On the Specialized Twitter account @Iamspecialized was tweeted a Vine video of their CEO Mike Sinyard saying, “It’s going to be be incredible. This is going to be more powerful than a tailwind. End of story!” with the hashtag #AEROISEVERYTHING. What the hell was he talking about?

On the head of Mark Cavendish and other Specialized sponsored riders we’ve seen a black oblong shaped helmet, reminiscent of the Alien. This is Big S’ foray into aerodynamic road helmets. Could Mr. Sinyard be discussing their yet unreleased to the public aero-helmet?

I can’t imagine that just the aero-helmet could give that type of an advantage, so it can’t be that.

Perhaps clothing? They’ve redone their line of clothing and maybe they’ve got a skinsuit in the works that’s super slick. But again – more powerful than a tailwind?

I’m leaning toward a 2.0 version of the Venge. I wrote a post back in January of 2012 about Specialized’s creative director Robert Egger taking a Transition time trial bike and converting it to a road bike. I interviewed Robert and he swore that it handled fine as a road bike. Could Specialized have tweaked the frame geometry of the Transition, a time trial/triathlon frame, to match a road bike?

At the time I captioned the photo for the article, “Shiv road bike for 2014”. Maybe I was a year too late.
Or hell, maybe Mike was still high off of endorphins from the world famous Specialized lunch ride and he was talking smack. Whatever the case may be, I suspect at the Tour de France this new powerful aero something or other will make an appearance.

Shiv road bike for 2014?

Cav’s email inspires his team PHOTO: Tim De Waele

It’s been no secret that Mark Cavendish hasn’t been happy with the level of support he’s received from his Omega Pharma-QuickStep teammates. The Belgian squad’s spring classic season was a disappointment in comparison to the days when Tom Boonen was winning Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders.

Team manager Patrick Lefevre has told the press that he is already on the hunt for riders that can support Cavendish in the sprint and is going to bench those who can’t. In a last ditch effort to shore up support for the Manx Missile in the Giro d’Italia, suddenly retired Alessandro Petacchi was attempting to transfer to Omega Pharma-QuickStep. However, the UCI blocked that possibility leaving the Italian sprinter out of his nation’s grand tour and Cav without an experienced leadout rider.

Perhaps it was out of this frustration that Mark Cavendish sent his teammates this scathing email, leaked to Browne Eye Media, the night prior to the start of the Giro.

If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you’re sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough fucking ride.

 

For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this team, we have been FUCKING UP in terms of sprint lead outs and the spring classics. I’ve been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so fucking AWKWARD and so fucking BORING. If you’re reading this right now and saying to yourself “But oh em gee Mark, I’ve been having so much fun with my teammates this week!”, then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don’t have to fucking find you in the team hotel to do it myself.

 

I do not give a flying fuck, and Omega Pharma-QuickStep does not give a flying fuck about how much you fucking love to talk to your teammates. You have 361 days out of the fucking year to talk to teammates, and these three weeks is NOT, I fucking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. These three weeks is about winning stages in the Giro, and that’s not fucking possible if you’re going to ride around and talk to each other and not coordinate a leadout train. Newsflash you stupid cocks: THE GIRO DON’T LIKE BORING TEAMS. Oh wait, DOUBLE FUCKING NEWSFLASH: THE GIRO IS NOT GOING TO INVITE US TO HANG OUT IF WE FUCKING SUCK, which by the way in case you’re an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE FUCKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about transferring to a different team IN FRONT OF THE UCI. Are you people fucking retarded? That’s not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you’re mentally slow so I can make sure you don’t go to anymore stage races. If the RCS openly said “Yeah we’re gonna invite Lampre-Merida over”, would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn’t, so WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN’T be leading out with 20 kilometers to go. YOU DON’T GO. YOU. DON’T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do fucking NOT convince other teammates to lead out so early.

