Category VII Cycling

A day of might-have-been's for Spain. It might have been an historic occasion if favorite son (at least when the World's roll around) Oscar Friere had his back aligned enough to defend his jersey. Or it might have been a day for celebrations if Alejandro Valverde had just a slight bit more in his final sprint.

Instead, the day belonged to the young Belgian superstar, who caps off an impressive 2005, adding the rainbow jersey to his wins in Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Unlike Alessandro Pettachi and Robbie McEwens, the other heavy favorities in the race, Boonen was able to make the decisive final group by following Alexandre Vinokourov's decisive late-race move.

Actually, the move itself wasn't so much decisive in forming the final break as it was in shredding the last reamins of an already decimated peloton. Determined to deny the sprinters their due, the break-away specialists did not disappoint, sending attack after attack up the raod. The game plans for both the Spanish (attack, attack, then attack again) and the Italians (have Paolo Bettini cover the breaks, save Pettachi for the sprint) both seemed to be unfolding as anticipated. Unfortunately for both, Tom Boonen was also able to follow the moves, and did not make a mess of it in the final. Bettini was blown and settled for 13th place, while the race was 150 meters too long for Valverde. Boonen came around him at that point and won by a bike length.

Great ride for Boonen who demonstrated again his ability to read races and also finish them off. No hesitation in going with the key moves toward the end of the race, and no monkeying around at the finish. A deserving win and a deserving World Champion.

The World Championship Road Race this weekend is expected to be a lottery. By that they mean that whoever can pick themselves up from the massive pile-up in the final U-Turn, heft their mangled wreck of a bike on their mangled wreck of a shoulder, and limp, stagger, and crawl, across the finish line will be rewarded with a sterile rainbow jersey, ready to be cut into strips to bandage their wounds.

Assuming the dire predictions don’t come to pass, the race will likely be decided by Alessandro Pettachi, Tom Boonen, and Robbie McEwen. And those are my picks, in that order to win.

Pettachi has to be considered the overwhelming favorite. After all, he’s widely – if not universally – considered the best sprinter in the pro peloton. But there might be a concern that after riding the Vuelta – and winning five stages, including the final ride on the World’s course – he may have peaked too soon, or over exerted himself. I think that’s unlikely, and in sharp contrast to the approaches taken by McEwen and Boonen, I give the edge to Pettachi because he chose to race himself – rather than train himself – into form.

And while I realize that he is riding for the infamous Squadr Azzuri, and they have a long and splendid history of racing themselves into the ground at the World’s, I also think his national team gives him a slight edge over the other two expected main protagonists. Consider for a moment the Spanish. The race has to seem somewhat a letdown to them, seeing as how their favorite son (at least for this weekend) Oscar Friere will not be able to defend his jersey or contest a record fourth world championship. Their response will likely to be to send their stable of attacking riders – including Valverde, Flecha, and Periero – up the road at every opportunity. In this case Paolo Bettini could become a huge ally – as opposed to a huge rival – for Pettachi. The Italians won’t need to chase down every potential winning break. Only ensure that the Cricket covers it. This should spare Pettachi and his lead out boys the stress of too much work in the mid part of the race, allowing them to organize the finale if and when any potential breaks come back.

And if the break goes away with Bettini, Pettachi gets lauded as the perfect teammate. Unless he chases him down. Which I’m not saying won’t happen. Because it’s the Italian squad.

In a similar vein, Boonen is bringing a lot to the table. He could probably beat Pettachi in a sprint on any given day – though he wasn’t overly successful at the Vuelta – but most importantly, he could go with any dangerous breaks himself. Should he work his own way into a break that stays clear, it’s unlikely anyone else could take him in the finish. And as he showed at Flanders, if he’s outnumbered, he’s not averse to putting in the attack on his own, before the other teams have a chance to even try and work him over.

