The Cycliste Moderne, April 25, 2005

25 de Abril

Happy 25 de Abril, the anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution. The Captains of April overthrew the fascist dictatorship when the Portuguese Military objected to the ongoing colonial wars in Africa. Maria de Medeiros made a film a few years ago entitled the “Capitaes de Abril” starring Joaiquim de Almeira. I found a DVD copy while in Lisbon a few years back and had it been the right format, I would have bought it.

L-B-L Recap

Enough European history, let’s get on to the important stuff.

With the end of the Spring Classics, the pro peleton starts to turn to the Grand Tours and preparation for the Giro d’Italia. The protagonists at these final hilly classics will likely be active during the upcoming stage races of Tour of Romandie and the Giro. That said, the GC contenders have yet to show their hands this spring.

Liége-Bastogne-Liége was made more difficult this spring by the inclusion of two additional climbs in the last 100km. With climbs that were as long as 5km, “la Doyenne” proved a significant challenge for the competitors.

T-Mobile finally got its break. It is not surprising that Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov won the race. He has long been a strong rider capable of winning these types of races. He finished third there last year and won Amstel Gold in 2003. He has won stages during the Grand Tours, finished third at the Tour de France in 2003, and won Paris-Nice in both 2002 and 2003.

Vinokourov has been overshadowed in his career by the drama that Jan Ullrich has brought to T-Mobile since winning the Tour in 1997. However, he has been a constant performer, stepping up at big moments for the team. He is under-appreciated for his consistency and his aggression on the bike. The fact that he got away with Jens Voigt of CSC and managed to stay away for over 50km is a testament to the professionalism and ability of two of the more likeable and strong professional cyclists in the peleton.

It is a shame that Danilo Di Luca of Liqigas-Bianchi was not able to replicate Davide Rebellin’s week from last year, winning the last three classics of the spring. It is a testament to the strength of Rebellin last year. Additionally, Di Luca did not ride with the same strength he had earlier in the week. Poor team support and being marked as the man to beat made his day difficult.

Perennial bridesmaid Michael Boogerd of Rabobank finished third on the day, having finished second last year. He probably could have won today had he not been caught up in the negative race tactics of the pre-race favorites as they chased down the duo of Vinoukourov and Voigt.

T-Mobile rode the race today that they should have been riding all season. They had a potential winner in the early break with Steffan Wesemann. The early break also had Benjamin Noval of Discovery Channel. Noval and Wesemann were the strongest riders in the early break and worked together to keep it away for 160km. Wesemann was then positioned to help Vinoukourov for a few kilometers until Vinokourov and Voight powered off the front. Matthias Kessler of T-Mobile shadowed the chase group and would have been in position to attack if needed.

T-Mobile made the right moves with the right riders and was rewarded with a victory today. That said, this spring has shown that T-Mobile’s current make up, while talented, is not getting any younger, not getting any faster and cannot overcome poor team tactics. It will be interesting to see what happens at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France for the German super team. They may have relied upon their ten year old formula a little too long.

Tour of Georgia Recap

The Tour of Georgia finished on Sunday. The overall GC was shaken up on Saturday when Floyd Landis of Phonak was unable to stay with the leaders as they made the push up Brasstown Bald Mountain in Georgia. Tom Danielson of Discovery won that stage in rain, sleet and snow with Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner finishing second on the day. Although Landis was able to finish fourth, Lance Armstrong showed resilience coming off his poor time trial earlier in the week to finish third on the stage just fifty-nine seconds behind Danielson.

Much has been expected of Danielson. Having had an unspectacular season last year for Fassa Bortolo, the former Saturn rider joined Discovery this season. He has the tools to be able to be a strong GC rider. At 27, he still has some good years in him. This year is an opportunity to be groomed to become one of Discovery’s future GC contenders. Danielson may be the next American Tour de France winner. He is now on a team that has proven itself capable of winning cycling’s biggest prize.

It was more interesting, however, to note that after Sunday’s sprint stage, won by Health Net’s Gord Fraser, that the final GC was dominated by former Armstrong teammates. The fact that the top six on GC (Danielson, Leipheimer, Landis, Julich, Armstrong, Zabriskie) were all Americans is not surprising, but the fact that all six are based in Europe is. Moreover, had Chris Horner of Saunier Duval-Prodir not fractured his hip and sat the race out, then it is likely that the top seven riders at this year’s Tour of Georgia would have been Americans on European based teams.

Former U.S. Postal riders Leipheimer, Landis and David Zabriske (CSC) all had strong showings finishing second, third and sixth respectively. Bobby Julich managed to finish fourth, thirty seconds ahead of Armstrong in the GC. Danielson, however, had his biggest win in the last couple of years. He certainly could be a top twenty finisher at the Giro d’Italia next month.