Floyd's Fate - B Sample Analysis Confirms Original Results

The UCI released the following statement that Floyd's B sample confirmed the A results indicating an elevated T/E ratio.

The adverse analytical finding from Floyd Landis is confirmed
The UCI communicates that the analysis of the sample B of Floyd Landis’s urine has confirmed the result of an adverse analytical finding notified by the Anti-doping laboratory of Paris on 26th July, following the analysis of the sample A.

In accordance to the Anti-doping rules, the Anti-doping Commission of the UCI will request that the USA Cycling Federation open a disciplinary procedure against the rider.

Phonak also released a statement on the team website.

Phonak Cycling Team to clarify consequences
The Phonak Cycling Team has learned today from the International Cycling Union (UCI) that team captain Floyd Landis’s B sample has also resulted in a positive finding of doping. As a result, Landis will be dismissed without notice for violating the team’s internal Code of Ethics. Landis will continue to have legal options to contest the findings. However, this will be his personal affair and the Phonak team will no longer be involved in that. Team owner Andy Rihs deeply regrets this development. At present, he is clarifying with all parties involved what consequences this may have for his company ARcycling AG, the operator of the Phonak Cycling Team. Andy Rihs and Team Manager John Lelangue will make in-depth statements regarding this matter at a media conference to be held in the next couple of days.

In layman's terms, Floyd don't let the door hit you in the ass.

Floyd's Fate - B Sample Results Due at 5am EST

The UCI will be releasing the results of Floyd's B sample tests at 10:00am CET (5:00am EST) tomorrow (Aug 5). I'll post something as soon as they are available.

Cycling.tv Vuelta Coverage

Cycling.tv has just announced that they will be broadcasting full live (and archived) coverage of every stage of this years Vuelta. You can get this service for the low low price of 19.99 Euro (approx $28 USD).

Tour of Germany - Stage 3

A 19 year old rider from a non-ProTour Team shows them how its done. It was a stage for the sprinters with only 2 small catagory 3 climbs. Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval) launched a solo attack early in the stage and stayed away until 25km remaining in the stage. He ran the gap out to 6+ minutes but with his current standing in the GC (142nd 9'23") he was kept well in check by Gusev's Discovery boys.

In the final 20k several attempted attacks were squashed as the sprinters teams came to the front to control things. Lampre and Milram drove it for the most part. With 2k to go Lorenzo Bernucci (T-Mobile) took a flier but was reeled in before the 1k banner. Liquigas lauched their leadout with still 500m to go to the line. Zabel (Milram) was well positioned and opened his sprint inside of 200m. With 50m to go 19 year old Gerald Ciolek (Wiesenhof-Akud) timed it perfectly coming around the ride side to take stage 3 of the Tour of Germany.

Stage 3 Results:
1 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Wiesenhof Akud
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
3 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team
4 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team CSC
5 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole


GC after Stage 3
1 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 4.49.47
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
3 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.01
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.07
5 Inigo Cuesta Lopez De Castro (Spa) Team CSC 0.10
6 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.11
7 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team
8 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.13
9 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 0.14

Race Calendar - Aug 5-6

The PUR Tour Saturday, August 5th, 2006 Mason, OH
The course is a 1.56 mile non-technical loop circuit of excellent pavement closed to traffic during the race. There is one left hand turn and 1 short climb.

Zoar Road Race, Sunday, August 6 in Zoar, Ohio
The course is a scenic, well-paved 10-mile loop near Zoar, OH - a challenging circuit with two significant climbs (39x23 recommended) and a long, straight descent. There are two significant climbs - one gradual climb on Dover-Zoar, and a steeper climb on Middle Run. The finish line is located on Middle Run Rd., a few kilometers after the top of the climb.

Newport Celebration Sunday, August 6 in Newport, Kentucky
Totally flat and four-corner criterium course.

Tour of Utah and Other Upcoming NRC Races

Domestic US Pro cycling news. The Tour of Utah is scheduled to kick off on August 7th. It is an elite six day stage race featuring 16 of the top domestic pro teams. The following teams will be competing:

• Navigators Insurance


• Toyota United


• Health Net-Maxxis


• TIAA-CREF


• Kodakgallery.com-Sierra Nevada


• Symmetrics


• Priority Health


• Successful Living


• Einstein's


• Team End (Utah All Stars)


• Sienna Development-Goble Knee Clinic


• California Giant Strawberries


• Vitamin Cottage


• BMS Racing


• Broadmark


• KJZZ composite team

I will be posting race reports following each stage.