 

“But Mark!”, you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, “I’ve been cheering on our team at all the spring classics, doesn’t that count for something?” NO YOU STUPID FUCKING ASS HATS, IT FUCKING DOESN’T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW FUCKING WHY?!! IT DOESN’T COUNT BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN FUCKING UP AT 2.1 UCI EVENTS TOO. I’ve not only gotten texts about people being fucking WEIRD in the peloton (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like “durr what’s a leadout?” is not fucking funny), but I’ve gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. Fucking. Team. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!! I don’t give a SHIT about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A CLASSIC? ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND? Or are you just so fucking dense about what it means to make people like, you think being a good little supporter of the team is going to make our management happy? Well it’s time someone told you, NO ONE FUCKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR FUCKING MANAGEMENT. I will fucking dick punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don’t give a fuck if you tell the UCI, I WILL FUCKING ASSAULT YOU.

 

“Ohhh Mark, I’m now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad”. Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that rides in the back of the peloton or if you’re a weird shit that always has mechanicals, this following message is for you:

 

DO NOT GO TO THE GIRO.

 

I’m not fucking kidding. Don’t go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I’ve mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you’re unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS TEAM. I would rather have 3 guys that can lead me out, talk to podium girls, and not fucking awkward than 25 that are fucking idiots. If you are one of the people that have told me, “Oh nooo boo hoo I can’t leadout the team”, then I pity you because I don’t know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don’t fucking show up unless you’re going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our team. Seriously. I swear to fucking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at the Giro, I will tell you to leave even if you’re pulling 1500 watts in the sprint. I’m not even kidding. Try me.

 

And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don’t give a fuck. Go fuck yourself.

Apparently this rather harsh email to his teammates motivated the squad. While Omega Pharma-QuickStep did start the leadout far too soon, Cavendish was still able to take the stage  win.

In case anyone thinks this is a real email from Cavendish, it’s a real email from a sorority sister with some changes to the text. Here’s also a dramatic reading to give you the full flavor.

A replacement for the Armstrong poster

It’s been hanging on my wall for a couple of years, the Nike “What am I on…” Lance Armstrong poster. Today I took it down.

Originally I hung it on my office wall because I liked the message of training to improve yourself. I also slipped keepsakes from races: route maps, rider’s numbers, my Cross Vegas number, a certificate from the 2008 L’Etape I’d done in France, and various media stickers from races underneath the clear plastic cover.

However, peeking out from behind these pleasant bike related memories was Armstrong. Even though his helmeted head was still nothing more to me than a pin-prick of color like one from Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte“ – just one hue in a sea of many – it was starting to bug the shit out of me.

I’d written in a post almost two years ago that I was leaving the poster hanging on my office wall regardless of Armstrong’s doping as the message meant more to me than the man. Before I published my post I emailed Biola Assistant University professor of biblical and theological studies Jeff Volkmer about the poster as someone who I could bounce a philosophical idea off of. His reply which I included in that post was:

 

“Have you heard of ‘The Treachery of Images and the painting, This is not a pipe?’ .” Admittedly I wasn’t probably 100% awake during all my philosophy classes but it did ring a bell.

Basically the painting is of a pipe, but the point of the message beneath the pipe is that it is an image of a pipe, not an actual pipe. And that’s what the Armstrong poster is to me – “This is not an Armstrong.”

Maybe it has been the accumulation of my distain of Armstrong. Or maybe watching “The Real Price of Winning at All Costs” discussion was the final tipping point. Whatever the case may be Armstrong, in my eyes, had become Armstrong. He was no longer the image (The Pipe) of what training could be, instead he was the antithesis of a true athlete.

So today I took down the Armstrong framed poster and in its place hung a banner from the U.S. Pro Championships. I have a lot of good memories from that race so it feels right to have it in my office.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my keepsakes. Maybe I’ll get a photo album and arrange them in there. Maybe I’ll just file them away. Who knows…

Terrible weather conditions caused a restart of Milan-SanRemo. The riders were loaded back into their team busses and shuttled to the new start in Arenzano, The result was a reduction of 47 kilometers and the elimination of the Turchino climb.