Lastly, I would rank McEwen. He has to fancy his own chances pretty highly. His much-vaunted bike handling skills – apparently a reference to being able to pop a wheelie across the line when you finish with the laughing group – have a lot of commentators picking him first through the U-Turn. If only the finish line were there… More significantly, McEwen did show Pettachi to the lower rungs of the victory podium three times in the Giro. But then again, what have you done for me lately. Or to put more of a point on it, when was the last time you turned the pedals in anger. If there is a question about Pettachi peaking too early, there is a bigger question for me about McEwen’s preparation and absence from the top races in recent weeks. Furthermore, McEwen’s usual mates at Davitamon-Lotto, if they’re in Madrid, will be looking to put Boonen on Ale-Jet’s wheel, not Robbie. And even if they have the three-time world time trial champion in their ranks, a ticket on the Aussie train for Madrid likely won’t be the most highly-sought.

And Erik Zabel will come in second.

Thought I should write something about Michael Rogers winning the World Time Trial Championship for the third time, but in all honesty, I hate time trials.

That’s not entirely true. There is the drama, mystique, romanticism, what have you, in a “race of truth” in the midst of a longer stage race. For the majority of that race, you’re “protected” by the peloton, albeit also being tested over varying terrain. But the race against the clock is just another obstacle in the ultimate sort out in the peloton.

But for riders to come together on some random day just for a free standing time trial leaves me completely cold. Not that I can’t admire their abilities or their performances, but a time trial on its own merits also seems to go against my own sense of racing – that is that the “protection” of the peloton in the stage races (or one-days) is in reality where the tactics of racing play out. And the tactics are what makes racing exciting. That and the crashes.

A common complaint heard by the losers at the one day race is “well, the strongest man didn’t win today.” (Luckily, the winner of Liege-Bastogne-Liege is usually excepted from this common complaint, as the consensus view is the winner is always the strongest rider.) My own response, though, would be so freaking what? Racing isn’t about determining who is the strongest, but who is the best. And often the difference between the strongest and the best is brains and heart. Not legs.

A free-standing time trial takes these elements out. Or at least greatly reduces them. And though Maitre Jacques may be rolling in his grave, to me at least it does not represent the essence of what I’d call racing.

And let us not forget that time trialing is all too often the gateway vice to triathalons.

A couple added in Spain as Roberto Heras actually puts in a better time against the clock than does his rival Denis Menchov on Saturday. Extra motivation for the wearer of the golden jersey, or Menchov finding it increasingly difficult to recover from his exertions in the race's opening half? Probably a little from column A and a little from column B.

More significantly, Alessandro Pettachi closed his Vuelta account with his fifth stage win, but importantly this time over the course where the rainbow jersey will be decided in a week. (Erik Zabel managed to come in second yet again.) Petacchi stuck out the entire three-week race, and as such got to see the World's course first hand under race conditions. Meanwhile, one of his biggest rivals for the World Championship title Tom Boonen left when the Vuelta hit the high mountains, preferring to complete his training back home in Belgium.

Perhaps ominously, after Tirreno-Adriatico, Boonen also headed back to Belgian for a few days of final prep work, while Pettachi went and rode the Cipressa and the Poggio. And we all know how Milan-San Remo worked out for the two...

So Armstrong's comeback appears after all to have been nothing more than a publicity stunt, albeit an effective one. After all, there was more written about his comeback than about the original doping allegations. Still, for me at least, his piling on about how he just can't simply get a fair deal in France is a bit much. Are you happy in retirement like you claim to be, or did those nasty Frogs force you out? Pick one story and stick with it.

Meanwhile, new ripples in the UCI v. L'Equipe. The editor of the French sports daily sharply criticized the UCI's reaction to their story in the latest edition of Der Spiegel (Click here for the story from Radsport-news.com. Not yet available on Der Spiegel's site.) Besides the usual recriminations you expect in the he-said-she-said, Claude Droussant did have an intriguing point in calling the problem "certain men behind the scenes." Noting that the team managers and assistants remain constant, he claims "the have the Tour in their hands. If someone is [caught] doping, they show themselves as completely shocked and push the riders out. But the bosses remain the same." As long as they stay "nothing will be changed."

