Alameda Runners – Get After It!

The sprint battle for stage victories during the 2013 Tour de France should provide fireworks from a few select elite sprinters.

Most of the attention will be on Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Mark Cavendish, as the multiple Tour stage winner will have the full dedication of his team.

I expect a fun battle between Cavendish and Peter Sagan (Cannondale), Andre Greipel (Lotto), Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) during the eight sprint stages.

It’s hard to argue against Cavendish being the best pure sprinter in the pro peloton, but Sagan has found a way to win big races on varying types of terrain.  However, if both Cannondale and Omega Pharma-Quick Step watch one another and lose focus of the other teams, don’t be surprised to see Griepel or Kittel try to steal a few stage wins.

Cavendish secured the Giro points jersey and won five stages during the first grand tour of 2013 – and expect that momentum to carry into July.

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It’s fun to watch the sprints and battle over the general classification (GC) leader’s jersey, but a major benefit of watching the Tour of California is for the American-based continental teams.

One such team is the Bontrager Cycling Team development squad, spearheaded by Axel Merckx, and they went on the offensive during the Tour of California.

It’s important for all of the continental teams to have a strong presence during major US races, as the TV and newspaper exposure is so important.  The best way to get a lot of attention is to break away from the peloton and spend time in a breakaway.

Adding onto the breakaway efforts, let’s not forget Bontrager won the best young rider’s classification with Lawson Craddock and two other Bontrager riders sweeping the top three positions.  Gavin Mannion and Tanner Putt joining Craddock on the best young rider’s podium is important for a team that needs to provide solid results every time out.

Here is what Craddock had to say (via CyclingNews):

“A year ago at this race no one knew who we were and people were doubting us.  So to come here and prove them all wrong, get to know some of the older guys and more experienced guys in the peloton, is a really cool experience.  And not only that, but you start to build relationships, too.  And so it’s cool that we are being treated with respect, and we’ve done a lot to deserve it.”

The type of experience the young guys get from riding alongside riders like Jens Voigt, Peter Sagan, Sylvain Chavanel, and other major European peloton riders, is something near invaluable.  Become familiar with their names, because you will see a couple of them in the Pro Tour.

As a cycling fan at a major race, it’s very difficult to get the opportunity to take a picture and chat with riders near the start or finish lines.  However, every Bontrager rider the Alameda Runners met after the stage six individual time trial, each rider was appreciative of the support.

(Images from the Alameda Runners Trip to Tour of California, visit Ted’s Picasa page).

Tejay van Garderen won the overall general classification of the 2013 Tour of California, and was seemingly in control from the start of the race in SoCal to the finish in Northern California.

The ToC GC win is van Garderen’s first major stage-race win of his young career, and shows his overall long-term potential.

van Garderen was able to capture the individual time trial (ITT) stage win at stage 6, solidifying his lead on the leader’s jersey.  During stage 7 from Livermore to Mt. Diablo, van Garderen was able to defend against all attacks and keep his lead.

Overall, van Garderen won by 1:47 over Saxo-Tinkoff’s Michael Rogers and 3:26 ahead of Jamis-Hagens Berman’s Javier Acevedo in third place.

Professional road cycling in the United States has gone through a recent rough patch, as Lance Armstrong and his former long-time teammates admitted to doping.

Despite the bump in the road for US cycling, it looks like BMC’s van Garderen is ready to become the next big thing in US cycling.  Van Garderen recently won the 2013 Tour of California GC in solid fashion, never truly out of sorts throughout the stage race.

Last year, van Garderen finished 5^th overall in the Tour de France and Paris-Nice, winning the white jersey of the young rider classification chase.

I overheard a conversation at the Tour of California that inspired me to write this blog post.  Two spectators were trying to explain what it meant to ‘bonk’ after one of the color commentators mentioned something.

Learning the proper terminology when it comes to cycling and endurance sports can be difficult, but it’s important to understand certain phrases.

From the official Amgen Tour of California guide:

“Both are bad news for a cyclist.  To ‘bonk’ or to ‘hit the wall’ means a rider has not consumed enough calories to fuel his/her bbody.  Cycling races are usually long and require careful replenishment of calories and electrolytes.  Failure to fuel correctly can lead to a rider falling off the pace of the main group and may even cause them to drop out of a race.”

It’s likely inevitable you will bonk during training – and hopefully not during a race – but there is a lot of work

Alameda Runners: Long Distance Training Supplies
Alameda Runners: Importance of Proper Carb Consumption
Fueling for Cycling (PDF)
TriRadar: How to Avoid Bonking While Cycling
Bicycling.com: Cycling Nutrition: Coca-Cola

I’m sure sports nutrition and avoiding the bonk will be discussed again in the future here on Alameda Runners.

The individual time trial is known as the ‘race of truth’ for a reason, with each rider needing to face his own weaknesses and overcome all challenges without the help of teammates in the peloton.

Some riders seemingly can destroy the ground beneath them while riding a time trial, while other riders can’t generate the watts needed to find success.

The Tour of California’s 19.6-mile individual time trial (ITT) finished with a brutal 1.7-mile, 950’ climb in San Jose, averaging a brutal 10.6 percent.  Driving up Metcalf Road before the riders came through yielded a steep, long intense uphill that each rider would suffer up.

Tejay van Garderen completely blew apart the ITT by winning in 48 minutes, 52 seconds, which was 23 seconds faster than Vacansoleil-DCM’s Lieuwe Westra and 28 seconds faster than Garmin-Sharp’s Rohan Dennis.

van Garderen is the true US cycling talent of the future, as he has all around cycling skills, a great personality with the fans and press, and is the first generation post-Lance fall out.  While most of the well-known US riders have either tested positive – or were strongly implicated in doping – van Garderen can give us hope.

German veteran Jens Voigt is a cycling legend, attracting swarms of fans wherever he races in Europe or North America.

I’m glad to see Californians greet him so warmly, with spectators and media alike trying to get a few moments with him.

The 41-year-old won a stage of the 2013 Tour of California, and has been on the attack a few different times.

It’s funny to see his response about causing a split in the peloton during the stage he won:  “To cause chaos and mayhem isn’t that a good enough reason?”

I’ve been a fan of Voigt since his early days at Team CSC, and always appreciated his ability to suck it up, grind it out, and sacrifice everything for his team.

Voigt picked up his first win of the 2013 season during stage 5 of the Tour of California, where his RadioShack-Leopard Trek teammates helped destroy the peloton in the wind.  From there, Voigt attacked – which he has done throughout the Tour of California – and