Category VII Cycling

So the Cricket did feed off of his win in Zurich and take the Fall's Monument -- the Tour of Lombardy.

The race stands now almost as something of an anachronism. Not in the sense of Paris-Roubaix, which perennially raises the question of why the UCI continues to condone such insanity. With Lombardy, rather, looking at the palmares one is struck by the changes in the pro calendar. The winners back in the "Good Old Days" were often the same riders winning the Spring's Monuments some 6 months' prior. Of course in these days, most of those riders hung up the wheels for the season weeks if not months ago. Or those filling out the numbers are either here out of a sense of obligation (Di Luca) or seeking redemption (Cunego).

Because of this transformation in the calendar, the Tour of Lombardy has lost some of its poetic value as the end of the season. Most of the protagonists were still in their training regimens when the Classics season got underway at the nearby resort town of San Remo (whereas previously "training" was riding Paris-Nice and San Remo to get into shape).

Still, the race is becoming one of my favorites. The difficulty of the course ranks it along with Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and should stand the race as Italy's true Classic (not to take anything away from San Remo, which when I had access to Eurosport I eagerly anticipated as the first sign that winter's icy grip was at long last receding). And the final climb toward Lake Como taking the peloton past the approving gaze of Fausto Coppi, seems an appropriate farewell to the season.

Of course, this is also the most under appreciated race in the season. Even serious cycling fans -- which you'd have to be to stumble upon this site -- have already turned their attention to winter pursuits. And except for the European sports dailies like L'Equipe or Gazzedto Dello Sport, coverage -- even in Europe -- will be in monthly magazines, meaning the race will be prominently featured next to a fashion preview of the latest down jackets to wear during your January fat burning rides.

It is unfortunate, too, because the efforts at the race are similarly discounted. Cunego's Giro victory last year will probably be remebered, but for the tifosi, the mosre impressive win was his confirmation at Lombardy. Outside Italy, the weighting is never as equal.

Similarly, although Bettini's win Saturday was all the more impressive because the race always seemed just that bit out of his ability, his efforts in the Spring Classic will always be regarded as the highlights of his career. Indeed, this season where he went without victory in the Classics until October will likely be rung up as a failure (or euphemestically as "disappointing").

It's unfortunate and also unfair -- to both the race and the rider.

Checking Cycle Sport mag's website they're pimping the issue with the Lance Armstrong as Jedi Warrior cover. A freaking 206 page tribute to the guy. Wow!

Curiously one of the articles is on a showdown between Big Tex and Big Mig. Cycle Sport "has crunched the numbers" to let you know how this would play out. I haven't seen the data they've compiled, but I can only just imagine that maybe, just maybe, Big Mig would blow right past the raibow-jersey clad Armstrong for 5 minutes in the first big time trial of the Tour.

Just a vague hunch, though.

King Lance is dead. Long live King Lance.

Armstrong’s retirement at the end of his record seventh Tour de France victory leaves a huge void in the pro peloton. Ironically enough, the last time the defending Tour champion did not start La Grand Boucle was 1999, when the Texan took his first win. As noted before, Jan Ullrich may well be regarded the heir to the throne, but it will not be an uncontested succession.

But perhaps more tumultuous will be the changing of the guard at Team Discovery Channel. Who there will take on the mantle of leadership that Lance leaves behind?

On paper that should fall to the young gun Yaroslav Popovych, who gave a glimpse of his promise in an impressive supporting role at the Tour. Giro-winner Paolo Savoldelli also has the pedigree to ride for an overall position in the major races as his second Giro win confirmed.

But can either really lead the team? Much was made of Lance’s win as being the first win by an American riding for an American team. With this formulation, rather than positioning Lance as the legitimate heir to Greg Lemond as the face of American cycling, the USPS and Discovery Channel teams were setting themselves up as the successors to the storied 7-11 squad that really did carry the U.S. flag into the mainstream of European racing. But a closer examination of the teams supporting Lance showed more similarities to the Roger Legay French teams headed by Lemond than the true-blue American squads Jim Ochowitz fielded. Indeed, in the last few years, George Hincapie was the only other American wearing Lance’s colors.