Now there's an idea that bears further examination: sanctions against the managers of teams with doped riders.

Top man at WADA Richard Pound outed UCI President Hein Verbruggen as the source of the L'Equipe story alleging Lance Armstrong was using EPO in the 1999 Tour. Pound told a press conference that Verbruggen told WADA he had shown all the data implicating Armstrong to L'Equipe's reporters and even gave them a copy of the file. It was also noted that only the UCI had the data necessary to link the anonymous samples to the riders (although the initial story indicated the code wasn't one you'd need a supercomputer to crack...)

Given Verbruggen's, ahem, controversial record as head of the UCI and the black sheep lame duck member of the UCI's management committee and former head of the German cycling federation Sylvia Schenk's personal crusade against Verbruggen, this latest news will probably now shift the focus to Verbruggen's stewardship of the sport. And given the personalities involved, this will get ugly quickly.

Unfortunate, because the UCI had an opportunity to underscore the progress it has made in combating doping in cycling since the infamous 1998 Tour.

Paolo Bettini joins Rodriguez and Boonen in the elite ranks of sprinters able to beat Pettachi in a clean bunch sprint. But does this one deserve an asterisk since apparently there was a slight uphill finish? And now who beats McEwen, Bettini or Rodriguez? And what happened with Zabel's now habitual second place?

More significant, or perhaps more intriguing (depending on your personal view of the Squadra Azzuri) will be the possible ramifications the result has on the pecking order in the Italian squad for the World Championships. Pettachi can certainly expect to be anoited the undisputed leader for the race as the course is widely expected to favor the sprinters. But Bettini has the palmares, especially in one day races, and his win today will also give him some legitimacy in being given not only free reign but support as well.

Which will likely result in the Italians once again imploding in a fantastic display of infighting along the race route as the winning break goes clear...

At the start of this year’s Vuelta, I wrote that the race lately had been viewed (by non-Spanish teams) as “a tune up for the World’s, last ditch races for riders seeking to salvage their seasons, or an opportunity for teams to ease younger riders into the rigors of the three-week grand tours.” This continued view of the Spanish tour certainly helps to account for the dramatic results in Sunday’s stage.

Consider these two quotes from the main protagonists in the race. Menchov’s post mortem began “I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was the cold, but that’s no excuse. Such is racing. My team is not so strong, and Liberty road a fantastic race.” Heras’s judgment was similar. “We attacked in the descent, and the tactic worked like a charm…. Yesterday Menchov surprised me with his strong riding as much as his collapse surprised me today. But one doesn’t win a race alone – a team wins.”

Both riders emphasized the importance of both their teams and those of their rivals. Yet still the non-Spanish teams continue to send less than stellar support for their squads racing the Vuelta. The situation was similar in 1999 when Team Telekom sent Jan Ullrich into the race, with the reserve squad supporting him. Fortunately Belgian team manager Walter Goodefroot was able to enlist the obvious support of the mercurial Frank Vandebrouke to support the German (in exchange for Jan’s support at the World’s for VDB), and thus was able to hold off the assaults of Jose-Maria Jimenez and the other Spanish climbers. Apparently the boys at Rabobank were either less enterprising or simply less successful. And true, there wasn’t an obvious talent or trade available like there was in 1999.

But that speculation is secondary to the main question, which is why didn’t Menchov have support. Most likely after his dismal Tour, the Rabobank top brass didn’t believe he had a chance at taking the overall. And it would be difficult finding fresh (and talented) legs for the third grand tour of the year. But should the ProTour take hold, and especially if the rankings for both individuals and teams assume a greater prominence in the sport, managers will be harder pressed in coming years to ensure their top riders are given adequate support.

Yes, even in Spain.

