Happy Friday

Sanchez Takes First Climbing Stage

Luis Sanchez (Caiss de Epargne) attacked a small breakaway group over and over again on the run-in to the finish today until finally one stuck. He motored away from the group to open a good gap by the finish.

Today's stage hit the Massif Central, not the biggest hills but nothing to sneeze at, especially the nasty little bugger at the end of the day's race. With the main group bearing down on him, Sanchez managed to stay away for the win.

Kirchen held the yellow. Story at VeloNews.

A Break In the Day

Got away from the computer long enough to take the dogs for a hike up 5 Mile Gulch today. Summer's heating up around here, that's for sure.

Good times.

Yellow Moves to Gerolsteiner

Today's individual time trial produced a few surprises and tilted the balance of the GC battle. Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher won the day, beating out favorites Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and others, to take control of the yellow jersey. It'll be tough for him to keep it over the next week, but he vows to try and do so.

Cadel Evans (Lotto) finished best of the big threats, beating out Alejandro Valverde (Caisse de Epargne) by well over a minute and taking time out of anyone else who considers themselves a threat for the GC. That's an interesting result, and one that will definitely help Evans as the race heads toward the big mountains. Evans can stay close and limit losses, but he's shown a deficit as far as big attacks or taking time out of climbers, so any lead will help immensely.

In this wide open Tour, every day can bring big changes.

Frischkorn Gets Close

American Tour-rookie Will Frischkorn, racing with the impressive and argyled upstarts Garmin-Chipotle, instigated a break today at the outset of the stage and held it together all day long to the finish.

At the end, Frischkorn was outkicked by Agritubel's Romain Feillu for the win. But 2nd's not so bad for the first week of the first TdF ever. Both Frischkorn and team director Jonathan Vaughters and the whole squad should be pretty damn proud.

(photo from VeloNews.com)

Valverde Takes First Yellow

On a winding uphill finish, Alejandro Valverde, newly crowned Spanish national champion, jumped into the lead in the last half a kilo and rolled through the finish with a nice gap to take the Tour's opening stage.

No prologue time trial this year, so the first winner is the first in yellow.

I've said this before, but I truly think this could be Valverde's year.

Story at VeloNews.

Oh to be in NYC for July 4th

As expected, The Feelies are reuniting and playing not only with Sonic Youth on Friday, but also a couple of sold-out shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

Great article about them in today's NY Times.

Spain!

Spain beats Germany 1-0 on an amazing goal by Fernando Torres in the Euro2008 finals and wins their first major tournament in 44 years. I was on the fence over who to root for, but the fact that Spain's had such a dry spell, and had been playing classy and solid matches throughout, eventually pushed me to their side.

They played a hell of a match, and the score could easily have been 2 or 3-0. They deserved it.

Now, bring on Le Tour!

Happy Friday

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Germany-Spain in Euro2008 Finals

This Sunday's finals match will be an exciting one. Germany and Spain have survived to reach the championship match. While Germany has an overall lead against Spain in head-to-heads and are favored to win, Spain showed some great play in beating Russia.

At least it ain't France and Italy.

Catch up here: http://euro2008-blog.blogspot.com/.

Happy Friday

We're headed to a cabin on Dutch Creek, right on the Middle Fork of the Boise River. Have a great weekend, people.

Consolation

A Spanish beauty. Full carbon monocoque, SRAM Rival, FSA carbon cranks. I'm feeling better about things.

Happy Friday

And watch for low garage roofs...

The Green Bullet

Alejandro Valverde turned in the time trial of his life in stage 3 of the Dauphine-Libere on Wednesday, taking control of the race, perhaps for good. They now face three tough climbing stages before the finish.

This could signal some long-awaited good form for Valverde going into the Tour. Could this be his year?

Read more at Velonews.

Why I Ride Early, Revisited

Time for the seasonal schedule overhaul.

I hit the trail at about 6:30 this morning, and it didn't take too long to remember why I love to ride at such an awful hour in the warmer months.







The way up.























And the way down.

This Is the Time

Reading an Obama speech always pales in comparison to hearing one, but the closing remarks of his speech claiming the Democratic nomination are breathtaking and inspiring. This is the time indeed.

"America, this is our moment. This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face. Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.

"The journey will be difficult. The road will be long. I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people. Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. This was the moment - this was the time - when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals. Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America."

Obama Wins

After what seems like an eternity of campaigning, Barack Obama has finally clinched the Democratic nomination. We'll hear it until we're tired of hearing it, but this is truly a milestone in the history of this country. And I think it's important that we not remember only the depths to which this campaign sank toward the end, but that we recapture the feeling we had months ago, the feeling of hope and optimism and passion and possibility that made this race exciting.

And whether Hillary Clinton will admit it or not, she's lost, and the primary is over. I'm no fan, as any reader of this blog will surely know (look two posts down), but even I was dismayed at the tone and content of her speech tonight. In the face of insurmountable odds and definitive mathematics, she still refuses to concede defeat. When she should be rallying her supporters around the Democratic nominee, she continues her thinly veiled attacks on him and her insistence that she is the better candidate--and, by default, that he is not fit to run against McCain.

But the most pressing matter at hand now is for Obama to resist all calls to allow her to slither her way onto the ticket. No no no no NO. This cannot happen. The Clintons are toxic, and her presence in the #2 spot would only undermine him and all he hopes to do. And that's saying nothing of Bill's effect. Please, Barack, please, just tell them and anyone else with this fool idea NO.

McCreepy

Good lord. What's going through this guy's head? I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Rumor Has It...

The mill is grinding away. Many are saying today's the day she drops out. I have to wonder at that, given the uptick in her rhetoric over the last couple weeks. Perhaps her increased vitriol is bitterness at knowing the way the cards are falling. Or perhaps it's just to make sure she can't possibly exit gracefully.

Whatever the reasons, let's just hope this rumor is true. Time to get on with the business of beating McCain.

Contador Takes the Pink, Ricco Whines a Lot

Alberto Contador pulled off an amazing and unlikely victory in this year's Giro de Italia. Told just 8 days before the race that he would indeed be riding the tour, he left vacation early and headed to the start.

He steadily rode himself into shape, and by the time they hit the Dolomites, he had victory in sight. Despite some heavy challenges by stalwart defending champ Danilo DiLuca and classless crybaby Riccardo Ricco, Contador held on to the pink jersey.

As complimentary and classy as Contador was in victory, so classless and whiny was Ricco in defeat. He managed to insult everyone, from Contador, to Manuel Sella, to pretty much his own entire team, along the way, which leaves one to wonder where exactly this wunderkind/hyped-up child is headed. It'll be interesting to watch. For now, he didn't even make the podium. I mean, you can't expect to win the tour while giving up nearly two minutes to your serious competitors in the final time trial, can you?