), you see that he was waiting for something. It took the cobbles and bad weather for it to come through. Instead of doing what he’s doing every year, he managed to go a different route.

Without ever having raced in these two Belgian races, Sylvain managed to win both Dwars door Vlaanderen and De Brabantse Pijl. And, of course, everyone is shocked and surprised, including myself and, of course Sylvain. Because no one, not even the boy himself, knew that he was capable of winning either (or both) of these. Of course, the chances of him repeating these wins Sunday at the Ronde van Vlaanderen is low, if not highly unlikely. But he is, of course, still a favorite. While the race is potentially too long, if he’s in the right break and if his teammates are working for him, you never know what will happen.

Of course, this isn’t just about Sylvain winning races. It’s not about a Frenchman winning Belgian races and knocking the hard hitters (as it were) down a few blocks. It’s not even about the French taking back “their” sport. It’s about cycling at it’s finest. It’s about a boy I’ve believed in, practically since I started being a fan, finally proving what I knew all along. Sure, you might ask Sarah, how did you know and I really don’t have an answer for you. I could see his potential, even on that day when he should have won a stage of the tour and Armstrong had to prove a point. Or when Chris Horner ruined another one of Sylvain’s chances.

But you also have to weigh all of that alongside how much was working against Sylvain. Riding for Brioche La Boulangère made life harder for him. He had to compete with a team full of young, French riders. And it was on that team that he had to give up all hope of winning things at the Tour in order to be super domestique for Thomas Voeckler (and who can forget how hard Sylvain worked to keep Voeckler in yellow). It was really not until he left BLB for Cofidis that we saw a change in his riding. He was still, and remains even now, the best young French hope. But people have written him off. He became yet another in long list of French riders who failed to live up to their potential. Of course, that’s not the case at all.

As we’ve seen both last year and this year, he’s more than just what the French media have depicted him as. He’s special, like all people are special, but he finally seems to have found his spot. To me, it’s more than amazing. It’s everything I wanted as a fan. It’s better than rooting for Armstrong to win the Tour back in 2003. Better than Christian Werner getting to rider in the Tour. It’s better than Matt Wilson winning the Australian road race championship. To me, Sylvain winning these races proves to me that sport is not lost. That if you hang in there long enough, good things do and will happen. Of course, as a fan of team sports, I already knew this, but cycling is different.

We cannot forget, of course, that cycling is a team sport as well. Sylvain could not have won as handily as he did in any of his races without his teammates. Especially the Belgian ones. Nick Nuyens, once a QS teammate of Tom Boonen, has worked his ass off for Sylvain. There were some great pictures of Nuyens celebrating as he crossed the line. Not, of course, because he won, but because his teammate had won. And Nuyens had helped in that effort.

So, while to me this is mostly about Sylvain, it’s not just about him. As a former (reformed?) Armstrong fan, I will never forget how important the rest of the team is. And, also, as a fan of both Wilson and Werner (two tireless team riders), it’s hard to forget how vital teammates are. So, while Sylvain’s wins are great for him as an individual cyclist, they are fantastic for his team. Just as they are fantastic for his nation.

As a fan, this is as good as it gets. There’s nothing better than wins such as these, which I’ve said before. I only hope that he can keep this form until July. Just once, I’d like to see him win a stage of the Tour. Not the whole tour, not even the yellow jersey (though that would be brilliant, but too much for even him to bear — we saw what it did to Voeckler), but just one stage. A mountain one in the heart of France. That is what I want.

But if it never happens? That’s fine. Sylvain has done more for me as a fan than any other rider. And he hasn’t let me down. That, in the end, is what’s important to me. Hell, if he never wins another race, I’m okay with that (though that’s highly unlikely to happen). I’m proud of him and proud to be a fan of cycling. And nothing can take that away from me.

For the second year running, I’ve decided to play fantasy cycling at Podium Cafe. And like last year, I’ve basically picked a team of cyclists I like, instead of cyclists who are known to be good on a regular basis. This might come as a surprise to some of you, but it’s really not. I’m basically kind of lame like that and so of course my team leader is Sylvain Chavanel. You can see the full team behind the cut, but here’s what you need to know.

Somehow my team, Team Gunners (yes, named after Arsenal FC) is in third place after Paris-Nice. No, I don’t really understand it either. This is a one of a kind thing, and like I said over at Podium Cafe, it’s never going to last. But, damn, I sure am proud of my boys and my team. Mostly I threw it together one day when I was bored. I have a few regrets, too many High Road riders, but hey. You never know — you can have too many big names and I basically avoided them, except for Thor Hushovd.

I will talk more about the fantasy cycling team later, I just wanted to document this moment. Click through the cut to see who I actually picked for my team.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well. I said somewhere, probably LJ, that I didn’t think this would happen again. This being one of my boys doing extremely well. I was wrong. I was really really wrong and I take it back. Not all of it, because it’s still rare. But, god.

So, what happened? I wish I’d been able to watch it, but such is life. Instead, I followed along at Cyclingnews’ live ticker. I read about Sylvain’s attack and I kept saying (even though clearly he couldn’t hear me) that he could do it. Then I read about the two riders going off the front and I thought ‘god, not again.’ Because, seriously, who would have expected this? Definitely not me. Though maybe I should have, as people sometimes like to joke that I am his biggest fan. I root for him above all others.

So, it will come as a surprise to some of you that I still can’t believe he really won it. Even after I knew, after cyclingnews has posted the results, I kept checking back. And then I looked for pictures, because this wasn’t really real, was it? But look, there he is. And from the way he looks, he can’t believe it either.

I know it’s just a stage of Paris-Nice. I know it’s not the Tour or the Giro or the World Championships or whatever. But it’s something fantastic and extraordinary and I am just so proud of him. Sometimes it’s hard to be a fan, especially when it comes to cycling. You root so hard for the boys you adore and yet they’re always giving everything for someone else. Or they come up just a few seconds or bike lengths short. And then there are days like today. When everything just works and what you knew your boy could do — he does.

Sylvain, thank you. There’s nothing better than knowing that your favorite just won.