Danilo Di Luca turns the pedals in anger once again in defense of his lead in the ProTour overall series lead. His return to racing comes in the highly prestigious Tour of Poland, which the UCI in its infinite wisdom chose to promote to its highest category.

Considering that some mainstays of the European cycling calendar – such as last weekend’s Paris-Brussels – didn’t make the cut, the choice for inclusion of the Polish tour seems at first a bit odd. Granted, it is only a single race and with a calendar with some 30 races on the schedule the impact won’t be the same as when the UCI put such races as the HEW-Cyclassics on the World Cup circuit. And yes, the UCI is right in trying to promote the sport beyond its traditional borders, especially to the countries in Eastern Europe that not only have a good cycling tradition, but have also contributed some of the top riders to the professional peloton.

But why the Tour of Poland? Ok, so it has a history – apparently it has been around since 1928. And it could prove to be the Oscar Friere of the ProTour calendar – known by no one but his parents when he took his first world championship but certainly confirming his qualities as a rider subsequently.

Granted, with the exception of the Tour and maybe the Monuments, it can be argued that the riders make the race, not the reverse. So Danilo Di Luca and company can take the first steps (or pedal strokes) toward establishing the Tour of Poland as the preeminent race of Eastern Europe today. Still, the UCI had another choice which they disregarded in the Peace Tour. Certainly that race carried a lot of political baggage – it was, after all, designed as a showcase of the athletic talent of the communist world, and even the name carried political overtones. In case you don’t recall, this was also traditionally the biggest annual amateur race. You know, where out Cat 1 and 2 riders would go up against Ivan the steel factory “worker” from Leningrad or “”Boris” from the agricultural combine in Ukraine. Or at least that part of the steel factory and the agricultural combine dedicated to pumping promising Soviet youth full of performance enhancing drugs.

Nonetheless, nearly 20 years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall, so discounting the Peace Race on grounds of its political orientation seem a bit off. Granted the race has fallen on financial difficulties in recent years – so much so that the race will not be held this year – but much of the financial hardship came largely as a result of the UCI’s unwillingness to accord the race a higher status in the cycling calendar. For years it continued as one of the lowest ranked races, by rule limiting the number of GS-I teams that could be invited, and therefore also the number of pros that had written the history of the race in previous years. The low ranking and inability to bring back former stars obviously hurt the race’s ability to attract top level sponsors.

But by signaling last year that the race would be included in the ProTour, the organizers likely could have arranged a financial package to keep the race viable. The benefits for the ProTour would have been the inclusion of a multi-national (in most recent years, the Peace Race went through Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland) race in Eastern Europe, while also signaling to that audience that the UCI not only recognized, but appreciated, their own cycling traditions and history.

Ok, so perhaps Manolo Saiz wasn't simply being a callous heel of a manager yesterday when he expressed disappointment in his captain's ride to the Lagos de Covadonga. Because a scant 24 hours later, Roberto Heras pulled off the ride many -- yours truly included -- believed was not possible. Heras not only was able to drop the previous bullet-proof Menchov, but he put over four minutes into his chief rival, praticially sealing his record fourth overall win in the Vuelta -- at the last possible moment for him to do so.

Liberty’s strategy looked pretty solid from beginning to end. Liberty made sure they had riders in the original big break of the day – in this case Joseba Beloki, who has ridden terribly for himself in the past couple years, but has done yeoman work for Heras in the Vuelta. Rabobank was noticeably absent from the group here. Heras then attacked Menchov on his own, some 50+ kms out from the finish, knowing that it wasn’t sufficient to gain some time on the race leader – with one more long time trial before the Vuelta ends, Heras needed some insurance against the man who has dominated all of the races against the clock thus far. The only way he could get that in the final day of the mountains was to go for a long way out. And his attack had Menchov isolated immediately.

