Cycling

Alex Vanderlinden

 Jack Mackenroth

Pietro Boselli,

Colin Brazeau

Cameron Meyer

Mark Cavendish

Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, 

Damien Howson

  

Are you following cycling this season?  Not much time left.

Saturday Sport: Politics and Cycling

This weekend, European Soccer has a break play, while the teams engage in National Play.  Spain is playing Albania and Israel, Italy is playing Macedonia and Albania, in short, the giants are playing the midgets.  Go midgets!

Actually, the Spanish team has been in somewhat of a meltdown, as a result of the illegal referendum carried out by the Catalan Government, in support of Catalan independence, and republicanism.  The Catalans, Republicans?  What would Trump say?  The issue of the autonomy of Barcelona has been an issue, at least since medieval times, and rears its head periodically, every time they want to be treated specially, and not just part of a miniature feline kingdom.  Although opinion polls put only about 40 %  of the entire population in favor of "independence," and although Barcelona based banks are fleeing the jurisdiction, still the neo fascist prime minister forges ahead...  This really only concerns us/we because of the rift in the National Team, and the potential loss of Barcelona from La Liga, and an end to "el clasico," the greatest game in soccer.  Period.  Barca player Gerard Pique, has

spoken strongly in favor of the vote, and has spoken strongly against the national government, but declares himself neither in favor nor against independence, after all, he says, he would lose half his fans if he declares himself, one way or the other.  He also insists on playing for the national team because, well, one must...  and congratulations to the national team, who last night beat Albania 3 nil, and has thereby qualified for the next World's Cup.  Next up for their national team is Israel, on Monday. 

Across the Mediterranean, just retired Roma star Totti, has just been told he could never coach soccer in Italy at any level.  This, because he has suspended his course of studies to be a coach, insisted upon by government and soccer regulators.  Apparently he was bored by classes in basic soccer tactics, and was unwilling to take the exams required about those tactics.  So, although he has played soccer professionally in Italy since he was about 14 years old, he will never be a coach in Italy.  Italy is Italy, and paperwork is paperwork and it must be in order...   Maybe another Italian speaking country could put him to work, were there to be one...  MLS anyone?  After all, experience has to count for something, somewhere.  With all that, last night's game between the Italian national team and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ended in a 1-1 tie.  A 1-1 tie.  Perhaps they will do better against Albania on Monday.  Where's Totti when you need him? 

Italy is the site of one of the last two classics of cycling for the 2017 season.  Saturday the north hosts the Tour of Lombardy, one of the most mountainous of the one day classics.  Many of the stars of cycling have come out for one last time to compete in this UCI sanctioned race, an over 200 km slog through northern Italy.  Today's race runs from Bergamo, east of Milano, to Como, site of the beautiful lake...  Colombian Rigoberto Uran, fresh from his convincing victory in Thursday's Milan-Turin race, is a clear favorite, but many of the greats will be competing.    Incidentally, it was good to see Milano Torino contested again this year.  A race dating back to 1876 should not be omitted just because the paperwork is not in order.    Italy.

Sunday, cycling eyes turn towards France, for the last event of the season, the Paris-Tours.  This sprinters classic has been run annually since 1896, from the outskirts of Paris to the Cathedral town of Tours. 

Cycles

Peter Sagan

Robert Forstemann

Vincenzo Nibali

Sport (Easter) Sunday: Mono, Man, and

From the Isle of Man:  Top pro cyclist Mark Cavendish has been diagnosed with mononucleosis, and will need time out to make a gradual return to health and then to training. The virus was identified during a quarterly UCI blood test.  Manxman Cavendish has won 30 stages in the Tour de France and won the green points, top Sprinter, jersey in the 2011 Tour. He is normally a perennial challenger in the Spring Classics, or whenever a sprint is at challenge, so his presence has been missed. He is the second rider on Dimension Data to be diagnosed with mono this year after Jaco Venter in January. Hmmm...   That South African recently returned to racing.

In Holland:  The Amstel Gold Race takes place this Easter Sunday.  This annual road bicycle race brings the pro cyclists tour into the Ardennes, and is held in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, when climbers rather than sprinters begin to shine.  Today's race takes place over 264.6 km and includes 35 climbs of varying difficulty. There’s a change in the final kilometers this year, with the final ascent of the usually decisive Cauberg removed,  for the first flat finish since 2002.  This could considerably alter the outcome of the race.  The Amstel Gold Race is the first of three events in the Ardennes Classic, all held this week.  La Flèche Wallonne brings the pro cyclists back into Belgium and takes place on Wednesday, April 19.  Liège-Bastogne-Liège  will conclude the week on Sunday, April 23.

From Bahrain:  Formula One Racing:  The Bahrain Grand Prix is contested Sunday in Sakhir. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel duel in the desert after splitting the first two races of 2017. Both drivers have two wins on this 5.4 km circuit, but last year Vettel did not make the start while Hamilton took third.

In the United States & Canada: Stanley Cup playoffs continue in the National Hockey League.  The Minnesota Wild will visit  the St. Louis Blues in Game 3 of a Western Conference first-round series.  The Edmonton Oilers will visit the San Jose Sharks.  The Eastern Conference first round series will feature the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Columbus Blue Jackets.   

Normally, the two most storied and feted teams in Major League Baseball, the New York Yankees of the American League, and the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, would meet only in a World Series.  With inter league play this weekend, though, the team with far and away the most number of  World Series titles, the Yankees, host the second most decorated team, as far as series titles, that is, the Cardinals.  The Yankees are having a great season, so far, the Cardinals, not so good.  Sunday night baseball, though, should be a great event to cap off your Easter Sunday celebrations! 

A Happy Easter to all, a happy Spring to all! 

Paris - Nice

Peter Sagan

Scott Thwaites

Cycling season heated up this last weekend.  Peter Sagan dropped out of Italy's Strade Bianche, this year contested in Siena.  We hope he is feeling better soon.

Yesterday saw an exciting, but COLD first stage of the annual Paris-Nice event stage race, the Route to the Sun. The first stage was held at Bois d'Arcy, about 30 km west of Paris.  Action continues today and with more stages throughout the week.
 

Have fun watching!