Squier

When Contador attacks at 9km/h you know it's damn steep! The Vuelta is essentially over IMO. Purito is a machine. He's had an answer for every attack that Contador has thrown at him... and there has been a lot! 28 seconds isn't much, but I don't see Contador dropping him. His last and only chance is on Saturday. Purito is the deserved winner, no doubt, but Contador needs a medal or something for the way he spiced up the racing. He's clearly not as strong as he was in the "early days" but his tenacity and fighting spirit are second to none. This has probably been the best Grand Tour I have ever watched. I feel sorry for Froome though. He just never really stood a chance after all the work he did in the Tour. If he had fresh legs this Vuelta would've been freakin' amazing! He only has one option really, and that option doesn't involve Team Sky.

That's the thing. There are very few places in Gauteng where you'll be able to do that amount of climbing without having to repeat hills. That's the reason why we have to drive out to Breedts to get some climbing into our legs.

http://www.renosterveldmtb.co.za/DisplayLink.aspx?group=Race%20the%20Rhino&name=N/A

there is a race at vg on 22 sept. I enjoyed it. Flat out racing for 70 km. My mates started in a different batch so i was chasing and grabbing wheels the whole way to try and stay out of the wind. Good fun! With the course being so flat the race was super fast, which made it tough in its own right. The broken bridge was unfortunate and could've been handled better (diverted sooner) but other than that it was a great day out!

I saw that yesterday. Again, according to a "French newspaper". Not sure why a French newspaper would know the going ons of a US agency... This was it: @CyPlace: In french TV this afternoon:nothing really new about Armstrong. Armstrong made money gifts to UCI, search warrant cancelled at the last time, USADA will publish Armstrong datas in the middle of september. They talked about the Armstrong show few days ago in Montreal, Kristin Armstrong, Sheryl Crow, Landis, Hincapie, Vaughters, Leipheimer, Zabriskie, VdVelde have testimonied, Tygart have several Armstrong blood samples, which have been retested and shows ALL positive. Hamilton confirms his allegations in his book I always wondered what happened to Kit. I wonder if she was subpoenaed to testify in the Federal case. Don't really see her getting involved in the USADA investigation.

Eddy, regardless of the meds, the old ladies in the home gets to see some action, and that's what matters! Give your uncle some credit here, just pitching up with an erection will get the old gal smiling, but he still has to put some back into it to get her to scream his name!

I'm still a Lance fan. I don't care much for his personality, the way he treated others in the peleton, the way he has denied doping, etc. I'm a Lance fan because he was spectacular on the bike. That is the same reason why I am a Contador fan. On the bike, they are/were spectacular. No need to be overly self-righteous, if it makes for good TV, sign me up!

For some reason the mails get stuck in my gmail spam folder. If you don't get your mail, best have a look in your spam folder.

Power to weight ratio is the biggest contributing factor, but there are so many variables that come into play that it is actually impossible to say. All things being equal (which is impossible given fitness, natural ability, mental toughness, etc); if he is 10% lighter than you, you need to be able to exert 10% more power than he is to be able to keep up. So, theoretically, if he is riding on a flat road at 300w, you need to be riding at 330w. However, being able to sustain 30w more over an extended period of time means that you need to be fitter than he is or just significantly stronger so that the you can put out the additional power at the same exertion level of your competitor. Reading this again I should've just agreed with the people that told you to get on your bike and race...

I got it wrong. TT tomorrow, flat stage today.

Today is going to be an interesting one and will play a huge role in determining the racing for the last two weeks. I don't see Contador making any time on Froome today based on Froome's recent TT form, however, it should be neck and neck! Even though the TT will suit Rodriguez better than a flat course I still think Froome and Contador wil leapfrog him, with Froome taking red. Having Froome in red would mean that we'll be seeing an extra aggresive Contador in the high mountains! Pure viewing pleasure!

I don't think that Armstrong has lost much really. The haters are still hating and the fans believe that he gave it all up to focus on Livestrong and his family. He's probably going to have to pay back the $7.5 mil bonus that he contested in court and his prize money. For someone worth $150 mill, that won't break the bank. So, at the moment, for most, he's just a guy who got tired of the witch hunt. He's still one of the most succesful and wealthy athletes ever and most of his sponsors are sticking with him. (Haven't heard anything from Oakley though) So, he's actually still in the same boat, just with a different wikipedia page. It has been said though that US Postal is investigating the situation and he could have to pay back significant sponsorship amounts. I doubt that will materialise though, as the sponsors already got their exposure that they paid for. The fact that he was stripped of his titles a decade later doesn't give you any less exposure. Lastly, the thing that gets me is the statute of limitations issue...

