Welcome to the second installment of the special two part edition of “On the Rivet”. After discussing the merits of the biggest American Cyclists in the peloton yesterday, today we turn our attention to the biggest American race. None other than the Tour of California. Much has been written already about how moving this race to May has been a God send, however it really can’t be stressed enough. In the last few years we have seen more and more top notch riders attends this race. This year’s lineup is no exception. The addition of riders such as Tom Boonen, Peter Velits, Robert Gesink, L.L. Sanchez, Vincenzo Nibali, Peter Sagan, Rinaldo Nocentini and Robbie Mc Ewan make this the most international field yet. Add to that top American cyclists such as Leipheimer, Horner, Danielson, Talansky and TVG and we have quite the race on our hands. We will talk more about these favorites and our Wiskota Fantasy riders in a bit. But, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our continental teams and their fun to route for riders. When we talk about these riders it starts and ends with Rory Sutherland, 7th place last year he is a legitimate GC rider. McCarty, Baldwin, Jacque-Maynes, are stage hunter/breakaway guys. Marcel Kittel might take a sprint and look for Zirbel and Zwizansky of local favs Kelly Benefits (now Optum Pro Cycling) to make a good showing at the TT. Here stateside the quality of the coverage of the Tour of California is right up there with Le Tour. In some ways it can be better. We get about 2 hours of live coverage a day usually starting at 4 o’clock. If riders from the Almonzo are back in town Saturday afternoon we may have to gather to view the Queen stage of Mt. Baldy, coverage begins at 6. Let me know if you are interested.
On to our riders. Who do we have and who is favored.
Coming into the race with three real threats to take the overall Gregario Forza has to be the favorite for the ToC. Chris Horner is reigning champ. This is what he has built his season around and he has a strong team. Will he take off on Baldy securing an overall victory? Quite probable. The new addition of TeeJay Van Garderen to the Forza squad brings some young legs to the competition. This is supposed to be his race to win this season, he has put in the work and his team is there to support him. However a questionable ride in Romandie has left some to wonder if he has what it takes. I am most intrigued by Gregarios third GC prospect, Vincenzo Nibali. Of all the riders at the race this is the one who has actually proved that he is on good form. Is he here to win or simply to keep his form up for July? However, it plays out, Gregario has a very good chance for some serious points.
Team Wiskota Dynamic made a last minute controversial move dropping three time champion Levi Leipheimer and picking up podium finisher Tom Danielson. It is still questionable if Levi will take the line. If he does and outclasses Danielson this could be the blunder of the season. On the other hand, Tommy D has made this race a target of his season. 9th at Le Tour and 3rd at ToC, Danielson is a clear favorite. Team Wiskota Dynamic takes the line with the biggest wildcard of the race, Peter Sagan who always seems to find himself on the podium. Prolific stage winner Sagan spends more time surrounded by hot California girls than Diamond Dave. Zibbidy Bop! No wonder he loves this race. A former winner of the young rider and the points jersey (in separate years) Sagan will come for some points. Look for Team Wiskota Dynamic to score as well.
Team Volpe brings their one man wrecking crew to California. I would say Volpe is lacking some riders but really who do you need besides Tom Boonen. The points machine is single handedly dominating our league. He said he would like to win in LA on the final day, so look for Volpe, or should I say Team Tommeke, to score some more.
While Michelito Indurain racks up all of the sprint points in Italy his team send one lone rider to California to try his luck. Robert Gesink is really too good to be considered a dark horse, but he is kind of under the radar right now. Make no bones about it, he is world class and this might be just the kind of race he could win. Rabobank is a weird team, but maybe this is the race they have targeted. Look for Gesink to compete in the climbs.
If I was Bill the Neo-pro I would be writing a very strongly worded letter to one Andy Schleck. Is he ever going to race. He came here last year. Sorry Bill, no one in the race. It’s still a fun race to watch and I hope you are free after the Almonzo.
Wiskota Fantasy Podium:
Horner, Danielson, TVG
Spoilers:
Velits, Talansky, Sutherland
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