After getting his initial gap, Heras managed to bridge up to the front group, where Beloki again pulled domestique duties for his captain. Meanwhile, Menchov looked like the blown Beloki, trying to limit his damage on the day. Heras rode in to the finish with a brilliant win, and taking enough time to give him a comfortable lead, even with one long time trial (favoring Menchov) to come.

Yesterday I wrote that Menchov looked set to win the Vuelta if he could just continue to follow wheels. But Heras proved me and everyone else wrong by taking the race to his opponents in impressive fashion. But make no mistake about it -- this race was not lost by Menchov. Rather it was won by Heras who took everything he had to the Russian in laying the groundwork for his voctory. An impressive effort by any measure. Bravo, Roberto!

Another tough mountain stage, another impressive ride for Menchov. But really, the more impressive ride was probably by the man Menchov will beat as the race finishes in Madrid – Roberto Heras. Two days ago Heras was caught in a pile-up near the end of the stage. He injured his knee in the fall, requiring 15 stitches to close the wound.

No one would have blamed Heras for abandoning immediately after the crash (ok, well some would have said he was riding in a spot where he should not have been, but remember, too, that Menchov was not far away and almost caught in the crash as well). And certainly no one would have thought any less of him if after the next day’s stage he decided it was too much to ride hard on it. Dropping out of the race could also let Heras save face: if only, the Spanish fans could argue, he hadn’t crashed, he certainly would have dropped Menchov on the way to Covadonga… But Heras rode the toughest stage of this year’s Vuelta – and put in multiple attacks against the Russian race leader to boot.

His reward? An insult to go with his earlier injury. Asked for his comments after the stage, Heras’s directeur sportif Manolo Saiz, expressed his disappointment that Heras was not able to drop Menchov. Talk about a tough boss to please.

In case Saiz had not been paying attention, no one has been able to drop Menchov since he reclaimed the golden leader’s jersey. He has ridden an incredible race through the Spanish mountains, although his performance is probably undervalued since he hasn’t claimed victory on a road stage. In fact, Menchov seems disinterested in either attacking Heras, or even in contesting the stage finales. It is tought to determine, though, if this is the result of Menchov’s sense of graciousness in the leader’s jersey (he did reportedly tell the riders with him in the first high mountain stage that he would not contest the win) or even a savvy way of appeasing the local teams, press, and fans hungry for a Spanish winner. More likely, though, this is Menchov doing a good job of riding at the limit and following Heras’s multiple attacks. Asking for more from the Russian who is not known as a pure climber – in sharp contrast with just about every Spanish rider with a pro contract – is probably unreasonable. But for the record, Menchov is on my fantasy team, and I could use the extra points from stage wins in my bid to win the season-long competition.

Irrespective of whether Menchov will not or simply cannot drop Heras, he only needs to repeat his impersonation of a mountain goat for tomorrow’s last mountain top finish. After that, assuming he can keep the rubber side down, there appears no further obstacles to his claiming overall victory when the Vuelta rides into Madrid.

Heart-felt congratulations to Mar-Jac on his nuptuials today and best wishes in your new life together. Sorry I couldn't make it over there -- would've been a great time (though I probably would've been tempted to bolt for Lagos de Covadonga).

One thing, though, your choice of a honeymoon destination does seem a bit odd...

All the best, amigo!

There is a collective orgasm unleashed today in North Carolina, beginning a movement that will certainly culminate in the pronouncement of a new National Holiday: It's George Hincapie Day!

For those who have been blinded by the radiance of Lance, his self-described "best friend" has also been self-described as "America's premier classics rider." Ok, so the guy does have some decent palmares: his wins at Ghent-Wevelgem a few seasons back and the GP Ouest France earlier this month were impressive, and he started this season off with a good win at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. Although I'd take exception with his description of an "very impressive win" at stage 15 in the Tour. It was impressive mainly for its classlessness.

But still, Hincapie has a point that he is a very fast man at the end of a 200 km race. But it is a far different story when the race is over the 250+ km distance where the real classics -- the Monuments -- are fought.

