As the Peloton Turns...

Bonjour les amis! We are one week before the start of the 97th Tour de France. Before I start right in with le Tour preview, I thought I would highlight some recent happenings in and around the peloton...

o Kim Kirchen suffered what appeared to be a heart attack after last Friday's Tour de Suisse stage. He was taken to a clinic in Zürich, where doctors placed him in a medically induced coma. He was brought out of the coma on Tuesday and immediately recognized his wife. As of today (Friday) he is recovering back in Luxembourg. Many of the peloton have expressed their concerns via Twitter: Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, and Andreas Kloeden. I think Kirchen had us all worried.

o Il Cricket, Paolo Bettini has been named Italia's National head coach! Bettini will be responsible for selecting and managing the men's professional and time trial teams. This is exciting news for Bettini, and I am looking forward to Il Cricket hanging around professional cycling for a long time!


o Our very own Viatcheslav Ekimov, Eki, has lost his bid to be President of the Russion Cycling Federation. Honestly, I had no idea this was a goal of Eki's, or that he was even in the running. Can you imagine Eki the President of Russian Cycling? Sitting at his presidential desk, Black Sabbath playing over the speakers...lol!

o In Biological Passport news...Riccardo Serrano received a 2 yr suspension from the UCI as a result of an abnormal haematological profile that was then backed up by two laboratory reports indicating the detection of CERA, the third generation EPO, in blood samples collected from the rider.
I wouldn't expect too much contestation here. It wasn't just "abnormal numbers" - CERA was found in his blood. Serrano won the La Rioja Vuelta in 2006

o Lampre confirms talks with Andrey Kashechkin, but denied reports they have signed the former Astana rider to a contract. Kashechkin tested positive for homologous blood doping ahead of the 2007 Vuelta. His doping ban ended in August 2009.

o RadioShack has not been invited to the this year's Vuelta a España. Am I the only one confused on why Bruyneel is so upset about this? Aside from 2008, when did he ever care about the Vuelta??

o Jani wins Critérium du Dauphiné!!!


There's lot's more happening around the peloton, which means there are more blogs to come this weekend! It's getting late, so the Tour preview will have to wait. Pozzato's in the news again and I can't wait to post my favorite Pippo pic (but here is a runner up to quell the anticipation)


Au revoir pour le moment
VeloGirl

One Particular Harbour

And there's one particular harbour, so far and yet so near.

Just 60 miles (96kms) south of Cancun, Mexico is one particular harbour: Puerto Aventuras (PA). Two thousand residents call Puerto Aventuras home - and I am one of them. Kind of. As the result of one rare moment of genius, my parents purchased the month of April in Portobello Private Villas in PA.


I have had the pleasure of enjoying this piece of paradise for the last 6 years - and I do take advantage of this every year. PA is a unique community made up of condos, villas, homes and 3 hotels. Many are year round residents, while the rest reside anywhere from a week to several months. They come from Mexico, the US, Canada, England and Australia. Locals come on weekends and Holidays. All are wonderfully nice and welcoming.



Nestled behind the world's 2nd largest barrier reef, sitting on the Caribbean Sea, PA is a marina made up of a grand canal and several minor canals. Portobello is on one such canal. 25 ft of the back patio is the pool, overlooking Skid Row and Park Avenue. To the right are the dolphins, sea lions, manatees and sting rays. Tropical birds flying from palm tree to palm tree. Geckos scurrying up flowering bushes. Cats, kittens and dogs lapping around, hoping to score the fisherman's catch of the day.



Beyond the sea lions, next to the dolphins, sits Restaurant Alley. I love sitting at Richard's, enjoying pescado fresco y arroz, listening to the dolphins splash around just feet away. If you love good music and pie (who doesn't?!?), Café Ole is the place to go! Quite possibly, the best Key Lime pie in the Caribbean.



I interact with all the locals in Spanish.
Mi español no es muy bueno, pero trato porque quiero aprender español. For over 20 years I have been working to be bi-lingual. I am certain I could achieve this if I would just live in PA year round!



This one particular harbour is the kind of place where tranquility seeps so deep into my bones, making them feel like jelly, that I could nap at command. But I don't. I don't want to miss a second.


Your traveling amiga,
VeloGirl

The Missing Blogger

So. It's been about 3 months since my last blog. I really need to get better at commitment.
The craziness at work has subsided and I just returned from the big trip: 2 weeks traveling around Europe. While visiting the great cities of Europe and traveling through the country sides, I kept up with a daily travel blog on my facebook page., so be sure to check it out, along with all the pics!
I know. That doesn't excuse that fact that I have been neglecting this place. But, in my defense, I have elevated the 18 month long project I was working on (well, still working on. Part 2 started 4 weeks ago), and I did just get back from a 2 week European vacation. Of course, there was Easter, birthdays, Mother's Day, and wait...oh sorry...those are excuses, huh.
In truth, the weather is beautiful, my patio flowers are flourishing, the Tour de France is 19 days away and the creative juices are flowing again.
So look for all of the stories, adventures and pictures from the Europe trip, and then back to the life and times of the 2009 peloton!

Stay tuned... I'm back!

Your world traveling Velo Girl.

The 100th Milano-Sanremo!

This Saturday, marks the 100th Milano-Sanremo race in Italy. The official start to the Spring Classics are here!

la classica di Primavera (the Spring Classic), is the longest professional one day race of the season, at 298 km plus about 10k of neutral, bring the total to around 308k!

Last year's winner, CSC's (now Team Saxo-Bank) Fabian Cancellara will not be defending his title this year citing "the best decision based on form" and "family reasons".
Other notable no-shows are World Champion Alassandro Ballan (illness), David Millar (broken clavicle), Frank Schleck (crashed in training),

No worries. There will be plenty of star-studded-sprinter power lining up at
La Classicissima. Alessandro Petacchi (2005 winner), Daniele Bennati, Tom Boonen (2009 Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne winner), Thor Hushovd (2009 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad winner), and Danilo Di Luca (2007 Giro d'Italia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner).

