This Week in Road Cycling: Sept 22 to Sept 28

Hello everyone, the road racing season is pretty much over. With that comes a little more cyclocross, and probably a little bit more verbal stupidity from me. This week has a little bit of both -- have fun.

Local Racing:

Week in Review:
-Buckeye Crit: CAT 5: Luke Wandrey, 4th place, CAT 4: Nikolai Skievaski, 5th place.
In honor of Luke's amazing result in his first race ever, our Niko has written a short description of Luke's race.

"ASUCTC's newest road racer, Luke Wandrey, competed in is first race. The field of nearly twenty looked strong and many riders dropped off the peloton as they progressed fluidly through laps of the clean course. Luke remained confidently propped in the top third. The final quarter mile was plagued with a gradual incline before three turns into the finishing stretch; these technicalities added to what would become a dramatic finish. As expected, a mature brute attacked the peloton at the base of the climb, followed by a racer close on this wheel. Who else from the masses would respond? That's right, our very own Luke! He sprung around the group, flicking out of his saddle in an effort that would drain his holdings. The front two had created an insurmountable gap and the remainder of the peloton was left to fend for the scraps. Luke sprinted to a respectable forth place finish."

And since I wasn't there, I'm going to go ahead and make up a race report from Niko's first race as a CAT 4. Be prepared, it's easily some of the lamest writing I've ever done.

Niko was tired. The dragon in turn three had succeeded in roasting half of the field. Niko felt pretty good though, aside from some singed hair on his left leg. When the bell lap finally arrived, the frightened peloton was hesitant to set a go much faster. Many where too scared they'd breakaway, and be easy pickings for the hungry dragon. That is, except for Niko. He attacked hard and drew a giant sword out of his rear jersey pocket, plunging it deep into the dragon's chest. Seeing the dragon vanquished emboldened many of the riders in the pack, and they began to sprint. Niko, tired from all of the vanquishing, as well as from carrying that heavy sword, managed to hang on for fifth.

Good job to both Luke and Niko.

Races in September:
-AZ Hill Climb Championships: Mt. Graham, AZ- Sept 28; http://presteza.com/MtGrahamIndex.html
-AZ Cyclocross Race #1: Payson, AZ- Sept 28; http://www.azcross.com/content/races/september_28th2c_2008.aspx

Races in October:
-AZ Cyclocross Race #2: Gilbert, AZ- Oct 4; http://azcross.com/content/races/october_4th2c_2008.aspx
-Tour De Scottsdale: Scottsdale, AZ- Oct. 5; http://www.dcbadventures.com/recent/eventDetails.php?id=46
-AZ Cyclocross Race #3: Mesa, AZ- Oct. 12; http://azcross.com/content/races/october_12th2c_2008.aspx
**This race is going to be run by the club, so look out for an email with more information in the coming weeks.
-AZ Cyclocross Race #4: Cave Creek, AZ- Oct. 25; http://azcross.com/content/races/october_25th2c_2008.aspx

*Cyclocross Practice: Thursday 5:30pm @ Kiwanis Park

Pro Racing:

Vuelta Espana: In case you forgot, Alberto Contador (Astana) was firmly in control of the race. With no big mountains left, it was just a matter of survival for Contador, and a new dynasty in pro cycling will begin. Sounds melodramatic right?

Stage 15: David Garcia Dapena* (Xacobeo Galicia) took a well deserved win out of a really big break. In a way it was payback for his small Spanish team, who felt that Contador had been mean in not handing them the win the day before. The Accountant is still golden.
*Most ridiculous looking helmet on the planet.

Stage 16: Blah, blah, blah, Tom Boonen (Quickstep), Contador.

Stage 17: Blah, blah, blah, Tom Boonen's teammate Wouter Weylandts (Quickstep), Contador.

Stage 18: Imanol Erviti Ollo (Caisse D'Epargne) won a close sprint out of a breakaway group. Guess who is still wearing the Maillot Oro?

Stage 19: David Arroyo (Caisse D'Epargne) makes it two in a row for the Spanish team who is sponsored by a French bank. This is getting kind of boring.

Stage 20 TT: The final time trial, an uphill race against the clock, gave a little bit more excitement than the last few days. Contador lost 31 seconds to his teammate Levi Leipheimer who took the win. It's really not that exciting, but imagine how much tension there would have been if Leipheimer would have ruined his teammates chance at being the youngest person to win all three grand tours.

Stage 21: Picture time! The last day of a grand tour is pretty much never taken seriously, and this Vuelta was no different. It's a day for most of the peloton to relax and take it easy. Someone has to win the stage though, and this year it was Matti Breschel (CSC-Saxo Bank).

The final podium for the Vuelta: Contador-1, Leipheimer-2, Sastre-3, Moncoutie-best climber, Van Avermaet-points.

The first week was pretty neat with all of the lead changes, but this race always seemed like a foregone conclusion. The Contador era is starting to feel pretty boring. Good thing Armstrong will be back next year to bring his trademark spontaneity back to the sport.

Tour of Poland: Poland? Who cares about Poland right? Normally I wouldn't, but Jens Voigt won and I have a rule that I always take any opportunity to mention how awesome Jens Voigt is. I don't even really know what happened in the race. All I know is that he wore a plastic bag over his head in stage six and received a giant teddy bear. Here, watch this video of Jens Voigt. It has nothing to do with Poland.

Cyclocross:

GP Neerpelt Wisselbeker Eric Vanderaerden (Belgium): Belgians like giving things really long names. The Lord (Sven Nys) of cyclocross kicked off his season with his new team (Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner) by winning.

FSA Star Crossed (USA): The domestic cross season got of to a much dirty start this weekend, with team Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale rider Jeremy Powers taking the win up in Washington.

Rad Racing GP (USA): Team Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale is starting off the season pretty well. US national cyclocross champ Tim Johnson took the win a day after his teammate.

The world championships are this coming weekend so the shorter posts might not be for awhile.


Until next time, take care.

Anthony