team transfers

these are a few quick reactions to some recent transfers. Geox-I hope they fix that kit so Menchov and Sastre can look good. Despite constantly being tagged as an underachiever, I love Sastre and Menchov has always been ready to strike. Would much rather see a team build like this, than say sign Riccardo fucking Ricco. It is probably not easy to be the biggest dick in Italian cycling, but the Cobra has done it.
Vaconsoleil was a team I was really stoked on this year. They mixed it up in bigger races and their getting dissed by all three grand tours made them an easy underdog to pull for, but Ricco? That sucks.
Quickstep seem to be scooping up 2nd tier sprinters. Resigning Chavanel was a good move.
Saxobank's radical spanish reorientation is breaking my heart. No Jens? No O'Grady, No Breschel? No thanks. But where is this Luxo super team? Get it done already. How fast does Cancellara jump ship in 2011?
These are just some gut feelings, I haven't spent too much time dwelling on this fantasy league style......yet.

This video has nothing to do with this years team transfers, but it should get you stoked.

good interview

"And this leaves me, anyway, with the thought, or hypothesis, that performance in the 2009 and 2010 Tours have been curtailed. The 6.3W/kg finishing climbs of the 90’s and 2000’s would have seen Contador and Schleck finishing minutes down on a climb like the Tourmalet. In other words, those EPO/blood doping era riders would be to Contador what Contador currently is to Gesink, Menchov, Sanchez. Is the standard of cycling that much lower? I don't think so, and my thought is that so far, we're seeing an overall suppression of doping in the Tour."

Full interview here. Interesting idea about sealed SRMs to track riders power. Also the Anker Sorenson observation. Maybe the domestiques are battling harder than the team leaders? NYVelocity has been pretty relentless lately on the anti-doping front. Follow them on twitter for all the latest news.

countdown in its final week

First cross race in 7 days!
D2R2 in 6 days!
The part of the year, I have been waiting for is finally upon us!