Tour of California: Stage 2? Squaw Valley - Sacremento, 214 km

[woodie]

Put that old canard away - go look at last years tour, or before he was a superstar, but still winning a shed load in his first year with T-mobile.

Cav gets a train because he's the best - he is not the best because he gets a train.

+1 Cav knows his way around a bunch kick

 

[BeachBum]

They're tacking some extra circuits onto the finish to make up for the lost distance. Even more of a parade now. I'm rooting for Freire, but I think the finish isn't selective enough.

 

[killswitch]

There will be a lot of crashes with that criterium-like finish.

 

[The Hitch]

Oh wait. THis is the race where the One Jose usually performs. And he is a darn good sprinter.

 

[just some guy]

There will be a lot of crashes with that criterium-like finish.

Hope BMC put the training wheels on for Phinney then.

 

[flicker]

According to Boom:



"Monday, we'll be arriving in Sacramento, which I have been told, is an important city for Rabobank. We'll have to try and launch Freire or Matthews."

Rabobank's participation in ToC is mainly a public relations affair, both in and outside the race.

Rabobank has been pushing hard in their banking business here in California.
It is good to see their sponsorship in cycling here.

 

[offbyone]

I know we were already asking too much for them to ride downhill all day long, how could we ever expect them to ride in the cold? They might be uncomfortable, they might even suffer a little.

I hear next year, the organizers are designing a giant moving plexi-glass bubble that the riders will race in. It insures a perfect road surface, it is temperature controlled to a perfect 65 degrees but at the same time it still looks like the riders are racing on tough roads and in imperfect weather. The fans unfortunately still have to stand outside, but at least the race will always go on.

 

[benpounder]

lol, this tour of california is just one big epic failure. they whine about leaving february because of the weather and then this

Comments like this display far more of your own peevishness than any valid reflection upon the actual race.

 

[flicker]

I think LeMond has won it most often.
August 11 is "Greg LeMond Day" in Nevada City fyi.

It would be super for Greg to fly out and fire the starting pistol in Nevada City today. Nor-Cal has done so much for LeMond, high quality competition with our national champions when Greg raced junior, various coaches and mentors here, frame builders, Dellla Santa, Calfee, big bike shops, Velo-Sport Berkeley, etc.
Perhaps Lance has offered his private jet to Greg, for today.

 

[jobiwan]

Stage starting now.
122 Km
Nevada City - Sacramento
Three 3.2 km circuits in Sacramento.

 

[offbyone]

Just reported:

Apparently there was another round of discussion which slightly delayed the start. While the domestic riders were ready to ride, the pro tour teams were concerned about two factors: 1)possible light rain and 2)clouds. After much discussion, it was agreed that Mr. Vaughters suggested the best solutions to these problems. To deal with the possible chance of light showers, organizers are recruiting local high school track teams to run next to the riders with umbrellas while they ride. It will essentially function as a giant relay race where one track team hands off the Amgen approved umbrellas to the next. To deal with the absurdity of racing in cloudy weather, Amgen will be taping pictures of the sun onto these runners so the riders can feel as comfortable as possible. Finally, racing commences.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Half a stage is better than none.

 

[Andy99]

Itv4HD and itv4 at 9.30pm
Eurosport at 10pm
EurosportHD at 10.30pm....

Beats watching the usual ****e of an evening

 

[mastersracer]

Just reported:

who peed in your coffee this morning? Do you live in CA? Even in snow country here a light snow causes havoc. The decision not to race yesterday was as much due to the issue of race vehicles as it was cyclist safety (as witnessed by the 6 motorcycles wiping out yesterday). Time to move on...

 

[Andy99]

Itv4HD and itv4 at 9.30pm
Eurosport at 10pm
EurosportHD at 10.30pm....

Beats watching the usual ****e of an evening

for the few people in the uk with no ITV 4... it appears as though the race is not available on the ITV website for some reason....an alternative is to use http://www.tvcatchup.com

 

[killswitch]

On http://tracker.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ it's live now.

 

[jobiwan]

Multiple feeds available at 23:00 CET.

http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/2002

 

[Anonymous]

Weve got a eurosport feed up as well. But to be honest, the actual amgen tracker removes the need for dodgy feeds. Best bit about the ToC

 

[offbyone]

who peed in your coffee this morning? Do you live in CA? Even in snow country here a light snow causes havoc. The decision not to race yesterday was as much due to the issue of race vehicles as it was cyclist safety (as witnessed by the 6 motorcycles wiping out yesterday). Time to move on...

Actually, I was just as distressed as the racers yesterday. A couple snow flakes landed in my coffee and later on while brockway summit was dry, there was no heated seating area for the fans and we were forced to sit on the edge of the dry roads close to the wettish shoulders. This would never happen in europe. Could you imagine? The riders getting wet and cold and maybe even a little dirty in a race. Imagine what the giro organizer would think of such absurdity. And no doubt moving the race this morning was a good decision, the fact that riders could see snow in the distance on the mountain tops just creates an untenable safety issue.

 

[Jamsque]

They are racing on a pretty exposed road, I think echelons might form if the pace picks up.

 

[Wergeland]

This is great! Enjoying a Gonzo Imperial Porter and watching The Tour of California. ToC live on Norwegian tv for the first time. First time I'm seeing ToC.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Great. I assume the feeds are as dead as ITV 4's 3 minutes of live coverage.

Oops, I speak to soon, patched up and back on.

 

[jobiwan]

Forget feeds, it's on TV now!!

 

[Andy99]

Thunderstorms in washington...apparently why we have no picture in the uk

Ok, its working. For now.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Forget feeds, it's on TV now!!

Thunderstorms in Wash State causing the tv pics to breakdown.
That's like saying A storm in Belgium is taking out the Giro pictures!