The Cycliste Moderne, August 12, 2005

Bobby J Continues His Most Excellent Season

Bobby Julich won the Benelux Tour with a monster time trial performance on Wednesday. Even though the course was just 26.3 km, Julich vaulted himself from 12th into 1st with his stage win. He managed to win the stage by more than 37 seconds and managed to win the overall over local favorite Erik Dekker of Rabobank by 21 seconds.

The Benelux Tour proved to be more difficult than people had expected with long, flat, windy stages. Moreover, the level of competition was higher than it had been in the past due to the inclusion of the race in the ProTour. Julich came to the race with high expectations, but wind and rain during the opening prologue caused him to ride conservatively and that he lost 25 seconds and finished 89th on the stage. He came through strongly at the end to vault into the lead on the final stage.

Julich has maintained form throughout the year starting with his victories at Paris-Nice and Criterium International. His win in the Benelux Tour vaulted him to 4th in the ProTour standings. Although it is unlikely that he will over take Danilo Di Luca’s lead in the ProTour, Julich is heading to the Tour of Germany, another ProTour event, and has to be considered a possible winner at that event as well.


Discovery Future

Discovery Channel had an excellent showing at the Benelux Tour. Leif Hoste returned to racing after a tough spring and rode well finishing on the podium in third. Max Van Heeswijk won his first two races of the season.

More impressive, however, was the emergence of Discovery’s young guns. Belgian Jurgen Van Den Broeck finished 8th overall. Young Slovenian Janez Brajkovic emerged for Discovery with a most excellent performance. He finished 17th and had an excellent time trial.

Although names like Hoste, Van Heeswijk, Van Den Broeck, and Brajkovic are not Armstrong, Hincapie, or Hamilton, it is clear that Discovery has really done a good job of recruiting emerging talents from around the world for the team. Discovery Channel is in good hands for the future.

Boise's Kristin Armstrong Takes Third at Track Nationals

Boise's Kristin Armstrong took third at the US Track Nationals in the women's pursuit in Los Angeles on Wednesday. She set a personal best in the third place race. Pretty good for someone who does not live anywhere near a velodrome.

Boise really could use a velodrome. It is the perfect place for one. Large number of elite cyclists. Year round riding and training. Unlike the Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland and the Marymoor Velodrome in Seattle, it never rains here and they could probably operate it 11 months out of the year. In light of Boise City's sweetheart deals for a new climbing gym and the proposed whitewater park downtown, I don't see why Mayor Bieter just does not fork over the cash that is needed to build Boise a Velodrome. Boise Parks and Rec could even put it in Ann Morrison Park so it is close to the Greenbelt and sponsor Greenbelt Cruiser Races on Friday nights.

Volta a Portugal Update

Well, Gilberto Simoni returned to racing in Portugal after his period of fatigue following the Giro. Of course he has not torn things up at all. Hopefully the teams that are interested in him do not read the Portuguese sports papers because his performance has been utterly pitiful. After six stages Simoni sits in 115th place almost an hour and a half behind the leader and as discussed on Monday. It is not like he is racing against Armstrong, Basso, and Ullrich.

Some no name Russian is leading the race and some no name Portuguese and Spanish and Bulgarian guys are chasing.