Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring and More

2009 Tour of California stages and cities announced

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:55:00 -0700

The Tour of California is getting longer, as organizers announced Wednesday that they've tacked on another stage to make it 9 days of cycling from Feb. 14 to Feb. 22 in 2009.

The 2009 race, one of the first on the pro calendar, will visit 16 cities as it wends its way along 800 miles of California roadway. Eight of those host cities will be new to the race.

There's no prologue this year, as the cyclists start on Saturday, Feb. 14, with a road race that begins and ends in Sacramento. It ends in Escondido on Sunday, Feb. 22 ...

5 reasons why this was a great Amgen Tour of California

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:30:00 -0800

Out on my bike today I was thinking about the Amgen Tour of California that just wrapped up Sunday with George Hincapie winning the final stage and Levi Leipheimer winning the title.

I enjoyed this third Tour more than the previous ones. Here are five reasons why I think this was the best one yet. In no particular order:

1. The caliber of the competition. The participation of cyclists who have made their reputation in Europe was exciting. Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, David Millar all played a role in this year's Tour. But the highlight was definitely Mario Cipollini, left, who came out of retirement at 40 to join the Rock Racing team.

I expected he'd be just so much window dressing, but the guy came to race....

Hincapie wins Stage 7; Leipheimer repeats Tour of California championship

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:58:00 -0800

Two former US teammates capped off the third Amgen Tour of California with a thrilling one-two punch on Sunday.

George Hincapie took the Stage 7 win, vindicating his High Road team that had been ruled out of a stage victory the previous day. And Levi Leipheimer won his second straight Tour championship, his first as leader of the Astana team.

Joining Leipheimer on the podium were Slipstream cyclists David Millar of the UK and Christian Vande Velde of the US, who finished 2nd and 3rd behind Leipheimer ...

Cavendish wins sprint, but stage goes to Pagliarini; Leipheimer still leads

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:56:00 -0800

Race judges awarded Stage 6 to Brazil's Luciano Pagliarini because the first man across the finish line, Mark Cavendish used a team car to regain the peloton after a crash by other riders at the Amgen Tour of California.

The 20-second penalty must be a huge disappointment for Cavendish's High Road Team, which has yet to win a stage or make a threat in the overall leader's race.

American Levi Leipheimer finished safely in the peloton and retained his lead in the Tour. He only has to hold it for one more day to win the event in the final stage to Pasadena on Sunday ...

Levi Leipheimer wins Stage 5 time trial, solidifies overall lead

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:35:00 -0800

American Levi Leipheimer blistered the 15-mile individual time trial at the Amgen Tour of California on Friday, beating his closest challenger by a full minute.

Two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, whose hopes for a golden jersey rested on this course around Solvang, had a disappointing day. Instead of climbing back into the lead that he held after the prologue, the Team CSC rider fell out of 2nd place .

The stage win by Leipheimer puts him closer to an overall victory for Tour of California for the second straight year. He'll be able to rely on his strong Astana team on the 105-mile stage from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita on Saturday, and the concluding 93-mile bike race into Pasadena on Sunday ...

Rollin wins Stage 4; Leipheimer still leads Tour of California

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:37:00 -0800

Staying with the breaks for 125 miles into a spitting rain paid off for Dominique Rollin on Thursday when he launched a solo break near the finish and won Stage 4 of the Amgen Tour of California.

Levi Leipheimer retained the leader's golden jersey, due to the efforts of his Astana team riding at the head of peloton and controlling the race.

If there is glamour in the sport of cycling, it wasn't in evidence in Thursday's stage. In addition to many cyclists being ravaged by stomach flu, the rest of the peloton spent the day pedaling down Pacific Coast Highway into rain and head- and side-winds for 135 miles between Seaside and San Luis Obispo.

How bad was it? The final results show that 15 riders dropped out during the stage, in addition to 3 who couldn't start in the morning. Among the drop-outs, Tom Danielson from Slipstream and Jackson Stewart (BMC Racing), who had just reclaimed the King of the Mountains jersey before climbing into an ambulance to be treated for hypothermia. ...

Leipheimer back in the golden jersey; Gesink wins Stage 3

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:02:00 -0800

American Levi Leipheimer won back the Amgen Tour of California's golden leader's jersey on Wednesday in his battle to defend his title from 2007.

At the finish line in San Jose, Leipheimer thanked stage winner Robert Gesink for his success, as the Rabobank cyclist helped Astana's Leipheimer hold off the peloton in the final miles after the grueling summit of Sierra Road.

Their cooperation ensured that Team CSC's Fabian Cancellara did not take back the leader's jersey on a day the peloton struggled up the beyond-category climb of Mount Hamilton, followed by the 1st-category Sierra Road...

Water Wealth Contentment Health (and for one morning) Cycling

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Without a doubt, Modesto has never hosted so many elite pro cyclists as are showing up to roll out Wednesday morning for Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California.

The Central Valley town used to be my home for about 10 years beginning in the mid-1980s. During that time Nelson Vails was the only prominent cyclist to ride within sight of the arch emblazoned with the slogan "Water Wealth Contentment Health."

Vails wasn't, or isn't, a household name for many. I had seen Vails win a silver medal in the individual sprint at the velodrome at the '84 Summer Games in Los Angeles. He also had small role in that atrocity, Quicksilver ...

Tom Boonen wins Stage 2 in Sacramento; Seattle's Farrar in yellow

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:37:00 -0800

Belgium's one-day race specialist Tom Boonen (left) took the final sprint in Sacramento on Tuesday, as Slipstream's Tyler Farrar (right) of Seattle stepped into the overall lead of the Amgen Tour of California.

The Stage 2 win marked the first in the US for Boonen, the leader of the QuickStep team. The 27-year-old is among the winningest riders in the peloton, with stage wins at the Tour de France and many of the spring classics trophies on his mantel.

The third cyclist across the line was a blast from the past, Mario Cipollini, who returned to pro cycling after two years of retirement. You gotta tip your helmet to the 40-year-old Rock Racing sprinter, who obviously did more than sit around cafes drinking wine the past two years.

Farrar's climb into the overall lead is a real bonus for the 23-year-old Wenatchee native and a credit to the Slipstream team...

J. J. Haedo back to his winning ways for Stage 1; Cancellara holds lead

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:50:00 -0800

Team CSC's Juan Jose Haedo won the sprint finish in Santa Rosa on Monday, marking the third year that the Argentine speedster has won a stage of the Amgen Tour of California.

Teammate Fabian Cancellara, who held on to the overall leader's yellow jersey, was seen cheering back in the bunch as Haedo won by about two bike lengths.

A bunch of 70-some cyclists made it into Santa Rosa in time to race in the three 3.1-mile circuits around town. It looked like QuickStep was leading out Tom Boonen, but CSC Bobby Julich took over and helped power Haedo toward the finish. BMC's Alexander Moos also attacked on the final circuit...