Quite simply, Hincapie does not have what it takes to be a good classics rider. What he lacks is the ability to take the race to his opponents, to ride proactively instead of reactively, to basically understand how the race is playing out and press his advantage. To put it more succinctly, he lacks tactical nous.

Consider the style of Tom Boonen, whose own emergence on the Classics scene game as a helper for Hincapie, who was clearly riding within his limits at Roubaix so as not to leave his erstwhile captain literally in his dust. Hincapie put an end to the sorry spectacle by riding ignomiously -- and all alone -- into a ditch. Unfortunately for Boonen, his release came to late that race to bridge up to the winning break.

In this year's edition of the Hell of the North, however, both men made it to the critical break. But for some unknowable reason, Hincapie did not attack Boonen. Instead, America's preier classics rider reckoned that he would take his chances in a three-up sprint with Boonen and Juan Antonio Flecha. That's right, Hincapie decided to go head-to-head in a sprint with one of the few riders in the pro peloton that can regularly challenge Pettachi and McEwen. Smart move. We have some Turtle Wax, Rice-a-Roni, and a home version of the Queen of the Classics for you as lovely parting gifts.

The contrast with Boonen's own win in the Tour of Flanders just one week before he schooled George in Roubaix could not have been more stark. Boonen was in the winning break with Andreas Klier, fellow fast man (still so at the end of a long classics race) Erik Zabel, and Flanders specialist Peter Van Petegem. Had the group arrived together at the finish, Boonen certainly would have had the advantage. But with two seasoned finishers, and Andreas Klier who also knew the route extremely well, Boonen did not wait for the attacks from the big men, and instead set out on his own. The next time Van Petegem and Co. saw him, it was on the victory podium.

Boonen, though, showed himself to be a gracious winner in Roubaix. When asked about the final break, he remarked that he wasn't worried that Hincapie would be dangerous in the finish. "I knew he would be nervous. He doesn't win much." He was nice enough to omit that "America's premier classics rider" doesn't know how to win the classics.

Another flat stage, another win for Pettachi. At least this time he has the common courtesey to not insult our intelligence by flatly stating "this doesn't make me a favorite for the World Championships." Of course not. On a course custom-tailored for sprinters. All the smart money's on Zabel. Who somehow always manages to finish second. Even when Pettachi isn't in the sprint.

That’s what the boys at Liberty Seguros will have to do during tomorrow’s rest stage at La Vuelta. To review: over the past two arduous mountain stages – the favored terrain of Liberty captain Roberto Heras – Manolo Saiz’s squad has worked their game plan to perfection. Incredibly hard riding on the front has smashed the peloton and left the head’s of state isolated in the front. Only one small problem with the plan – they weren’t able to put race leader Denis Menchov into difficulty. So, gasp, a Russian is now leading the race ahead of the thoroughbreds of Spanish climbing.

The Spanish press will certainly soon start calling for a combine between the Spanish teams to depose Menchov. But even today when some Euskadi riders were working with Liberty it didn’t make a lick of difference. And it is not like Menchov is taking advantage of in-fighting between Mancebo and Heras. If anything the Spaniards are able to pick up some crumbs because Menchov is not contesting the stage finishes while he maintains the overall lead. For a man not hailed as a natural climber, the Rabobank captain is finishing the stages looking the freshest of all the riders.

With only one real mountain top finish left (although still a few mountain stages), Liberty will need to take some desperate measures to attack Menchov harder and longer maybe take a page from the Mar-Jac playbook and go right from the starting gun.

Or just put a stick in his spokes.

Apparently that rationale was assigned to Lance’s possible comeback in the 2006 Tour de France, and not his decision to marry annoying fan number 1 Sheryl Crow. If he want’s to stage a boxer’s retirement, fine. But to hang the decision ostensibly on spite stemming from L’Equipe’s allegations is absolutely ridiculous. What will that really prove? Absolutely nothing. If he wins again, it just confirms for the French that Lance continues to dope, using some drug that a test has not yet been developed for. If comes back and loses, it just confirms that he can’t win unless he’s doped to the gills.