But...it's not always the super-freak-fast-sprinters that win this ultimate endurance race. Known as the "Sprinters Classic", the race often ends in 40-60 guys sprinting to the finish. But just as often the powerful sprinter teams cannot hold the peleton together and attackers win the day; so watch out for sprinters on team that can rip the peloton apart on Le Mànie (at 94k to go), I Tre Capi– Capo Mele (52.4km), Capo Cervo (47.1km) and Capo Berta (39.6). The steep Capo Berta leaves only 17.5 kilometres before the Cipressa, where the race will be exploding with nervousness. Contenders will need to be in the top thirty of the group to avoid mishaps on the tight roads. After I Tre Capi the Cipressa (22.1km) and Poggio (6.2km) are the traditional race ending climbs.

Cycling TV will air Milano-Sanremo, but you need to subscribe to the Giro package or the Gold North American package to benefit. If you don't have one of those packages, check out cyclingfans for free LIVE streaming video from RAI Sports, free LIVE streaming audio, and LIVE tickers.
Tip: bring up RAI's LIVE video coverage and turn the sound down. Then, bring up Eurosport's LIVE straming audio to listen in English. Perfecto!

My pick? Well, with a team right on form and a semi-classic already under his belt: Cervelo's Thor Hushovd!!

Slackin' On The New Blogs

I know, I know - a month since my last blog. Honestly, I have been uninspired as of late - letting work get in the way. It's been a bit chaotic at work - 2 major projects in system test means lots of support for the testers. Add to that all of the documentation that needs to get done, well lets just say, I come home a bit drained.

The good news is that I find myself looking forward to jumping on the treadmill almost every night - just to sweat out the stress and craziness of the day.

All of this leaves little time for The Galaxy Review.

No worries, I will be back this weekend with a Milano Sanremo preview.

Buenas noches, mis amigos!

Bobke Visits Johan's Barber Shop

Our good friends over at www.fatcyclist.com put out a challenge to all of us readers: raise $5000 for the LAF by the end of this year's Tour of California and Bob "Bobke" Roll will shave his head.

Let's take a minute to remind everybody some of the looks Bobke has sported in the past (in no way is this an all inclusive list. That would take too much server space)!

"Bobke Bed Head" (The off season look)


"Bobke Barely There" (The I used to be one of you street look)


"Bobke Broadcasting" (The cleaned-up because the producers made me look)


For other, more hilarious and downright scary looks, just google "Bob Roll".

Bobke could be naked riding a bike and we would still love him. Oh. Really? You don't say....



But, one look we have never seen is Bobke sans hair. So Elden "fatty" Nelson of fatcyclist issued a clear challenge. He set Bobke up with his own LiveStrong Challenge page (http://tinyurl.com/azo5vk) on Feb 17th, 2009. 20 hours later we had raised over $5000! (As of this post, the total for the LAF is over $8,300).

True to his word, Bobke visited the "Johan Bruyneel Barber Shop" before Stage 5 (Feb 19th). With Lance Armstrong looking on, Johan shaved Bobke's head. The moment was captured by the throngs of media, fans, and racers alike.
Johan working his magic...

Sporting the new look...


In total, Elden Nelson has raised over $50,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation this year. You don't have to shave your head to support the LAF, simply visit the team page of "Team Fat Cyclist: Fighting For Susan" at http://tinyurl.com/bgw8fa.

And if you are looking for a trim, Johan opens shop 30 minutes before each stage.

Tour of Cali to Feature Strongest Field Ever Assembled in the US

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California will assemble the best-ever collection of the world’s top cyclists when America’s most important road race begins February 14, in Sacramento. Featuring a field that includes seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong and two-time defending Amgen Tour of California Champion Levi Leipheimer (both racing for Astana), the 136 rider peloton also is expected to include 2006 Giro d’Italia Champion Ivan Basso (leader of team Liquigas); 2008 Olympic Champion in the time trial Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank); 2006 Amgen Tour of California Champion Floyd Landis (Ouch presented by Maxxis); 2005 World Champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step); three-time World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank); two-time United States National Champion George Hincapie (Team Columbia); and the top American performer in the 2008 Tour de France Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream). Other anticipated participants include, 2008 Tour de France Champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam); four-time Norwegian National Champion Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam); 2008 U.S. Professional Champion and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing); Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia), widely considered to be the world’s best sprinter; 2008 Best Young Rider in the Amgen Tour of California Robert Gesink (Rabobank); and 2008 Tour de France Best Young Rider Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

Read the entire article at www.velonews.com

Fantastic!!


Norwegain National Champion, Tour de France Stage Winner and wearer of the Maillot Jaune - Thor Hushovd. And my favorite rider.


US National Road Race Champion, Tour de France Stage Winner, Tour de France podium finisher, Giro d'Italia podium finisher - Levi Leipheimer; US Time Trial Champion, Stage Winner of Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, Maillout Jaune wearer - Dave "DZ" Zabriskie. Funniest man on the planet.


World Time-Trial Champion, Olympic Time-Trial Champion, Swiss Time-Trial Champion, Tour de France Stage Winner, Maillout Jaune wearer, Maillot Vert wearer - Fabian "Spartacus" Cancellara; World Cycling Champion, 2X Paris-Roubaix Winner, 2X Tour of Flanders Winner, Gent-Wevelgem Winner, Tour de France Stage Winner, Maillot Jaune wearer, Maillot Vert Winner - Tom Boonen. Nicest butt in the peloton.