Certainly there is nothing wrong with USPS and Discovery Channel fielding international teams. If anything it shows just how mainstream American cycling has become, fulfilling the promise 7-11 showed. At least as far as racing in Europe is concerned.

But there is a deeper question if a foreign-led American team will hold the interest of the U.S. public – and through them U.S. sponsors. Certainly anyone – even a top U.S. pro – is going to have a tough time filling Lance’s spot not just in the sporting world, but also in popular American culture. He had the great story lines of the underdog American overcoming all odds to triumph. And in true Hollywood fashion, to triumph beyond even the wildest expectations.

So, who would ever want to succeed that? No single rider could live up to that hype. (And recall that in the beginning of his career, Lance struggled to shake “the next Lemond” label.) But through into the mix a rider whose name would make most Americans ask to buy a vowel. So, will Hincapie be asked to present the public face of the team? Perhaps that would pass muster for the commentary team at OLN, but for those of us residing in the real world, that seems a laughable proposition.

Calling home some of the American legionnaires might be another option. But who is available. Levi Leipheimer seems to have found a happy home with Gerolsteiner, ditto Floyd Landis at Phonak. The one other American rider who had some recognition among the larger public was your Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton. But, uh, well, he’s been a bit, umm, “distracted.”

The 2006 season for Johann Bruyneel will be one of seeking to find a new identity or a new team structure. Certainly a CSC-type arrangement (an American sponsor of a European team) would be viable. But especially in terms of continuing to carry the flag of cycling to the American public (rather than the American flag to the European peloton) a European-led squad unfortunately isn’t likely to do the trick. Americans don’t want a winner. Americans want an American winner.

For the record, I called Paris-Tours.

Erik Zabel’s win brings a bittersweet end to his storied career with the Magenta Troup – as noted before, it was his win 11 years ago in the same race that announced his arrival on the pro scene. But isolated at the end of the race and left to his own devices, the race underscored once again the lack of confidence T-Mobile management had in the aging former world number one rider. And it was precisely this lack of confidence that led Zabel to reject the retirement plan offered by T-Mobile – one more year racing, then a job in the PR-section – and instead for the first time, switch to a new racing stable.

Next season will see the answer to a lot of questions for a number of different teams. Most immediate for Milram will of course be if Zabel still has any gas left in the tank. And similarly, can Zabel and co-captain Alessandro Pettachi share the leadership duties. A first clash of egos could come as soon as the opening of the Classics season with Milan-San Remo – will the squad be solidly behind defending champ Pettachi or bet on four-time winner Zabel? The combination of seasoned Italian coach Ferretti and a German head sponsor will also help to muddy the waters. It seems a certainty that Zabel is still not ready to concede that his days of winning the best races – against the best fields – are over, but will he check his own ambitions in races like San Remo in exchange for unqualified support in the other Classics?

A different sort of challenge faces the remains of T-Mobile. With the departures of Zabel and Alexandre Vinokourov, for the first time in his career, Jan Ullrich will start the 2006 season as the sole captain of the top German squad (in their eyes, at least). Although Jan has been the de facto captain since 1997, in every previous season the pressures to win have been lessened by the presence in the squad of riders like Zabel, and Vinokourov – and nice “surprises” like impressive seasons from Andreas Klöden or Steffan Weseman. Absent a similar surprise from one of their erstwhile support riders, Ullrich will have the entire hopes and ambitions of the team, its sponsors, and fans (and critics) squarely on his own shoulders. And if there is one thing the last decade has shown us, its that Ullrich doesn’t exactly respond well to pressure.

It is his squad now – in addition to the departure of the other top riders, his own manager Rudy Pevenage has been rehabilitated with the retirement of former colleague Walter Goodefroot, and will be driving the team car in 2006. Oh yeah, and Lance retired, too, so it is finally time for Ullrich to confirm his 1997 win and prove he really is best of the rest.

Speaking of the Texan, his departure leaves another huge void at Team Discovery Channel, but I’ll discuss that in the next posting.

