Well, good intentions being what they were, I certainly thought I was going to get a few moments to update yesterday’s post, once the crit was complete. But that didn’t happen. A couple of unexpected committments kept me from the keyboard.
So, a little belated, but …
VeloNews provides a good story on Saturday’s crit, complete with details on how Levi Leipheimer wound up finishing on Chis Horner’s bike.
Leipheimer’s adventure started on a 90-degree left-hander, a lap and a half from the finish.
“Scott Nydam crashed in front of me. I locked it up and I missed him but someone hit me from behind and it pretty much rolled the tire,” Leipheimer told VeloNews.
Might I suggest a bunny hop over the downed riders? At the speed these guys were going, that should have been enough to clear a sizeable group. 😉
CyclingNews.com ran a piece this morning on Lance Armstrong’s relaxed return to racing after breaking his collarbone at the Castilla y Leon race a while back.
“I think it’s good to be here for the first race back,” Armstrong said. “The stages are short and I don’t have to handle the logistics. We finish the races at noon and then sit around for the rest of the day. I almost don’t know what to do with myself. I never get to take a nap during races, except for this one.”
And the Associated Press notes that Lance had a near miss in the crit yesterday. Chris Horner is quoted, and gives his take on what happened when Levi wound up rolling a tire.
The three were near the front of the field, trying to stay out of trouble for most of the stage. When the pileup happened, Leipheimer was in about 15th place, not far behind Armstrong.
“He was in a good spot, normally a safe spot, but in a criterium sometimes there are no safe spots,” Horner said of Leipheimer.
Amen to that. Earlier in the article, Horner noted:
“Levi got tagged and lost the back tire and we had to do a bike change,” Horner said. “He came off hard but stayed on the feet of the bike.”
Meanwhile, in today’s action, VeloNews reports:
Fly V’s Phil Zajicek won Sunday’s Gila Monster stage of the SRAM Tour of the Gila, outsprinting Mellow Johnny’s teammates Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer in the final, technical meters of the 106-mile stage.
Zajicek, who has won several stages at the Gila in prior years, said the win Sunday was the biggest of his career. “Because I beat Lance and Levi,” he happily told VeloNews at the finish.
Leipheimer secured his overall win, while Armstrong moved up to second and Zajicek moved into third on the final GC standings.
Peter Stetina, who had been second overall before the final stage, fell to tenth place in the GC, after losing five minutes to the leaders. Apparently, he was suffering some intestinal distress and had to stop for a “natural break” about 20 miles from the finish. Not the best way to end your race, but still, a very respectable showing. VeloNews recounts provides a good summation of how the final sprint on the final day played out.
“Levi rode so hard,” Zajicek said. “Horner gave everything and then Levi tried to lead out Lance, but Lance cracked — I heard him yell with 200 meters to go, ‘go Levi go.’ I just stood up and gave it absolutely everything. I was falling apart, but …” he laughed.
Leipheimer and Armstrong said they misplayed the finish.
“We were focused on getting Lance the stage win and we definitely kind of screwed it up at the end,” Leipheimer told VeloNews. “It was mainly my fault, I went a little too hard and Lance was too far back and got gapped off by Chad Beyer and had to close the gap … I ended up giving Phil the perfect lead-out. He did a great race, hats off to him.”
CyclingNews.com also notes the results of the Gila’s final stage.
And for those looking for word of Floyd Landis’ results: At Saturday’s crit, Landis finished 49th, and in today’s 106-mile road race, he finished 74th, more than 27 minutes behind the leaders. For the final classification, Landis finished 69th, 36:58 behind Leipheimer, whose overall time for the stage race was 13:26:56.
A post Gila blogger/cyclist is heard from, TwoWheelTales. He reveals the “secret” surrounding Floyd Landis’ recent “renovation injury”:
I came in WAY down (around 27 minutes!) after frying all day in the break, but had an excellent time riding with Floyd Landis and Justin England. Those two guys are really cool and we had some good conversation while trying to get our suffering over with. Floyd showed me his “lacerated” left shin, a seriously gruesome injury he got a couple weeks ago after falling from his ladder while painting his house–OUCH, literally!
Hi Rant,
I’m interested in your views as to why Floyd has been so ‘middle of the road’ this year. If you compare like for like ie Armstrong to Landis, they have both been out of competition for some time, yet Armstrong is definitely stronger. I know Floyd has had some bad luck with some of the races but is that enough to explain such mediocre results? He has shown some of the old power at times but ever so briefly.
I would have thought that FL would have been so hungry this year to prove his detractors wrong but he seems to have fallen well short of the mark.
My prediction for Armstrong this year is that he ain’t gonna do it. I’m a big fan, but photos of him during races seem to show him in an awful lot of hurt. I think it’s the year for Levi. Maybe a double for him, Gyro and Tour.
My understanding is that he’s been the victim of some bad luck, some injury, and has been hurt more than he anticipated by the TT position rulings. Today, I think the air went out of his balloon when Cam Evans crashed 10mi in and had to be airlifted out. He seems to have survived with a concussion, but may need to get his face put back together, having stopped the fall with it.
Overall, OUCH should be a better team than last year’s Health-net, but the results don’t show it, and it’s not just Landis having problems.
TBV
Floyd’s recent shin injuries (yes both shins were injured) were a bit more serious than most people know. That didn’t help to be sure, Joe Martin comes up this weekend, we’ll see what OUCH can do there in Arkansas, but team morale has to be down with the loss of Cam Evans.
Thanks Rant for taking over this weekend, too much to do too little time!
str
Luc,
I’d echo TBV’s comments. Floyd’s year, so far, almost reminds me of a song that has the lyric, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…” Not quite to that bad, but he’s not off the greatest of starts. I think the hunger is there. In time, I’m hoping that the results will start to come back, too.
As for Lance vs. Levi, that’s an interesting prediction. We’ll get to see how the Giro goes for the two of them in just a few days. What of young Contador? I suspect he’s going to make an appearance in all of this, too. (Though not at the Giro, according to the roster released a short while ago.) All that said, I would like to see Levi win (at least) one of the Grand Tours this year. It’s his time. Lance has enough palmares for more than a single lifetime. But being the competitor he is, I’m sure he’d like to add another.
strbuk,
Happy to. (And just so everyone knows, I switched the post author to strbuk so she could make some updates.)
Thanks for the extra info to all. Didn’t realize FL was nursing the extra injuries. Just read a link from LA’s twitter to cycling weekly. Seems rumour has it that LA is starting a new team for next year and Astana won’t be around. Interesting possibilities.
“Born Under a Bad Sign” B. B. King did it, Cream did it, probably goes back to some Delta bluesman from back in the ’30s or the like. If you live long enough, you’ve been there, done that.
William,
I like that. Should’ve used that reference, instead. Wikipedia credits bluesman Albert King as being the first to record the song in 1967. I haven’t found any earlier history of the song, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s based on something that came before.
Luc,
Heard some rumors about that, too. Chris Brewer, of the LAF, made a mention somewhere yesterday that an announcement might be in the offing, once Le Tour completes. I think even Lance said something to that effect yesterday, as well.