Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 17/11/2009
By Bryn Lennon, Getty Images Sport Tom Boonen is a cross between a sprinter and a strong cobbled classics rider. He’s a multiple winner of both major cobbled classics, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. He’s also won six stages of the Tour de France along with the green points jersey in the Tour and the rainbow jersey of World Champion. Add to that most of the other cobbled races,...
cyclingnews.com (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
For the second year in a row Mark Cavendish proved himself to be the World's pre-eminent sprinter after he dominated cycling's sprint scene in 2009. The Columbia-HTC rider took the most number of sprint wins, followed closely by teammate André Greipel. Garmin's Tyler Farrar's strong end-of-season saw the US rider make his mark, while formerly dominant sprinter Tom Boonen slipped away from the...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
[And yes, this is a VDS matter...] It was only somewhat surprising that in my chat with Tyler Farrar the other day he didn't know he was fourth in the world in wins. He referred to UCI points, presumably using the World Calendar, which is a nice list of races but kind of skimming off the top. I was referring to CQRanking.com tallies (and editorializing by crossing Jose Rujano off the list), which cover...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
The moment happened in late March, in Santa Croce on the Arno River, near Pisa. At the end of a moderate day in the saddle, the Cervelo Test Team, feeling confident and on form, put five guys on the front of a large pack of sprinters, hopeful that Thor Hushovd could finish off the stage and send a message heading into Milano-Sanremo. Their move went unchallenged, but the pack split into two columns...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 04/11/2009
Most Disappointing voting is the post below. Quite an assortment of riders here. We got cobbles , we got sprints, we got Grand Tour GC's, we got all-rounders. We got guys on French teams. Who do you like? Poll Which rider improved the most this year? Kenny Van Hummel Julian El Fares Rein Taaramae Vincenzo Nibali Simon Gerrans Bradley Wiggins Tyler Farrar Matty Goss Andre Greipel Francesco Gavazzi Edvald...
cyclingnews.com (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
Tyler Farrar began reaping the rewards of his labour this season, with wins in the Vattenfall Cyclassics and a stage of the Vuelta a España. It's led to even greater anticipation of 2010, with the American knocking on the door of victory at Milano-Sanremo, the World Championships and stages of the Tour de France. The 25-year-old from Wenatchee, Washington, started 2009 with a win in Italy and...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 27/10/2009
Attached is a poll to determine the Podium Cafe 2009 Rider of the Year. Barring a catastrophic outcome, the poll results will determine the winner. Poll compiled based on your submissions . Vote ends Friday at noon Pacific. Poll Who is the 2009 Rider of the Year? Cadel Evans Alberto Contador Fabian Cancellara Mark Cavendish Thor Hushovd Edvald Boasson Hagen Philippe Gilbert Heinrich Haussler Andy Schleck...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 21/10/2009
So after f'ing this up in the VDS thread (I blame Will because... well... just because) I decided to redo it using Chris' actual final spreadsheet this time, rather than the actual non-official spreadsheet that I pulled out of my ass. So, following the rules as I remember them (must have one 25 point rider, no more than two 20 point riders, 25 riders total with a total cost of no more than 150 points),...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 21/10/2009
TEAM BEER LAO!!! Congratulations to our winner, pictured below: Could that be the Mekhong in the background? Or the Sacramento? Either way, this picture is a tasty tribute to SlowK, winner of the wool jersey. Hope that despite the team name you live someplace cold enough to enjoy wool. Presumably SlowK will be raising one of the above to Philippe Gilbert, though I think the pick that clinched it was...
Euro Peloton - Pro Cycling News (Free subscription) | 20/10/2009
Alessandro Petacchi has been one of the world's top sprinters for the last ten plus years, but recently he has not been able to match up against the best riders in the world in many of the biggest races due to being on a non-Pro Tour team. He rode for the LPR team over the past two seasons, and although he had good results throughout the year, he missed out on the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, and...
Euro Peloton - Pro Cycling News (Free subscription) | 19/10/2009
Tom Boonen recently made comment that he is thinking about targeting the world time trial championship next year in Australia. To say the least, this comment is hugely surprising. Yes, Tom Boonen is an outsized talent capable of succeeding in a variety of circumstances, yes Tom Boonen has won prologues in the recent past . . . but world time trial champion? Seems almost impossible. Over the past season...
cyclingnews.com (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
Garmin Slipstream's Jonathan Vaughters believes that the 2010 Tour de France route could be custom made for Alberto Contador but that in Christian Vande Velde, Bradley Wiggins and Tyler Farrar, his team will have plenty of opportunities to succeed. The route was unveiled yesterday in Paris but without any Garmin riders present at the ceremony it was left to Vaughters to answer questions regarding...
cyclingnews.com (Free subscription) | 15/10/2009
After taking six stage victories at this year's Tour de France, Mark Cavendish's dominance in the sprints may be under threat from Tyler Farrar in the 2010 edition of la grande boucle. The route for next season's Tour edition was unveiled yesterday in Paris and the American fast man, who has enjoyed a stellar 2009, could well be the rider to tame Columbia-HTC's undisputed sprint king. "It's an...
Podium Cafe (Free subscription) | 08/10/2009
Sunday's Paris-Tours, the 103rd edition of the "Sprinters' Classic," features the final battle of the season by the world's two best sprinters not connected to the Isle of Man. Actually, the race features pretty much every top sprinter currently on form: William Bonnet, Romain Feillu, Koldo Fernandez, Yahueni Hutarovich, Tom Boonen, Allan Davis, Oscar Freire, Greg Van Avermaet, Danilo Napolitano,...
cyclingnews.com (Free subscription) | 07/10/2009
Tyler Farrar steadily proved himself throughout this year leading to wins in the Vattenfall one-day classic and a stage in the Vuelta a España. He's now ready for another big win, Sunday's Paris-Tours. "It is a really beautiful race, a one-day classic that suits a sprinter. But it is never easy to win a classic, you need great condition and a little bit of luck. It is difficult to win...
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