Panache

Grab the coffee and settle in Team Wiskota Nation. The season is in full swing, as the Tours of the Middle East are coming to close and its almost time to circle you newspapers for some Het Volk, al’ a Omloop het Nieuwsblad. That means classics season is almost here.

O’man What a Race

If you haven’t been paying attention to this race, you should have. All the Grand Tour General Classification (GTGC) guys came to play in Oman; although Wiggins is only there for vacation. Contador and Saxo-Tinkoff had seemed to be the team to beat overall, but Froome Dog and his Team Sky compatriots have had different plans. However, it was Purito Rodriguez who lit up the Green Mountain Stage. Vincenzo Nibali has been left in the desert sands as he finished behind the proverbial big 3 on Stage 4 and even lost more time on stage 5. If Froome can hold on it will be his first World Tour stage race win. That just seems weird. The revelation of Oman was Rinaldo Nocentini. Sneaky points for Forza! Team Wiskota Dynamic continues to score deliberately as he will come out with at least 3 stage victories (Sagan 2, J-Rod 1) and a spot on the podium.

Taylor Phinney Time!

The Flanders Classics start next weekend in Belgium with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. This race is spectacular. It is definitely a hard man’s race and a great indicator for the rest of the classic’s season. This Flander’s classic includes past winners like Juan Antonio Flecha, Thor Hushovd, Phillipe Gilbert (2), Nicky Nuyens, and last year, a young Sep Vanmarcke got his first big mark in his young promising career. Check out the startlist on the homepage.

Paris-Nice is Nice but…..

A lot has been said about the difficulty of this year’s Paris-Nice but it seems that most of the WCL GTGC riders are going to ride the race of the two seas, Tirreno-Adriatico. Pistolero, Purito, Froome Dog, Sanchize, Cuddles, and the Shark from Messina a.k.a. Nibbles, are all lining up in Italy. It should be awesome. That leaves a lot of points for Voekler, Westra, Costa and Team Forza in France. I should mention that TVG, Fuglsang, Gesink, Basso, Talansky, Martin, Roche, and De Gendt will also be there.

So What Else is New

Check out the Giro di Italia videos on YouTube.  This year’s edition will be a terrific battle between Nibbs and Wiggs.

Commish- Have you seen the Basque Cycling Blog? All Euskadi, all the time. Awesome stuff from the Orange Army.

Innerring had an awesome piece on the sponsorship in procycling. As well as a piece on the French hotel accomadations.

If you don’t already, check out Pez Cycling on Mondays and Thursdays. The Euro trash is a great place to read quick headlines as well as watch race video.

I feel like we should start a Team Wiskota Fantasy Podcast. In the meantime check out Speed Metal Cycling Podcast, you can find it on iTunes or at the SkullKrusher’s blog.

Forza!