The Cycliste Moderne, August 27, 2006

Sorry it has been almost two weeks between posts but with home improvement projects and work and just a general malaise induced by the recent doping news, it has been difficult to find time or motivation to write. Anyway, here is a variety of topics to discuss and debate.

Vuelta a Espana

The Vuelta a Espana started Saturday with a 7km team time trial prologue. CSC won and Carlos Sastre started in the mustardy gold jersey of the overall leader. However, the Vuelta is kind of difficult to get excited about with Operacion Puerto continuing to shadow the sport. The Vuelta is frequently preparation for the World Championships. Probably not going to be different this year either. Needless to say, I am not very excited, although the Vuelta frequently has some of the most exciting racing during the season.

Hamilton

Tyler Hamilton's two year suspension ends on September 22nd. He has been riding and racing in unsanctioned races to keep in shape with an eye towards racing at the World Championships in late September. Now a few questions need to be answered. First, would USACycling even select a rider who has not raced in two years? David Millar's suspension ended right before the Tour de France and he came back to make a reasonable showing, however, Saunier Duval had signed him and Millar was incredibly repentant stating that he would be coming back to race clean and show it could be done. Second, would USA Cycling select a rider implicated in the Operacion Puerto affair. None of the riders named prior to the Tour de France, except those who have now been cleared by the Spanish courts, are currently racing. I cannot see USA Cycling selecting such a rider. Third, a lot of criticism has been levied at Hamilton's recent victory at the Mt. Washington Hill Climb which he has won in the past. Second place went to cycling legend Ned Overend. Hamilton had a strong performance but there were none of the pros who have attended and participated in the past, most likely a result of the threat that USA Cycling and the UCI levied at licensed pros who raced in unsactioned races with a rider who was currently suspended.

Clearly, Hamilton was playing by the rules, but he is not really a sympathetic character at this point. Although USA Cycling typically has difficulty even filling the full US roster at Worlds, I would recommend that it not name Hamilton to the Worlds team. Mrs. Cycliste Moderne is very upset by the latest Hamilton news. As she put it "everything he did at CSC looks like it was a lie." Indeed the epic rides he made during 2003, winning Liege-Bastogne-Liege, winning the Tour of Romandie, winning a stage at the Tour de France with a broken collarbone, now appear to have been "enhanced" performances.

Hincapie

If George Hincapie did not have any bad luck this season, he would have no luck at all. In a position to win Paris-Roubaix for the first time in April, Hincapie's steerer tube shattered, ending his day with a severely injured shoulder. After multiple second place prologue finishes this year, Hincapie came into the Eneco Benelux Tour with a race he could definitely win. He spent most of the Benelux Tour in the leader's red jersey, but with Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher just three seconds behind, the final stage which retraced the Liege-Bastogne-Liege course course the final stage would be decisive. Phillipe Gilbert of Francaise de Jeux held off a hard charging chase to win the final stage, however, with Hincapie and Schumacher together, the GC would be decided on the line. With 50 meters to go, Schumacher swerved across the course to avoid a spectator and in doing so, took out Hincapie. Schumacher then took third, got four bonus seconds and then won the overall by one second. Discovery protested but the race jury found Schumacher's swerve was not his fault, however, rather than neutralize the time bonuses as would have been the just thing, race officials let the result stand.

Cyclingnews.com is reporting Hincapie's second place trophy is now in a bar in Zwolle, Belgium. Hincapie probably ought to be the favorite for the upcoming United States Professional Championships since they are being held in Greenville, SC, where he keeps his domestic base. He is in great shape. However, the season may unfold as it has and as such, I would expect the unexpected.

Bike Style

I had to attend a public hearing for a client this week before the local highway district. At the hearing there was a matter on the agenda that was fairly contoversial as it dealt with the site for constructing a new bridge. Many residents showed up to testify both for and against construction of the bridge as well as its proposed alignment. Now, I have been to enough of these hearings over the years to know the local bicyclists that typically show up and testify and sure enough, there was a guy who I have seen in the past. There is nothing wrong with testifying on transportation issues when you are a cyclist. I support that and have done it myself. There is nothing wrong with wearing your bike clothes to such a hearing as it shows you probably rode there. However, this night when this gentleman gets up to testify, he has on casual shoes -- not his bike shoes. No problem. He has on slacks -- not his shorts. No problem. He has on a red lycra jersey tucked into his slacks. Big problem. Do not ever, ever, ever, tuck your jersey into anything, especially Dockers! It makes you look like a dork.