Friday, August 26, 2011

Blazing (Bicycle) Saddles

Photo Courtesy of Steephill


Michal Golas received some rear burns from the crash in the sprint to the finish. I know this is bad, butt (punn intended) are you ready to take a psychiatric test? Step back from your computer, put your hand up to block the white portion of Michal's legs, squint, and take another look at the picture above. What do you see? Looked like a guy with his eyes rolled back in his head wearing a mask to me upon first glance. All jokes aside it was a pretty wicked crash, you can see part of the pile up in the picture below. Michal Golas had to have medical attention after the race. Reports say that Golas had dental and facial injuries. It was a fabulous sprint, just a shame that it was closed out with the crash.


Photo Courtesy of Steephill


Of course, no bike blog is complete without a Trek picture. That is Fabian Cancellara just behind J Rod (Joaquin Rodriguez). J Rod appeared to have damage to his left wrist or elbow. This could affect the standings if he has to drop and is unable to start tomorrow morning. I am not certain if Fabian was involved in the crash or not, but I needed a Trek pic so there you have it.

Overall Individual Standings:

5. Jakob Fuglsang LEO
7. Maxime Monfort LEO
14. Haimar Zubeldia RSH
18. Janez Brajkovic RSH
23. Tiago Machado RSH
46. Oliver Zaugg LEO

Team Standings:

1. Team Radio Shack
4. Leopard Trek



Photo Courtesy of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge

The Challenge had a fairly tame finish compared to the Vuelta. No sprint to the finish crashes, just a sprint that produced a battle of the sprinters that was superbly controlled by Team Liquigas Cannondale. Italian rider Elia Viviani of Team Liquigas won the 4th Stage, but no changes were made in the CG, and Leipheimer is the first to hold the Yellow Jersey for consecutive days, and the first repeat Yellow Jersey holder in the Challenge. If he holds onto the Yellow through tomorrow, he will be the first and only rider in the inaugural race to hold the Yellow for consecutive days. If he wins, he will be the only rider, to this point, to win consecutive and multiple Yellow Jerseys.

Trailing American, Levi Leipheimer the leader of The Shack and overall race leader, is another American and Team Garmin Cervelo, rider Christian Vandevelde, whom trails Leipheimer by 11 seconds. Team Garmin Cervelo has Vandevelde in second place overall, but holds the top spot in the Team Standings. Sunday closes out the Great American race, but Saturday promises to be a showdown for the ages. It is the last of the mountain stages, and the stage that could very well determine the race, or set up the final stage to be one of the most promising finishes in American cycling history! It would be a sprint, and a dog fight if something major happens on the mountain tomorrow afternoon! See you then!

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