The Expected & Unexpected Sports For This Weekend...

The EXPECTED:

UFC:
The Big Brazilian Blockbuster UFC Rio, saw the home favorites taking care of business. Silva amazes me still. He is the most humble fighter that I have ever seen. He's calm, going into training, he is calm going into the fights, he is calm during the fight, and he is calm at post fight. Anderson "Spider" Silva treats every fight like it's no big deal. He trains hard, and care free, and he fights the same way! He set his opponent down twice in the second round with a jab, and finished him off with the ground and pound. In the locker room he hugged his boys and shook the oldest son's hand and loved on them like any good father would want to after a days work. Silva is the first fighter in UFC History to win in ten title bouts, and first to 10 consecutive title bout victories.

Cycling:

Levi stayed out front, and finished among the leaders in the peleton, and claimed the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge. Levi won the individual honors as the Trek teams flip flopped in the overall team standings with Leopard Trek finishing in fourth, and Team Radio Shack finishing in fifth. Most of his fellow riders pictured with him won their respected jersey's and the race was a success. I believe this will be a great challenge that other riders will also embrace and participate in, in the years to come. Great job city of Denver, and USA Cycling.

Pictured are the winner of each competition... overall race winner Levi Leipheimer, mountains winner Rafael Montiel, points winner (and most awesome sprinter award!) Elia Viviani, best young rider Tejay Van Garderen and most aggressive rider Timmy Duggan.


The UNEXPECTED:

NASCAR:

I didn't expect one car to come out of his pit stall, and pass another car that was already up to speed and exiting the pits... Bad thing was it didn't happen once, but on a couple of occasions. I didn't expect the 18 car to remain drivable after squeezing between two other cars, and ticking off a few more drivers either. That, "Not So Happy w/ Busch" list probably grew by two more drivers Saturday night.

Track & Field World Championships:

Usain Bolt beat by the worlds fastest man! "HIMSELF!" Only allotted one false start, the reigning champion and world record holder in the 100 & 200 meter events jumped early, and about 10 meters out realized it, and in disgust, hastily pulled off his sprinters jersey, and walked off the track. He had cruised into the finals and then was eliminated by a false start!

That ladies and gentlemen was my weekend in sports Expected & Unexpected.

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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!

Day 2, Stage 1, Swelta La Vuelta, Stage 4

Photo Courtesy of USA Cycling Challenge

A picture is worth a thousand words! Today I am going to have to start with home cooking! Reason being, because the Chief Priest likes it! He is proven that you don't mess around on his turf! Levi was the chief priest today, and his sermon today was about having heart! He timed his break perfectly!

Beltran was the first man over the big mountain, and started the downhill side over Monarch Pass. He was caught quickly and over taken by the chase group. I thought they looked strong enough to extend their four minute and forty second gap, but I again was proven wrong as the margin decreased slightly with every passing kilometer. The Breakaway group of four did not team, and the group became two. With forty-four kilometer or twenty-five miles to go, the just under five minute gap and two man break had dropped to just over two minutes. At near the eighty mile marker, with just under twenty miles to go, Team Garmin Cervelo rider, Thomas Peterson has a rear brake problem. His mechanic trailed him at twenty plus miles per hour, making adjustments on the fly! Can you imagine what would happen if he over extended a thumb or a finger!? The spokes are flat like helicopter blades on my Madone, so I am guessing it would be like testing a Ginsu at twenty-five mph!

Levi surged in the final kilometer, and held off the rest of the attackers and cruised across the line taking a ten second bonus with him! Congrats to Team Radio Shack, and to the High Priest LSquared! Trek is looking good because of his fine ride today!

In the Vuelta with approximately thirty-eight kilometers to go, Mark Cavendish withdrew. I thought he would go for at least one more stage to get a step closer to Eddy Merckx, but Cavendish had tormented himself enough for the summer session. He had moments of brilliance in the Tour de France, but could not endure the heat, and the punishment of the Vuelta just after the tour. There was a small breakaway group that had a two minute gap in the Vuelta as well, with approximately fifteen kilometers to go, but within half of that distance it shrank dramatically. With just seven kilometers to go, the gap closed to thirty seconds and it was like blood in the water to a hungry shark, when the peleton edged closer. The climb was grueling, and the heat was just as bad. In both races, with the Team Time Trials starting the Vuelta riders went from near worst to first finishes in just a days worth of riding. Today would be much of the same. Leopard Trek sprinter Dianele Bennati once in first dropped to mid pack. Team Movi Star rider Pablo Lastras with a brilliant finish yesterday to claim the leaders red jersey, dropped five minutes back today, and now rest among those in the mid pack also. Strong climbing from Frenchmen Sylvain Chavanel of Team Quickstep and Katusha rider, Spaniard Daniel Moreno saw them finish in first and second. So the overall General Classification looks like this:

1. Sylvain Chavanel (QST) Red Jersey
2. Daniel Moreno (KAT)
3. Jakob Fuglsang (LEO)
4. Maxime Monfort (LEO)
5. Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ)
15. Janez Brajkovic (RSH)
16. Haimar Zubeldia (RSH)

The team efforts are as such:
1. Trek Radio Shack (RSH)
5. Trek Leopard (LEO)

Not that I am biased or anything...