August 5th, the Bank of America Invitational Criterium "The World's Richest Crit" will be held in Charlotte NC. This event has a huge purse which draws pro riders from around the world.

August 12 & 13, Tour of Elk Grove will run near Chicago. They are advertising that Floyd Landis will be riding in it but with his current "status", it ain't going to happen.

Race 2 Replace - I'm going!

Damn straight, you read that right. I'm participating in the Discovery Channel Race 2 Replace Lance whats-his-name. I know, I know, I'm realistic about this whole deal. My odds of winning the powerball are better than taking this thing. My justification is that the money is going to a good cause and come on how many people get the chance to ride around Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

I'm not a cancer survivor but I'll be carrying the torch for my good buddy Jon. He is a pancreatic cancer survivor going on 4 years (I think). He is still kicking ass and taking names. Keep up the fight brother.

I have to thank Motorex Oil of Switzerland for their support. They are providing some local riders with kits and a canopy. And I must say after receiving my team kit, they are first rate. Assos, need I say more.

Floyd's Fate - B Testing is Underway

The testing of Floyd's B sample got underway on Thursday (Aug 3). According to cyclingnews.com, representatives of US Anti-Doping Agency and the UCI as well as Jose Maria Buxeda, Landis' Spanish attorney, were present.

Floyd should know the fate of his B sample on Saturday. I must say that with all of the information that has made its way out, I'm not too optimistic. Goodluck Floyd.

In Need of a Kick in the a$$

Of late I've been a bit weak, mentally. I've had trouble pushing through the pain. Today's ride was another such day. This afternoon I ran across a quote from Lance Armstrong that may give me a little motivation.

"Cycling is so hard, the suffering is so intense, that it’s absolutely cleansing. The pain is so deep and strong that a curtain descends over your brain... Once, someone asked me what pleasure I took in riding for so long. ’Pleasure?’ I said. ’I don’t understand the question.’ I didn’t do it for pleasure, I did it for pain."

I'll let you know how it works out.

PolishPostal Race Race Report - Morrow Ohio (CAT 5)

This is my 3rd race of the season and 4th overall. The CAT 5 race consisted of 5 laps of an 8.1 mile course.

The kids (girl 6 & boy 3 ½) have been wanting to go to one of my races. So we decided that this would be a good one. It was less than 3hrs away so it would be one of the closest in the Ohio Valley Racing Series. We headed out about 7:15am. The forecast was not good. High in the mid 70’s and rain with chance of thunderstorms. About 15 minutes after we left the house we could see lightning to the west (the direction that we were headed). About 30mintues later we hit the rain and some of it was quite hard.

It took just under 3hrs to get to the course. From the map that was on OVR’s website I drive the course prior to registering. I’m anal like that. I feel a need to not be surprised.

Upon arrival in Morrow it was still raining. I registered and asked about the location of the finish line on my map. The guy told me that the map I had wasn’t the right course, it was the ‘old’ course. That is nice. While suiting up I see the USCF official and ask him about the course. He tells me that I have the correct course and shows me on the map the approximate location of the finish. So I get suited up. It was about 58 deg and the rain was lightening up. With the rain I opted not to warm up on my rollers but decided to do my warm up on the road. I drove the family out to the course and parked them near the finish location that the official indicated. I then rode back to the registration area, it was about 1.5 miles. I did some additional warm up on the bike trail.

Ok… my rant for the week. I’m still a bit miffed why race organizers have to keep the course information top secret. I would have better luck getting the launch codes to some nuclear missles than the exact course description (with actual distance) including start and finish locations. So, since I didn’t get the correct info about the course the family didn’t see any of my race. I was pretty bummed about that. Ok… I’m done.