Fittingly enough, Lance’s statement to the American-Statesman came on the same day that Jerry Rice announced his retirement, giving rise to talk at Labor Day football games around the country of why he didn’t hang it up years ago. ESPN’s Outside the Lines segment was on why few athletes go out on top of their game (you had the feeling it was a canned segment kind of like the obituaries written for celebrities just in case the finally do kick it). Prior to Lance’s retirement, Bernard Hinault is one of the few top cyclists who quit when they were still in their prime. Indurain also probably still had a good season or two left in him. But most leave like Lemond and Fignon – swept up by the broom wagon and no longer selected by their teams to ride the Tour.

Of course the healthy dose of egoism that seems an essential ingredient in top athlete’s rises to the top plays a huge part in the decision to return to the game. Johan Bruyneel mentioned that Lance misses the competition, “and all that goes with it.” Usually the athlete mentions the camaraderie within the team, because it would be unseemly to state flat out they miss being in the limelight…

In all likelihood, if Lance returns to the Tour, he’ll be the overwhelming favorite to win an eighth time. But that victory will do nothing to end the persistent rumors of his alleged doping that have dogged Armstrong almost his entire career. On the plus side for his ewgo, however, is the certainty that he’ll add to his allure and national icon status as the good ol’ American willing to stand up to those nasty Frogs.

As Menchov and Heras sized each other up, Paco Mancebo snuck by both of them to take the stage. A curious finish, since according to cyclingnews.com, Menchov told the other riders he wasn’t going for the stage win. Probably Heras recalled the standing orders at his former squad shaped in the image of Bruyneel’s shameless spring against Indurain, and opted not to trust the Russian. Or at least trust, but verify.

Mancebo in winning his first stage of any Grand Tour also gained the most by passing Carlos Sastre for third in the overall classification. While Heras and his Liberty squad were the main animators of the day – shelling the rest of the field and also isolating Menchov on the climb to Arcalais – unlike the first mountain finish, Heras wasn’t able to make up any time on Menchov. Clearly not a good sign in his quest for a record fourth Veulta win.

Still Heras undoubtedly come out firing again tomorrow in another tough slog through the Pyrenees. Mancebo was almost dropped on one of Heras’ attacks today, so a little longer, a little harder, and he could be back in the driver’s seat of the race on the first rest day.

After winning the first long time trial and reclaiming the leader’s gold jersey, Russian Denis Menchov of the Rabobank team reacted somewhat modestly: “Now the race is started.” And it seems like he is right. At least for he and Roberto Heras – many of the other pre-race favorites are already licking their wounds and find themselves several minutes down.

Menchov rode a great time trial, especially considering that with a cat. 3 climb in the midst of it, it wasn’t your standard course for the hammer heads. The profile probably helped Heras limit his damage, but Menchov no doubt drew inspiration from the fact that winning the stage would allow him to trade up the butt-ugly combination jersey for the leaders gold shirt.

But while Menchov took a good half minute lead out of Heras – and added an another 10 seconds after Heras was penalized for drifting off the marked course – he certainly will have his work cut out for him. Tomorrow begins the first of four stages in the Pyrenees, where Heras is likely to regain the overall lead. Menchov will likely ride looking to limit his losses, with an eye toward cementing an overall victory at the second long time trial just before Madrid.

But interestingly, Paco Mancebo after the time trial – which moved him up to third behind Carlos Sastre – noted that having Mencho in overall competition would liven up the race with attacks. Huh? The Russian did nothing but try to hold on in the first mountain stage, but maybe he will go out and try and take the race to the Spaniards as the race goes through his residence in Pamplona. Or maybe Paco is referring to the comical efforts the Spaniards may have to stage in a maladroit attempt to work a combine against the Russian.

