Chapeau!

Wiskota Fantasy League riders have been out if full “forza” this week. Although riders were only scoring points in Oman, many riders were representing and laying the ground work for some wicked palmares. This week the real racing begins as the cobbled classics get rolling in Flanders with the Omloop and Paris-Nice is just around a lefthander.

Here’s your weekly tip o’ the hat.

Chapeau! to Chris Froome. Froome Dog won his first major stage race in Oman versus some very good competition. Froomey finished ahead of Evans and Contador, as well as besting Nibbles and Purito to take the climbers’ mid-east tour. The English Patient won stage five, was second on the Green Mountain stage, and had to counter attacks from Contador to hang on for the overall. This win was certainly a confidence booster for Froome as he continues to prepare for le Tour.

Chapeau! to El Purito Rodriguez. El Purito smoked his fellow contenders up the Green Mountain climb. Although he was maybe the benefactor of a Nibbles and Pistolero attack, Purito proved once again that he is one of the most explosive and crafty bike riders in the peloton. The reigning UCI points leader also received news that his Katusha squad will be allowed to race within the World Tour as the CAS has ruled in favor of the Russian squad. Team Wiskota Dynamic has had a great week!

Chapeau! to Peter Sagan. I’m scared of this dude. I think Sagan will get a big win this season in the form of one of cycling’s monuments. He’s just too good in a hard race. The Incredible Hulk won two stages in Oman and gave us a peek in to the type of form he will be harnessing in this year’s classics.

Chapeau! to Oman. The Tour of Oman was a really fun race to watch. Really quite beautiful and the racing was sublime. The big guns could hardly tame their early form and gave a very early glimpse of the future bouts to come. Chapeau! to Evans, Contador, Kittel, Bouhani and to a lesser extent, Nibali for some great racing in the hillier of the mid-east tours.

Chapeau! to Sergio Henao for winning stage 3 of the Volat ao Algarve. He won out of a select group of Team Forza rider’s including Westra and Rui Costa. Hey Now took the summit finish but couldn’t hold on for the overall.

Chapeau! to Tony Martin. Der Panzer took the final stage TT and the overall at the Algarve. A pattern I expect to see more of in 2013.

Chapeau! to Thor Hushovd for taking his first win since joining BMC and putting his disappointing 2012 season in the rear view mirror. It seems the big Norwegian is finally healthy and poised to return to his form where he will be a contender for victory in the cobbled classics. BMC has chosen Thor and GVA to represent at the Omloop, leaving Gilbert (2 time winner of Het Volk) at home to train for Paris-Nice. Can Thor lay down the hammer? Can he return to his old form that earned him a World Championship? Paris-Roubaix? The God of Thunder has returned!

Chapeau! to Filippo Pozzato who won from a four-man break in the Trofeo Laigueglia, Italy’s first race of the 2013 season. I don’t know anything about this race. I do know that this is a good sign for the Lampre-Merida rider. This just may be the year that the Italian bags a monument. Wheel sucker!

The “Schleck of the Week” goes to…. drumroll… the ever disappointing, Andy Schleck for dropping out of the Tour du Haut Var to continue not racing, or “training”, in Mallorca. However, the real Schlecker was Bradley Wiggins. The reigning Tour de France champion was not seen racing hard in Oman. He was “working” for Froome some twenty-two minutes behind the eventual winner. It seems that the rest of the major GTGC guys were testing their form against each other while Wiggo was still enjoying his yellow jersey, gold medal, dream-season that was 2012. Last year the dude won everything on his way to one of the greatest seasons of all time. I wonder if the “Commander of the Order of the British Empire” can find his form by the time the Giro kicks off. I personally like the “Shark of Messina” to get his revenge.

Forza!