We had about a 2.5 mile neutral rollout from registration to the start location. The start was typical of a circuit race, staggered start beginning with 1/2, 3, 4, 5, women, juniors. So we finally roll off with a 3 minute gap to the 4’s ahead of us. The finish is about 100 yds from the location where we started. We had about 20 in our group. The pace of the first lap was pretty high, 23.6mph avg. It calmed down a bit after that. We were to do 5 laps. With that many laps it is sort of hard to recall what happened in each lap so my rundown is going to be more compact than the last.

During the first 4 laps there were 2 significant breaks that I didn’t want to let go and it didn’t appear that anyone was going to chase. In one, the guy who won last week at Reily rolled off the front (Jason from 7 Hills Racing). He got about 100 yds and I decided to bridge. I was afraid that he might stay away if let go. It was a pretty hard effort. Lowcel worked with me to close the gap. Once I reached him I thought that we might be able to work together but the field decided at this point that they wanted to come along for the ride also. The other break was a small group that I noticed getting a gap and I moved quickly to bridge to them.

Several times during the initial laps I decided to just hang at the back. With the small group I was able to monitor the action going on at the front. By riding at the back I was able to smooth out the normal speed up and slow down pace that occurs on short climbs and sharp corners.

There was a climb just before the finish line. The finish was about 200 yds from the top it. Each time up the climb a guy in a blue jersey would basically attach and get passed about ½ way up. I took note that I wouldn’t have to worry too much about him. I seemed to be holding my own pretty well on the climb and still not going all out.

So…. We finally get the bell for the last lap. I’m toward the front after coming up the climb. After about a mile I decide to drift to the back again. While I’m headed toward the back Lowcel and a buddy of his are allowed to roll off the front. They get about 100 yds with no reaction. I must have been day dreaming about his time because the next time I peak around to check their gap 2 other riders have bridged up to them. Still really no reaction from the pack. At this time a small group of P/1/2’s go by us. Soon after that the group decides that they better the four back. We pick up the pace. There are about 5 guys at the front that are rotating through. I’m willing to work but they don’t seem too interested in rotating the whole group. Fine by me. I’ll save every thing that I can.

We finally catch the break and Jason (winner from last week) attacks and Lowcel goes with him. I follow and am able to close the gap. Danny (a buddy of mine) is on my wheel. We hit the climb for the last time. Blue jersey boy attacks again and yes you guessed it he blows. Then Jason cranks it up. I get a little boxed in but get clear and chase. We top the climb with Jason leading, Danny in 2nd, Lowcel in 3rd and I’m 4th. I try to shift to my big ring but it hesitates (during the race I was having trouble going to the big ring and actually dropped the chain once. I was able to get it back on by shifting down. I then had to chase back onto the group.). Finally I have the big ring, Lowcel has a bit of a gap on me. I’m sprinting for the line using him at a lead out. I swing to the right and at the line thrust my bike forward (you know, just like you see the pro’s do it.). I’m not sure if it got me 3rd or not. They will have to determine that by checking the video.

I’m pretty pleased with my performance in this race (3rd or 4th). If I wouldn’t have let myself get boxed in on the climb and I could have had a clean shift to the big ring in the finishing sprint maybe the results would have changed and maybe they wouldn’t have. With the small group it was much easier to respond from back in the group.

So far it seems like small groups in CAT 5 that have a chance to get away just don’t work together very well. They need to do short pulls and rotate the paceline.

PolishPostal Race Race Report - Reily Ohio (CAT 5)

This is my 2nd race of the season and 3rd overall. The CAT 5 race consisted of 4 laps of an 8 mile course (+ 2.5 miles the distance form the start to where we would finish).

I was in Tampa FL on business all week and arrived into Dayton Airport at 11:30 pm Saturday night. I spent the night in Brookville, which is about an hour from the race. I rolled into Reily around 10am. I drove the course. It had good pavement with only 1 real “climb”. The only downsides to the course were 2 sets of pretty rough Rail Road track crossing and 2 90° turns.

After parking and registering I suited up. It was about 42° and overcast. I brought my rollers but decided to do my warm up on the road. I ended up doing about 4 miles for my warmup. I started out slow for about a mile then up'd it a bit taking my HR above LT. I have a good warm up routine that I got from the internet but for some reason I can’t bring myself to get on my rollers before the start and run through it.

