Here's your impending doping doom story of the day from Belgium.

The Gazzetta dello Sport ensured a lot upheaval in ultimate run-up to the World Championship. The Italian sports newspaper in its Sunday edition made mention of the existence of a list fourteen racers during the past Tour would be caught on EPO. As this is all true, cycling will again be given a heavy pounding.

Who is there that may possibly be on the list?

AG2R: Valjavec and still one racer from the Tour Selection (Efimkin, Dessel, Arrieta, Dupont, Elmiger, Gadret, Goubert, Riblon).

Saunier Duval: Ricco, Piepoli, Cobo.

Team Columbia: two racers from the Tour Selection (Kirchen, Hincapie, Burghardt, Cavendish, Ciolek, Eisel, cocks, Lövkvist, Siutsou).

CSC: five racers from the Tour Selection (Cancellara, Frank Schleck, O'Grady, Voigt, Gustov, Sastre, Arves, Andy Schleck, Sörensen).

Gerolsteiner: two racers from the Tour Selection (Schumacher, Kohl, Förster, them, Häussler, Krauss, lung, Scholz, Wegmann).

That story lists Valjavec, Ricco, Piepoli and Cobo as definites. Ricco and Piepoli were obvious. If I were to make my other ten positive picks based on what is being reported I would choose Kohl (came out of the blue), Schumacher (seems like a no-brainer), Kirchen (unexpectedly strong race), Cancellara (heavily tested during the Tour and then skipped the WC), both Schlecks (Puerto tie-ins), Sastre (let's hope not but you almost have to figure the big dog did), Lovkvist (couldn't decide between Lovkvist and Siutsou but Lovkvist had a better race), Arrieta (had a break-out race) and Arevesen (grasping at straws between O'Grady, Voigt and Arvesen).

Whether my picks are right, or not, fourteen positives will be an awful blow to the sport. What I find interesting is the teams. The supposed clean French team Ag2r, the "tight" internal controls of Columbia and CSC and Gerolsteiner, who was always talking the anti-doping game.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

One day you are winning Vuelta's, the next you are racing in Britain on a foldable bike while wearing a suit and tie... and finishing second.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/imageBank/h/Heras%204.jpg

While I neglected this blog for much of the last month I still had thoughts running through my head. Unfortunately, I am not bright enough to actually write these thoughts down and I am too old to actually remember things. Here are a few things that have stuck in my mind.

First item on my list goes back to the Olympics and continued on to the recent World Cycling Championships in Varese this past weekend. Here is what I would like to see happen. After an athlete wins the gold medal please, please, please do not pose on the podium for photographers by biting the gold medal. I'm tired of seeing this same old pose all the time. And if the photogs are asking for that pose, refuse them. Yes, I know the tradition behind biting gold to see if it is real. Take my word, those medals do not have a high percentage of gold.

While on the topic of the Olympics I have to mention synchronized swimming. Aside from the fact that the event should not be in the Olympics, can the female swimmers do away with the outrageous eye shadow/makeup. They look like cheap hookers in a bizarre aquatic kabuki nightmare.






Finally, what is the story behind the big electronic message boards on the local highways, specifically I-270. I do not know for sure that the messages appear on the other local interstates but I drive 270 every day and always see these messages. Frequently the boards now show a message that states "NO TRUCKS OVER 24T IN LEFT LANE EXCEPT TO EXIT". My question is where around here is there a left lane exit off a highway? There might be a left-hand exit downtown. If there is, fine, then display the messages as you drive into downtown. Don't put the messages all along I-270 where there absolutely is no such exit.

What's the ideal way to come back from two complete weeks off the bike because of an awful cold?  A cold that is still lingering in the nose and lungs, by the way.  If this weekend was any indication, the best tactic was to ride myself into the ground for 75 miles on Saturday.  By the end of the ride, my legs were tired and cramping, my lower back hurt and my knees felt like the IT bands were tender.  If there was any consolation, everyone was hurting afterward.

