The difference with the races so far this year is that the results that will be booked in the second ten days of February will tell much more about what to expect. Erik Zabel continues to show early form. Even though he hasn't been able to win yet, it shows that his move away from the Ullrich clan did not affect his motivation. Erik will be ready for another Milan-Sanremo.
That type of victory in a major classic will never be Robbie McEwen's game, but still he has alreaady won his handful of stages and now even an overall, the GP Costa Azul. Two other names from that race are Enrico Dagano from Barloworld but more importantly Bernhard Eisel.
Eisel is one of the three youngsters of FDJ that might very well be in his break through season. Eisel was the only one to beat Boonen in Qatar. Another FDJ talent, Thomas Lövkvist, finished second at the Mont Faron stage and sixth overall in the Tour Méditerranéen. The third youngster, Philippe Gilbert, finished 12th overall. In the same overall result, Botcharov and Caucchioli might then be the two runners up, they owe it mostly to the team time trial.
The overall winner, Cyril Dessel from A2R, the same team that already took the overall in the Tour Down Under with Simon Gerrans. Have the French teams then indeed been dominated by their antithese Armstrong in that they can only break free now? However, Dessel seems to have run into a lucky moment, virtually his only other result would be his silver medal at the national championship last year.
In the Ruta del Sol the Quesada brothers have run the show of the first stage. Nothing major happened besides that rather encyclopaedic fact. Quesada, who? Indeed, most likely just another Spanish rider who can only win when he's competing in Spain. Ask Quickstep's Lefevre.
The linked stages in Mallorca has seen some real riders take their first score already. Isaac Galvez Lopez might perhaps still rank under the same category of Spanish riders as discussed just now, he did indeed beat the whole pack twice, including people like Elmiger, Haussler, Förster, Bettini, Chicchi, Flecha and Paolini. A list of names that is already quite an interesting read. Sadly enough David Bernabeu won one stage and came in third in another. Bernabeu has been suspended in 2003 for the use of a banned corticoide. Odds are he will not finish first in a cycling competition outside Spain (hell, even his teammate from his then team Milaneza Francisco Perez got a new chance at Ileas Baleares).
So, allow me to put question marks behind the current ethos in the peloton when people like Hamilton get their sentence confirmed (and it only started so many months after the fact, so in effect the suspension is more than two years) and people like Filip Meirhaeghe cannot even join a randonnée for nearly two years, whereas the two Davids, Bruylandts and Millar, are allowed to train with their future team (Unibet and Saunier respectively).
However, back to more positive analysis: the last stage in Mallorca brought to the fore names that are out to confirm last year's results or the promises they hold: David Kopp, Lorenzo Bernucci and Linus Gerdemann are definitely being monitored.
As for the week ahead: clearly the Ruta del Sol is to start for real still, but more importantly: the Trofeo Laigueglia on Tuesday and the Haut-Var on Saturday will bring to the fore some more real and tough names.
Getting started. Slowly recovering from a 7 year upper cut.
Lance Armstrong has left the world of cycling as an active pro rider, nothing new there. However, try to imagine the impact of this guy and his team and teammates after seven Tour de France victories. Everything has changed: preparation has become a solid science, with much less focus on medical advice than mostly French people would beleive. Lance made the sport evolve around motivation, anger, determination, teamwork and above all Big Money. I often give credit to the French riders when they mention a world of cycling at two speeds: true, I cannot imagine one French rider having seen a wind tunnel from the inside... No wonder they get left behind!
Anyway, this blog is not about pro X or contra Y, but it is an infrequently updated analysis of the current cycling season, the year post-Armstrong 0. Only after the end of this season will we know whether or not this was a year 0 (with no particular big name stepping to the throne of the Texan Rider and even with another Discovery Channel Tour victory) or year 1 (with a new boss in cycling). But would any new boss have the same long term impact on cycling ... Time will tell.
So far, this year has seen races in Australia, Langkawi, Mallorca and Qatar. Whatever the importance may be for some people to have early season victory, the first real competition is now getting started: the Tour Meditteranéen for sure is one. The summit of the Mont Faron never lies and brings to the fore riders who will be there for the rest of the year, or at least in the weeks to come. Last year top four: Voigt, Moncoutié, Pellizotti and Schleck. Thomas Lövkvist, second in this year's Faron stage, was sixth last year. Tomorrow, Sunday 12th of February also sees the start of the first confrontations between Boonen and Petacchi at the Ruta del Sol. Boom boom Boonen, also called Elvis on a bike, might very well have won a handful of Qatar races, if they would remain his only victories, no one would remember. However, he looks extremely fit and strong and above all, he looks like having lost more weight than last year. Didn't Cycle Sport of Cycling Weekly mention that he might want to have a try at the Tour de France overall?
So many questions, so many names to keep an eye on, so many stories to tell (hell, Hamilton got his suspension confirmed today, a two year ban, what about that Roberto!).
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