14 July, 2009

Cadel Throw in Towel. Is it a bluff?

"I can't win the Tour de France this year, says Cadel Evans" So leads a story in The Australian.

Since Lance is known for bluffing off the bike, is Cadel taking a page from his playbook? The Aussie challenger isn't as far back as Sastre and is a better time trialist and has finished second in the two previous tours, despite a weak team both times.

Sastre likes it Tranquilo, benefits from Astana Feud

No doubt the 2008 Tour champ likes things low-key. He was a forgotten man at the Giro and surged at the end to finish fourth. While in the race as the defending champ,he has been largely ignored by the press. And he seems to like it that way.

20 Pedal Strokes to Victory

That is Mark Cavendish's game. His team drops him off at 200 meters to go and he takes 20 pedal strokes and it's game over. David Jordan of DJ Coaching pointed this out to me and he seems to be right. Watch this video.

The only way another sprinter is going to win a gallop against Cav is to get him off his game. Hushovd, Farrar, Freire, even Boonen need to get their team up there and open up the sprint early because once Cav gets started, none can match him. It also helps Cav that he's smaller than the other guys and sprints in such a compact style. A big rider like Hushovd or Boonen has a hard time getting a good draft from such a small rider.

For an old-fashioned day, an old fashioned game

In honor of the radio-free stage today, I give you Leader 1, a cycling-themed board game. No screen, no keyboard, no mouse. A board and icons and luck. Seems like a nice respite.

'I want my guys eating real food' in a Clif Bar Ad

While it lacks the humor and panache of the latest Dos Equis ad campaign ("I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis"), Clif deserves kudos (maybe even a Kudos bar) for running an internet ad where the main spokesperson, Garmin-Slipstream physiologist Allen Lim, advocates eating "real food" as much as possible.