Sunday morning arrived and my body was not happy about hopping on the bike.  The legs did not recover well and the nether regions were not happy about the harsh return to the saddle the day before.  We gathered at Meramec in a not-so-fashionably late manner, all of us moaning and not so eager to tackle Jefferson County.  We decided on a trip downtown and maybe a jaunt along the Riverfront Trail since the parcours would be mostly flat.  That plan pleased my aching body.  A ride downtown with some different sights and sounds seemed like a nice idea.  A ride that ended up in Granite City, instead of downtown STL, did not make my already aching knees very happy.  My body was whooped.  Dragging my still recovering body over 145 miles didn't kill so I suppose it made me stronger.  Regardless, I am tired this morning.

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I have been out of commission for a couple weeks. Last weekend, however, cross season began in our neck of the woods. The time seems right for the grand reshowing of the finest cross video on YouTube.



A couple of days ago, someone else decided to post their own Wellens vs Nys video. While I like Cash's version of 'Hurt', it has been used in a number of cycling videos. This is a nice effort to match the Wonderboy video but falls a bit short.

Nice finish to Stage 4 of the Tour of Britain. Besides the nice finish check the Italian's classless move at about 3:04 when Lloyd wouldn't come take his turn.

Toward the of Friday's workout I swallowed a bug. No big deal but on the way home my throat felt weird. The feeling continued while I was out in Augusta for Saturday's stage of the Tour of MO. I did not pay much attention to the feeling.

Sunday morning came I knew a little bit of a cold had settled in but as the day passed I felt reasonably good. Even at midnight that night I felt pretty good. Tired, but good. Then, the cold hit me like a ton of bricks. My sinuses let loose and made for an unpleasant night. The only positive is that my alarm goes off at 4:30, so it was a short night of misery.

Monday I felt terrible and feel only somewhat better today. Thank goodness I could not attend this weekend's race in Hermann.
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Found a story abouy Ivan Basso's impending return to the peloton. I am no power-geek but the story gave some of his SRM numbers. As part of a 5-hour training ride that concludes with 3 ascents of a circuit, Basso ended the ride with the final ascent lasting just over 28 minutes at 430 watts. Not too bad.

If watching the Vuelta's climb of the Angliru live was not an option this past Saturday, here are two videos. Part 1 is the lower half of the climb. Part 2 are the finishing kilometers. The first video picks up after Kloden has already pulled off after setting the early pace. Rubiera sets the tempo as the remaining riders pull back Christophe Kern of Credit Agricole.

I was reminded this weekend that I made no predictions for the Vuelta or the Tour of MO.  Frankly, I did not give it any thought.  If I had made any Vuelta picks, you can be sure Contador would have been at the top of the list.  Robert Gesink likely would have been there, too.  Beyond those two riders, I am not sure who I would have chosen.  I have paid very little attention to the Vuelta.  Rarely does it catch my fancy.  Saturday's stage up El Angliru is always interesting so I will pay attention to that.  Sunday's stage looks difficult, too. 

Trivia:  What is the other name for El Angliru?  Don't be googling the answer, scofflaws.  When the climb's inclusion in the Vuelta was first announced back in '99(?), I remember this name being used as often, if not more, than El Angliru.

Who knows how to predict the Tour of MO?  Everything will likely depend on today's time trial.  Let's hope the GC splits stay close after today and provide a reason for good, aggressive racing the rest of the week.  If he has kept his form, my odds on favorite would be Vandevelde today.  My longshot pick isn't a terribly big longshot except that he has been lost in cycling's wilderness for much of the year.  Danielson could well have a top 3 finish today.

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Tour of MO

Cyclingnews live coverage of Stage 1 made the turnout at the start in St Joseph sound rather sparse. That's disappointing and I hope it was just a bad characterization of the scene.

The weather was questionable but I hope there isn't a trend of bad turnouts whenever the rain is sub-par. The weather forecast doesn't look too promising for the last half of the week, thanks to Hurrican Ike.

This isn't a bad omen for the rest of the week, is it?