Jan Ullrich & Me

Starbucks, PCH, Newport Beach

Halfway through my ride yesterday, I stopped by a Starbucks on PCH in Newport Beach for a little caffeine boost.  While in line, a woman (who, guessing by her accent, was German) struck up a conversation with me centered on the typical questions:



- Do I live around here?
- Is there good cycling around here?
- How far was I going?

She then told me I looked a bit like Jan Ullrich.  This comment caught me both completely by surprise and confirmed my suspicion that she was, in fact, German.

Under normal circumstances, I would have no idea how to respond to this.  And standing in a crowded Starbucks added additional tactical problems to the equation.  Consider the two other cyclists in the corner, for example.  Had they heard what the fraulein had just said, they would have started snickering.  I know this to be true because had the roles been reversed, I would have snickered without delay and with extreme prejudice.

With this much pressure, the best I could muster was "Oh, really?".  Clearly I was not on my game.  Thankfully a short espresso saved me by arriving at the counter a few seconds later.

I'll admit I didn't know too much about Jan Ullrich other than he was the bridesmaid for a bunch of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France wins.  I also knew that he has a full head of hair.  As you may know, I don't.  And when my internal facial recognition software kicks in, it's not trying to match bald people with people sporting a full head of hair no matter how similar the nose or eyes might be.  I've certainly never said "Wow man, you look just like a bald Fabio!" or "Oh my gosh dude, you are Kojak with a Caesar!".  As a result, I was confused as to how she was making the connection.  But then again, I did have a helmet on.

Obviously, her comment piqued my curiosity.  So when I got home I Googled "Jan Ullrich Images".  The picture above was one of the first to came up.

It's a stretch to see any resemblance.  True, we both have our mouths open.  We both have white rimmed sunglasses.  And we both look like we have our mind in the game.  But I don't think that's enough for someone to make the random "look alike" call in a coffee shop.  Because while riding a bike, it's not a stretch by any means to assume that many people ride their bikes in white rimmed sunglasses while concentrating with their mouths open.

All that said, my research did reveal one physical trait we do have in common - we've both been known to be a little chubby coming into the season.

Do you think?

Watch yourself at Trader Joe's (I'm not talking about the food)

I knew this morning when I put on my Saxo Bank Cycling Team t-shirt I might be making a mistake.  I wasn't going to be holed up in the house working all day (as is usual) since I had a lot of errands to do - the post office, the bank, the screen printer and Trader Joe's.  My shirt had the potential for a major unsolicited spoiler - It made me pretty identifiable and as such I was setting myself up for someone to say something to me about the Tour, especially if they had already watched it. 

But then I thought I was being paranoid.  This is America, where the second most popular sport after football is waiting for football season to start.  Cycling is way down on the list.  I know that Phil and Paul are saying on-air that Versus viewership of this year's tour is up 150%, but 150% of 100 is what? 250?  My point is I'm not sure how many people are watching this year, but it's no Superbowl.  It's probably not even the NBA All-star game.

But none of that matters, because it only takes 1 person.  And that "one" came in the form of a very well intentioned and friendly guy at Trader Joe's.

Him:  "Did you see the tour today?"

Me:  "No not yet, I DVR'ed it..."

Him: "Yeah, Contador is a real *sshole."

Me (to myself):  What the hell did I just say to you, dude?

Me (to him):  "Oh really? That sucks.  Just leave it there though, I'm going to watch it when I get home.

Him:   "Don't worry, I think Schleck will get it back."

Me:  "OK thanks dude, you just saved me 4 hours."

"Him" grovels a bit.

Me (feeling a bit bad that my bone dry humor just shot way above his head, possibly into the stratosphere):  "Aw, I'm just kidding, it's all good."

I watched it anyway, because I didn't yet know why this guy thought Contador was an "*sshole".  But when Shleck's chain fell off and Contador sped by, I groaned.  And as he rode by the camera, I saw a coward.

In 2003, when Jan Ullrich and Lance Armstrong where fighting it out for the GC, Lance crashed near the top of a climb.  Ullrich waited for him and it may have cost him the tour.  But it was good sportsmanship, and that's classy.  Contador, not so much.

I hope Schleck jumps all over Contador tomorrow and Thursday and buries him.

Stage 2 of the Tour de France

At least for a day, professional cycling is OK again.  Today's stage 2 of the Tour de France was a perfect example of why I still admire bicycle racing so much.  The pro peleton has been under the cloud of doping scandal for years.  And although I know better than to believe that this storm has passed, today was was a sunbeam through the grey.

The 200 kilometer stage, from Brussels to Spa, Belgium, is not a particularly spectacular route when measured against the later Alps or Pyrenees stages.  There are enough climbs to get the King of the Mountain contest underway, but that's about it.  Sylvain Chavenel from the Quick Step team was part of an early break.  With about 50 kilometers to go it was just a matter of when the peleton would close the couple of minute gap and set up for a probable sprint finish.

But then it started raining.

I've been in the Ardennes in the summer, and have watched the weather change on a dime.  It happened today in a matter of minutes.  During a decent the crashes started.  Andy Schleck went down.  I thought his tour was over by the way he was holding his arm.  But then a team-mate rode up and gave him his bike.  Paced by his brother Frank, he carried on.

 Andy Schleck just after the crash.

Amongst others, Alberto Contador went down.  Lance Armstrong went down.  Christian Van Velde went down, and his Tour is over.  He broke two ribs. 

All of these guys are/where favorites to win.

Fabian Chancellara from Saxo Bank, who was wearing the yellow jersey, was ahead of the crashes.  But when he found out what had happened, he took control of the front and slowed the pace down to allow the peleton to regroup.  Not only did he do this to give Schleck a chance to catch up, he did it for the sake of the entire race.  Because it was the right thing to do.  And not continuing to chase down the break cost him the overall lead.

This was selfless teamwork of the highest caliber.  Chancellera was never going to win the Tour, but he would have liked to stay in yellow for a few more days.  He gave up the lead for both the sake of his team and to help preserve the tradition and spirit of the Tour.

As I write this, I can't think of another athlete (some who get paid more per game than Chancellara probably makes in a year), who would show this kind of sportsmanship.  They're more apt to get caught up in a shooting or make a complete ass of themselves on Twitter.  It was a moment that made me proud to be involved cycling.

Chancellara remained in control of the peleton until the end.  As they approached the last few hundred meters, you could see him talking with everyone, discouraging any last minute sprints to insure that they would all cross as a group.  And they did.  As is Tour tradition, the entire peloton was given the same finishing time of 4:44:44.

Chavenel won the stage.  It was a ride of a lifetime.  A Frenchman riding for a Belgian team won a stage in Belgium and will wear the yellow jersey when the Tour crosses into France tomorrow.

Floyd Landis

Floyd Landis

A few weeks ago, after I wrote a few posts about doping, I read a book by Floyd Landis. As you may know, Landis won the 2006 Tour De France, just to have the title stripped because of a positive test for a skewed testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. He was also suspended from the UCI for two years.

Throughout the ordeal, Floyd vigourously maintained his innocence by, amongst other things, organizing a long legal battle and writing a book. I thought the book was written pretty well, and it seemed sincere. I felt for the guy. I wanted to believe.

But I'm not even going to tell you the name of the book, because it doesn't matter. It turns out it was all b*llsh*t. Landis admitted today that he used performance enhancing drugs throughout his entire career.

Here is the story on CNN.com

He's also trying to pull down Lance Armstrong as well.

What a loser.