This race was well run. The best of the 3 races that I have entered to date. The only snag was the start time, they were about 10 minutes late in starting everyone. The start was typical of a circuit race, staggered start beginning with 1/2, 3, 4, 5, women, and then juniors. So we finally roll off with a 3 minute gap to the 4’s ahead of us. The finish is about ¼ of a lap into the course (2.5 miles from the start). Our first lap was extremely slow. One rider was allowed to roll off the front. He got about a 200 ft gap and another rider bridged up to him with no reaction from the group. I was positioned poorly on the right side of the road about 5 rows back. The group ran 3 wide for the first couple laps which didn’t allow for any response to moves off the front except for those on the front.

Lap 2 was much of the same slow pace. The two that went off the front were now out of sight and it seemed like there was no interest in the group to chase. I worked on my positioningin the group, trying to get to the left side of the 3 wide peleton. I don’t know if we dropped anyone by this point or not.

Lap 3 still much of the same pace with no chasing in sight. About ½ way into this lap we get passed by a group of 4 1/2’s. Here is exactly what we need to liven our group up. A handful of 5’s decide to chase the 1/2’s. I move to the left and proceed to chase. I’m finally able to close the gap to the 5’s that escaped. I’m not sure if anyone else is behind me. We proceed in chase of the 1/2’s. Before the climb on this lap we for some reason decide to pass the 1/2’s. So on the climb I’m trying to stay to one side or the other because I know those guys are going to come flying back by us. Well, some of the other guys in our group must not have thought that or cared because they are taking up the whole road. Well here they come, I’m riding on the centerline. They go by me but are now blocked. One of them gets pissed, tells the the 5's that are blocking the road to get the ‘f’ out of the road and literally pushed a guy on his hip out of the way. And away they go. Some where in the area we catch and blow by the original 2 5’s that went off the front. So much for there breakaway. I bet that they were pretty bummed at that point.

Lap 4 (Bell Lap except they forget to ring the bell and actually they were still holding up the 2 laps to go sign). The lead group is still setting a pretty good pace. I’m not sure how many are in the lead group at this point. About ¼ of a lap into lap 4 I notice the 4’s just ahead. Oh great, we catch the 4’s and this is going to get really messy trying to keep track of who is with us. Well with about ½ lap to go we catch and pass the 4’s. This must have lit a fire under them because about 2 minutes later attacks left and right from the 4’s are coming flying by me.

Side note/Rant... I’m not sure if this is typical for amateur races but every race that I’ve done so far you get one number that you are to pin on your left side. Obviously this is done so they official can see it more easily at the finish. That is well and good but if your riding on the right side of the road and someone pass you on the left that whole number on the left idea seems pretty dumb because you can’t see crap. The CAT 5’s were 200 series numbers but with them being on the left side it made it tough to try to keep track of everyone. Ok… enough of my rant on that topic. But I think they should issue you 2 numbers one for the left and one for the right. Then I would be happy.

Back to the race…. This part starts getting a bit fuzzy to me because I got gapped here somewhere. I think it is while the 4’s were attaching I kind of froze waiting for an opening and by the time I found one my group was gone. I hung with the 4 for a bit. I believe that a few 5’s made it up to me. We came up on the climb for the last time. I set a pretty good pace and think that I dropped all the 5’s that were with me. I bridged up to a few more 4’s and figured that I better go now or there is no chance of catching the leaders. So I go around the 4’s and they did give me some encouraging shouts which was helpful. I put my head down because I could now see the lead group of 5’s. I caught and passed one more 5 but just ran out of time to have any chance of catching the lead group. I was only about a hundred yards behind them at the finish. Even if I would have been with them I don’t think I would have had enough to challenge the winner. He was pretty strong.

So according to the posted results I finished 8th. They said at the start that there were 35 or 37 in the CAT 5 field. So I think that I should be pleased with that. I learned a few things in this race to add to what I’ve learned in previous races. I need to work on my positioning to allow me to respond to any attacks, I need to be a little more aggressive and I need to work on the engine. My mileage has dropped off a bit in the past several weeks and I think that I could tell during this race.

Hopefully I’ll have better results to report after this Sunday’s race in Morrow OH. If anyone else was in the CAT 5 race please add to or correct any of my report. For some reason a lot of this race seems fuzzy to me.