This may not be 100% accurate anymore, but still a great tribute:

I ride an XT setup with SLX shifters. My shifting is perfect. I bought the bike with this setup and have never even considered upgrading the shifters as I haven't ever had any issues whatsoever. So, this is actually a very good question. How big an impact does your shifters really have, technically? Isn't your rear derailleur the most important aspect?

Definitely! For me, he made "The Road Uphill". "You go old man!"

Great news! The guy is unstoppable! Digging 'Dale's signature: ""Sufferfest" was a term coined to describe a Jens Voight rest day"

Everyone thought Sky (and Wiggins) were such heroes when they waited for Cadel in the Tour, but Cadel was no longer a threat at that stage so it wasn't a tough decision really. I wondered whether they would've waited for him had he still been in the running at that stage. I guess now we know...

Man! Now that is what I call bike racing! What a breath of fresh air after the tedium we witnessed in July. It's clear that Contador is bringing it. I would have thought that he would've been more subdued in his approach of the final climb, as it is only stage 3, but he went out firing! Granted, it was a cat 1 that was only about 5 km long, so not really the type of terrain where you would expect to see him head and shoulders above the rest, but that didn't stop him from racing and attacking like a mad man! All of this despite the 2 km downhill run in to the finish where he was always going to struggle if it came down to a sprint. It didn't come off for him, unfortunately, but I'm sure he'll be cofident that he'll have some legs when they hit the high mountains. Froome is looking good. I liked Keenan's analogy: "The diesel engine of Froome vs the turbo of Contador". He just brought himself back steadily every time Contador went on the attack. He did really well, but it's a risky game to play against Contador and I have a feeling it's going to bite him in the high mountains where staying on Contador's wheel is paramount. Things will get interesting when we get to the real steep stuff. I also think Froome will be in trouble in the latter part of the race given that he'll still have the Tour in his legs where he did a lot of work. Especially at this pace. They never had to chase down anything like this in the Tour. Valverde had a great day and it all worked out perfectly for him. He had to do a lot of work though to make it happen. However, I don't see him contend when we reach the high mountains. Rodriguez is looking good again, and he could potentially be the closest to Contador on the big climbs, but he'll probably fall out of the bus again in the TT (even though it's not a very long one). I'm just glad to see some real fireworks again on the climbs. This is shaping up to be an exciting three weeks!

Found this quite funny. I think the queen might think twice...

I've been there once... probably about 3 months ago. When we started off I was really impressed. They've cut some really cool singletrack running up and down the ridge. Nothing hectic but some nice short, steep and relatively technical climbs. Started off thinking that we would go there more often as 10 km there would probably be equal to 30 km out on the railway road so adding it to a long ride would add quite a bit of intensity to it. However, as we rode on things started to go downhill (pun intended). There are some sections that were just not rideable (IMO) where we pushed our bikes through rock gardens for extended periods of time. Look, I'm no Burry Stander but would think of myself as having decent technical skills and those sections were just not rideable. The other thing that was scary as hell was all the snakes. In the few kms that we rode there we saw 4 snakes. Not sure what kind (I'm not a fan) but they were big. I know I'm sounding like a little girl, but if you go there, just be aware... The last straw was that halfway through the trail just disappeared and we got completely lost carrying our bikes through the rocky terrain until we found a trail again. We haven't gone back since and I'm not planning to go any time soon. It's an awesome piece of land and based on some of the trails that are there it has massive potential, but getting lost and struggling to get back to the start just broke the camel's back.

She should be banned for an additional 2 years just for not being able to think of a better excuse!

He's a legend! Cycling will mis him! I would've stayed another season just to rock the pimped kit and gold bike! Looks awesome!

Entries opened to riders on the waiting list yesterday. Not sure who exactly that is though... General public is on the 15th. I have some mates hoping for spot.

15 August We're in for the Trail again!

The longer the better. Just advertise it as the actual distance so riders know what they are in for.