The Alpha and the Omega of Erik Zabel's career by Telekom or T-Mobile arrives on Sunday in the form of Paris-Tours. Eleven years ago the young German sprinter announced his arrival in the international pro scene with his first win in a classic. Of course he would go on to confirm his performance, claiming two of the top prizes for sprinters -- Milan-San Remo and the Tour de France's green jersey -- as his birthrights. So it is somehow appropriate that when Zabel -- one of the few riders left in the peloton who competes throughout the entire racing calendar -- ends his long career with the German squad, he will do so after completing the final promenade down the famous long final 2400 meter straight-away.

It is perhaps ironic that Zabel's rise to dominance in Milan-San Remo -- ushering in an era of bunch sprint finishes to a race that had long been dominated by soloing winners -- would coincide with the break of the sprinter's vice grip on Paris-Tours. In the past seven years, only once has the race ended in a bunch sprint. While Zabel could go with a break, he is unlikely to, or perhaps more precisely, a small break is unlikely to continue working to give Zabel a free lift to the line. So look for T-Mobile to be working hard on Sunday to bring the peloton into Tours and over the final short climb complete before lining up a lead-out train one final time for the squads most successful rider.

The longer-toothed Zabel no longer rules the mass sprints like he once did. Indeed, this season "his" place more often has been second. And while both Boonen and Pettachi -- the new bearers of the sprinting standard -- are absent from the race of the turning leaves, Zabel will face plenty of competition from Robbie McEwen, Thor Hushovd, and especially Daniele Bannati, who has had an impressive if low-profile fall campaign. But I'm hoping that once again we'll see life imitate art, and give the poetic victory to the graybeard from Unna.

(I'm travelling for a couple days, but will try and post some comentary on the race Tuesday when I'm back. In the meantime, consider your entry for the "What Erik Zabel Means To Me" essay contest.)

Despite the change in the calendar, it seems the Championship of Zurich is still a place to settle grudges. When it was in August, it was a last chance for the protagonists of the Tour to gain a consolation prize before they saw their shadows and went into the early retirement you can take when the race calendar is condensed down into just three weeks in July. But now in October, the little cricket Paolo Bettini went out and won the race in impressive fashion, though with a clear view toward the World Championship road race in Madrid a week ago. Indeed, in his post-race comments, Bettini was emphatic that his Zurich performance was just a taste of what might have been had he received more support from the Squadra Azurri.

Bettini left the World’s course quickly and without comment – other than to say he was disappointed. But over the course of the week not only did the ever present grumblings about Bettini being the clearly strongest man in Madrid (though try telling that to the Belgians, and anyway, as noted before, racing isn’t just about being the strongest). A major point of his complaint was that Pettachi waited too long to tell anyone he wasn’t up to full form, and in any event, Italian team manager Franco Ballerini had put all his eggs in the Ale-Jet basket.

Though he may have been wishing upon a star for another chance at the rainbow jersey, the cricket turned his focus to showing what he could do with a modicum of support. Though “modicum” is an understatement for the combined effort of QuickStep. Quite simply, their support was incredible – including convincing him to continue riding after he mulled pulling out of the cold rain soaked race at the half-way point. They then put three men in the final break, and another teammate accompanied Bettini up to join them. From that point on, it was just a matter of inflicting damage, then going away to win on his own.

Bettini afterward called it his greatest win ever. Given the number of his great wins over the years (not least of which his Olympic victory in Athens), such a sentiment is a certain register of how deeply he felt his ambitions were undercut by the Squadra Azurri. Then At the same time, it also ends an important dry spell – his first classics win in two seasons, and only his third victory this year.

So one story seemingly comes to end, but then again Zurich may also turn out to be prologue for a season finale to rival that of baseball’s today, namely the match-up of Bettini, Damiano Cunego, and Danilo DiLuca, your newly-crowned inaugural ProTour champion (the official website bestows ecclesiastical powers through its description of the “sacred winner of the ProTour). All three showed good form today, and certainly all three Italian riders will want to go into the off season after having won the final Italian Monument.