The first mountain stages in the big tours are always fun – at least for the spectators. This year the organizers of the Vuelta helped everyone out by letting the peloton warm op on category 2 and 3 climbs – you know, the ones the Spanish climbers like to take in the big ring – before hitting the final climb up a cat. 1 to Valdilineares.

Top favorite for the overall Roberto Heras confirmed his promise by taking the stage and the overall lead from second placed Russian Denis Menchov. Although Heras was able to shed all the pure climbers in the race – including significantly Francisco Mancebo, who remains a main threat to Heras’ ambitions – in all likelihood they’ll have their day in the upcoming high mountain stages. Still it is unlikely that Heras will roll over in the high mountains either. Though perhaps Menchov – who is not noted as a natural climber, making his ride today all the more impressive – will likely be more vulnerable. Still, having a minute’s lead already should reassure Heras – and put a bit more pressure on the contenders to prove they’re not pretenders. Meaning there should be some great racing over the weekend and especially on the stage to Lagos de Covadongas. Significantly for Mar-Jac a cycling celebration on September 10.

Contrary to persistent and pernicious rumors, George Hincapie’s victory last Sunday at the GP Plouay did not send me into such frenzy that I was unable to blog. Nice to see that George didn’t have to rely on the cheap tactics that scored him a Tour stage win this summer – although he certainly did benefit from a lack of pure sprinters in the race. Most of the big guns in the fast finishes were instead in Spain contesting the Vuelta and finalizing their preparation for the sprinter-friendly World Championships course in Madrid.

Even with the concurrent running of the Vuelta, the GP Ouest France was able to attract a respectable, if not consistently marquee-name filled, field, largely thanks to its inclusion in the ProTour. The race was not part of the former World Cup series, and the last time it attracted a truly star cast was in 2000 – when the World Championships were held on almost the identical course several weeks later. Nice that a smaller race with a lot of character – like the Boston Marathon, the finish line in Plouay is marked 365 days a year – makes it into the big leagues.

Ironically, while the Vuelta a España similarly stood to benefit from the ProTour, as the series had the potential to help the race find a role in the cycling milieu. The Tour de France is clearly the be all and end all in modern cycling, while the Giro had a similar heritage, if somewhat less prestigious for non-Italian riders and teams, to draw upon. Since it’s move from the early spring to the fall, the Vuelta has of late been used for a tune up for the World’s, last ditch races for riders seeking to salvage their seasons, or an opportunity for teams to ease younger riders into the rigors of the three-week grand tours.

While the ProTour does bring all 20 of the top teams to the race, many bring their B-squads. On the margins of the D-Tour, a team manager from Gerolsteiner – which was dominating that certainly second-tier race – commented on the Vuelta “yeah, we’re riding along in that one, too.” Clearly lower ambitions. And a sentiment likely shared by many of the other ProTour teams. (Let’s not forget that in addition to the national tour organizer’s protest against the ProTour, the teams earlier complained about the requirement to ride all three three-week races.)

Whether by design or not, it could very well be that the core of the Vuelta organizers’ dispute (along with the Tour and the Giro) with the ProTour – the rigidity of the ProTour team licenses and their four-year duration – could form the basis of a solution to the Vuelta organizer’s attempts to attract a better field. A system of promotion to the top cycling rank – and relegation out of it for underperforming teams – would put an important emphasis on the Tour of Spain, particularly for teams on the cusp. All that would seemingly be needed is a more rational ranking system for the ProTour teams.

In the meantime, Roberto Heras will face a decent – if not top flight – field in his search for a record fourth win in Spain. And as usual since the retirement of Tony Rominger, his main adversaries will all be Spanish riders. Although given that he is a core of my fantasy team, I’m hoping Menchov will be able to reclaim the gold leader’s jersey in Madrid. And as the first week continues on, Pettachi, Hushovd and others with ambitions of a different sort for a different date in Madrid will also be turning the screws.