Broom Wagon

...cleaning up after the week's events 

From the Sun to the Seas

Tirreno-Adriatico

Best of the best?

Nitro Katana proved to be the strongest in Italy as our much anticipated battle between the "fantastic four" fizzled out before it really got going.  The snowy mountain top finish made for good watching, but when it came down to it Nairo was the best of those who were trying.  Best of the best?  Perhaps, but we'll need to see a little more.  Is Bauke Bartokomis the early season revelation?  

Paris-Nice

Best of the rest?
Nice $700 cap, goofball

Skynet dialed up the power train launching Richie Porte to victory on the decisive stage in Paris-Nice.  We got some pretty fun action on the penultimate stage run into Nice with rain, breakaways, crashes and of course disappointing Americans.  In the end, Porte and Thomas put in an impressive effort to keep their positions only topped by Porte's impressive victory in the final mountain TT.  Best of the rest? Perhaps, but some other stage racers would be well served to take note.  Choose your program carefully and win while you can.  Porte will have an impressive race victory under his belt before he implodes at the Giro, while Talansky and TVG will have saved their efforts for another top 20 moral victory at the Tour.  

   

I want to see more of this

And less of this

Up next:  La Primavera, La Classicissima, the first Monument: Milan-San Remo!!!

Forza’s Fury

Last week’s racing wetted my appetite for the rest of the classics’ season. The early races are cool and fun but the real racing has officially begun.

At the Omloop, Ian Stannard showed that he should have been drafted in the Wiskota Fantasy League. Stannard, Wiggins, and G Thomas will be a formidable trio at Paris Roubaix. Sep Vanmarke of Team Forza was also showing good form on the cobbles but was bullied by a flat on the helligan. Team Etixx-Quickstep looked to be the strongest team but were felled by bad tactics and possible hubris as they decided to attack and breakup their stronghold on the early season classic. Chapeau to Stannard, nicknamed Yogi because of his bear-like strength , for a very exciting win.

At KBK, Cavendish showed that he is indeed fast and strong. Kristoff learned that sprinting against J.J. Lobato is cute but he hardly stands a chance against the real fast men. I guess we will see what happens at Milan-San Remo, eh Commish? Wager perhaps?

Strade Bianche

The Strade would be at the top of my list for races that I want to see. The Tuscan countryside, food, wine, art and cycling all sounds so yummy. The Strade Bianche incorporates the cobbled classics with an Ardennsien finish into Siena. The riders roll through 200km of Tuscany, up and down hills, and across white gravel roads called “sterrati”. Definitely a must watch.

Favorites

Alejandro Valverde, Simon Gerrans, Peter Sagan, Fabian Cancellara.

My money is on Fabulous Fabian for the win. He likes this race and is motivated to win. I do believe that he will need to ride away from the group in order to win. Valverde is motivated for points and if he can get across the sterrati the finish is well suited for him. Sagan is tailor made for this race.

Carlos Betancur, Moreno Moser, Zdenek Stybar, Nikki Terpstra

Betancur could win this race if he wants to. But he’s probably going to eat too many pastries. Moser has won this race but without the help of Sagan I would be surprised to see him win again. Stybar and Terpstra will be riding in front of the strongest team and can play off one another to steal a victory from the favorites.

Vincenzo Nibali, Greg Van Avaermaet, Ian Stannard, Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato

The Shark of Messina (Nibali) will put his stamp on this race. However, that means very little in terms of a win. Most likely he will get a way for a bit and will be caught. GVA and Yogi are both really strong and in great form. I also like Pippo, mostly because he’s Italian and what else can he possibly win.

Rinaldo Nocentini, The Slaw Niemec, Damiano Cunego, Sep VanMarke.

Probably not a winner here but I have to consider that Cunego is now riding for an Italian Pro-Conti team and won’t have many opportunities to show his greatness. Sep could get away on the sterrati; the Slaw and Rinaldo have both placed well in this race.

Honorable Mentions : Lars Boom, Sammy Sanchez, Uran Uran, Slagter, Oscar Gatto.

Enjoy the race fellas!

Gregario Forza

The Broom Wagon

...cleaning up after the races

3:1

Stannard likes those odds

Cobbled classic excitement was a percolating this weekend and the Omloop did not disappoint.  Super exciting and impressive win for  Stannard.  No one has him but maybe someone should.   For us the story has to be Forza who, despite botching the sure win, managed to place 5 riders in the top ten.

Cav

You're gonna have to get more aero than that Kristoff

Mark Cavendish strikes again winning Kuurne on Sunday.  The diminutive sprinter was the fastest man once again.  That's not surprising.  What is surprising is that Taco has a good team!  Wake up Mikey and check the blog. Top of the leader board and looking tough.

Next up: Strade Bianche preview, Greg you're on the clock.

On the Rivet

...a look at who's racing hard this weekend 

Bring on the Cobbles!!!

