The Cycliste Moderne, March 6, 2006

Paris-Nice Kicks Off ProTour

Paris-Nice, the first ProTour race of the year, started Sunday with a prologue outside of Paris. The “Race to the Sun” is an important race to kick of the season, however, over the past few years it has declined in stature and was ultimately acquired by the ASO, the organizer of the Tour de France. Moreover, the winner of Paris-Nice generally is not a factor in the Grand Tours later in the year.

With their strong showings at the Tour of California, Team CSC’s Bobby Julich and Phonak’s Floyd Landis should be primed for strong finishes next week when the race ends in Nice on the 12th. Bobby Julich, last year’s winner, had a strong prologue on Sunday in Issy-les-Moulineaux to take the first leader’s jersey. Tom Boonen of Quick.Step rode strongly to finish fifth in the prologue just three seconds behind Julich. Boonen will likely take the leader’s jersey after Monday’s opening road stage.

ProTour Protests

The fight between the Grand Tours and the UCI over the ProTour does not show any sign of abating. The Grand Tours announced their wild card selections for each of the races. Each of the Grand Tours will have the twenty ProTour teams together with two wild cards. The wild card selections are not a surprise. The Giro d’Italia announced that Ceramica Panaria – Navigare and Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni would be invited to participate. Both teams have participated before and both have had Latin American climbers that have made the race exciting in the past, although being small Italian teams they both wear jerseys that look like something NASCAR would find too much. I think Ceramica Panaria – Navigare is sponsored by a ceramics company and a shoe company, while Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni is sponsored by the bicycle seat manufacturer. I have no idea at all what a “Serramenti Diquigiovanni” is or whether I would need one.

The Tour de France selected Comunidad Valenciana and Agritubel. Comunidad Valenciana (formerly Kelme) is probably the strongest non-ProTour team in Europe and Agritubel is the top non-ProTour team in France and was nearly the recipient of a wild card last year during its first year at the top professional level. (Agritubel is sponsored by a French manufacturer of agricultural tubing and fixtures, so I guess that if I had an agricultural tubing or fixture need in France, then I would call Agritubel and their sponsorship would have been effective.)

The Vuelta a Espana also selected Comunidad Valenciana as well as Team Relax. Neither selection is a surprise as both teams are strong domestic Spanish teams and have historically been invited to the Vuelta. (Relax is a Spanish mattress company.)

The announcement of the wildcards this early in the season removed some of the politicking that had happened in years past. However, it did not end the controversy, even though all six wild cards go to teams that are deserving. Cyclingnews.com is reporting Team Unibet protested over the weekend at its exclusion from the Grand Tours by racing with black armbands and hinting that its sponsor would be leaving the sport after its non selection. Being the fourth best team in Belgium and wearing green jerseys will not win you any friends at all.

Moreover, Team Unibet has hardly built itself to be competitive at the top levels of stage racing. The team is a collection of second tier racers, non-descript Belgians and a few convicted dopers. It is not like a great travesty of justice was done when this minor team was not selected for the Grand Tours. Even if the ProTour system were not in place, which would guarantee the first 20 starting positions at all three Grand Tours to ProTour teams, and if each of the Grand Tours were free to invite 20-24 teams of their own choosing, I guarantee you that Team Unibet is not on anyone’s top 30 list of professional cycling teams. The number one rule of protesting is to make sure your protest has merit and will appeal to a sense of injustice. Team Unibet’s protest is a lot like the protests you saw in college where affluent, privileged, white students protested social injustice by refusing to go to class. It was never like anyone cared what they did or thought.

Bikes Galore

This weekend was the annual Boise Bike Swap. I had been eyeing a new road bike for Kristin and was inclined to buy her a Trek with Shimano 105 components. However, I managed to pick up two bikes at the Bike Swap for what I had budgeted for Kristin’s new bike. I found a 43cm Fuji with 650 wheels and a “parts is parts” Shimano drive train which is just about the right size for my nearly 10 year old aspiring racer. Kristin meanwhile got a brand new Specialized Allez with the super compact 50cm frame. It too has a “parts is parts” Shimano drive train but she is not planning on racing the domestic criterium circuit so I got a good deal on it as well. My parents purchased a 2004 Raleigh tandem that is just like my 2004 Raleigh tandem so you will likely see me and a child out with my parents on their new scarlet and black tandem. Both tandems were new inventory that World Cycle put out at the swap each of the last two years. Now, I just need to figure out what I will purchase for myself.