For many people the Omloop marks the beginning of the season.  In conjunction with the slightly less prestigious Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, we have a pretty fun weekend of racing.  Tough weather, tough cyclists and tough courses.  And of course, how could we forget...COBBLES!

Omloop

The Omloop has been one of my favorite races since my boy Juan Antonio Fletcha won it back in 2010.  It got me into the classics and gave us this sweet poster:

Van der Fletcha
Intense

Admittedly, this race is usually not contested by the big guns, but that doesn't mean a few don't use it to flex their muscle a little bit.

Bitch, it's curtains

Who's looking good this year?
Well, look forward to my preview, but please, feel free to add your own thoughts in the mean time.

KBK

Yeah, sometimes it gets cancelled due
 to snow, not something I would advertise

I mean there are cobbles, but really this is a classic for the sprinters.  Not that that is all bad.  We did get this sweet poster out of the deal:

Apparently the course is guarded by some sort of Flandrian Ogre.  I mean, that's something to watch for.  

Who are the favorites? 

Check back to find out.

The Spokes Man

...talking points from The Commish. 

GC Men

Too early for Tour talk?

A couple stage races so far, including TdU and the desert triumvirate.  However, the race that was probably the most exciting so far is one that doesn't even count in our league.  The Vuelta a Andulucia, also known by the flashier name Ruta del Sol, is only rated a 2.1 making it a middle tier race that involves a few big name teams and several pro conti teams.  So imagine you are say Dylan Groenewegen of pro conti  Team Roompot.  You think hey, I'm hot shit, I'm in good shape, it's early in the season, this is going to be fun,  Next thing you know Tour de France Champions are ripping the peloton apart and you are hanging on for dear life.  Contador goes, you lose 20 minutes, Froome goes, there goes another 20.  Big name guys are full on quitting but you can't, you do not have a guaranteed contract.  So much for fun in the sun.  Sorry Dylan Groenwegen, but hey, you finished.

So why am I getting so excited about this?  I know it's only February but if this little scuffle between Froome and Contador is any indicator the Tour is going to be bomb.  Could this year be the most exciting GC battle ever?  I will have to defer to Patrick, our resident cycling folk historian, but I can not think of another Tour with so many past winners in their prime, not to mention a few other grand tour winners as well.  Yeah, I know, a long way to go and anything could happen between now and then.  And even if all the contenders line up it doesn't mean they will finish, but come on, humor me.

Let's break this down.
Top favorites:  Contador, Froome and Nibali.  All former winners, all great climbers.  In addition, each has a team that is stacked.  Is it me or are these teams getting better?  They all have at least one guy who could be a legitimate contender on their own.

Just a step behind: Quintana and Valverde.  Both former grand tour champions and both on the same extremely strong team.  Can they blow things up with a little "you go, then I go" action?

Outsiders:  When you get to the outsiders and you are mentioning a former podium finisher like JRod you know this Tour is stacked. Due to the climby nature of the course all of these up and coming french GC guys will be in the mix. And maybe the Americans can make a play for the jersey with a well timed move.

Do I really think TVG or some frenchy is going to win this year's tour? No. But my point is that this Tour will probably have more grand tour champions fighting it out then ever before.  I mentioned 5 that I can think of without researching it and shit maybe Hesjedal and Scarponi show up to pump those numbers up a bit.

So what do you think?  You ready for some Alpe d'Huez action?  

The Broom Wagon

The Desert 

What the hell are we doing out here?

Dubai, Qatar and Oman...why?  Well, its warm in February there, its got that going for it.  I've been told the riders stay in some plush oil funded hotels.  Riders looking to tune up for the classics appreciate the hard, flat days in the wind.  But for the most part, we only care about these races because they are so early in the season.  Also, they used to be on tv but now I can barely find highlights of Oman on youtube.  But who am I kidding.  I'm watching the shit out of these races and talking even more when my boys take a stage or two.  Let's recap.

Dubai

The most powerful? 

They mixed things up this year by adding a very steep yet very short finish on stage 3.  That stage actually had quite a bit of action and it was worth watching more than just the last 30 seconds.  In the end Cav and his time bonuses reigned supreme.  Gotta say, he showed some pretty good form.  

Qatar

There is nothing out here

Dubai's promo poster should have been used by the Tour of Qatar, cause stage two was a sandy shitstorm.  But that didn't stop Alexander (I still live full time in the blustery fjordlands of Norway) Kristoff from dominating the sprints.  But in the end it was The Terpinator using his TT skills, his strong classics team and of course his own huge engine to seal overall victory.

Oman

 "Green" Mountain is green like
"Green"land is green.

This one gets decided on a dusty ass mountain in the middle of nowhere.  Updates to come.

Ruta Del Sol

"Gregario? Are you there?  Why won't you pick up?"

This race doesn't actually count in our points I just wanted to see if Greg is paying attention.