Some riders took this opportunity to fire up their Twitter and Instagram accounts to post some photos.

Sagan is 5 Star favorite for SanRemo

Wonder what speeds the pros clock on some of the monuments in cycling? Thanks to Strava you don’t need to. Not only has your favorite route probably been Strava tagged with blue KOM sections like a Jackson Pollack painting, many races have key sections “KOMed” (I’m making this a thing – #1. The act of turning a section of road into a King of the Mountain section on Strava. Example, “I KOMed my driveway and no one is taking that from me” or #2. Past tense of setting a KOM segment record. Example, “Busted out my Wednesday lunch ride and I KOMed Paris Mountain.).

My buddy, recovering journalist, and now PR guy John Bradley took the biggest European races, like the upcoming Milan-San Remo, and put the Strava KOM segments of that race, along with the rider who owns that record, in a spreadsheet. You’ll notice a few familiar names like Ted King, Taylor Phinney, and photographer Jared Gruber as KOM crown champions.

John said he’s going to try and keep the list updated with new KOM owners. I suspect the Poggio and the Cipressa KOMs are going to fall this Sunday – sorry Louis Veraeke and Pivens.

I thought it was interesting to see the times on these classic road race sections – not that I needed any empirical evidence to know that they were fast.

Click on the chart to super-size it.

Don’t get me wrong I love the Classics. My first gig in cycling journalism was Paris-Roubaix. The Giro d’Italia is also a major highlight with its beauty and, well, it being Italian. However, right or wrong, the Tour de France is my favorite.

That said, last year was a bust for me as it was a boring overall race with muted attacks with a winner that was a step above the competition. Regardless, I’m counting down the days until June 29th and the peloton rolls out of Corsica for its 100th anniversary.

To commemorate the event the ASO produced a slick video to get everyone’s pulse pounding. I’m hoping they follow up on other social media platforms like Twitter.

Anyways – enjoy the video and let the countdown begin!

Tonight we are going to watch the very public collapse of someone many called a hero. This person will go on a talk show and confess to cheating. How much of a confession at this point we can only speculate.

The media, this ex-hero’s handlers, and sponsors helped to build the image to a mythic status. As a few people suspected he was nothing but a false idol all along.

Last night I saw the video of two brothers, Conner and Cayden Long. Conner is 9 years old and races triathlons with his younger brother Cayden who has cerebral palsy. Watch the video and perhaps it will reshape your definition of what a hero should be.

I knew I’d be asked to comment on the Oprah/Lance Armstrong interview. When the producer of a radio program calls me they ask to hear about the infamous tweet Armstrong sent that ultimately got me fired from Versus.

As you can see it’s a pretty innocuous tweet. I’m guessing I sent it out just as Armstrong was looking at Twitter while fired up on a mix of Michelob Ultra combined with FRS.

Stephanie of Podium Insight chronicled my exchange with Armstrong in a article she wrote about social media.

I’d been writing stuff that pushed the boundaries and didn’t hide the fact that I thought Armstrong was as dirty as a two-dollar whore. Versus was scared of losing access to Armstrong who was their Golden Calf. No Armstrong meant no ratings or interest from viewers, or more importantly, advertisers. I was told later that someone in the Armstrong camp had contacted Versus about my poor attitude toward their star. And that was that.

These interviews have stirred up some resentment toward cycling which will pass. But not for one moment do I wish I’d kept my thoughts to myself and not said what I had wanted regarding Armstrong. Like I wrote in my post on RoadCycling.com at least I have something Armstrong will never have – dignity.

Speaking of a lack of dignity – Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll are returning as the cycling commentary team at NBC/Universal Sports. Those three pushed the false narrative no matter what truths were placed in front of them. As the website Cyclismas illustrated in an amazingly detailed graph, those three all have a monitory relationship with Armstrong so there was no reason for them to stop the lie.

However, it was just pointed out to me by twitter follower @BadBrainsAJ that Phil and Paul are speaking at the South Australian Press Club. The flier for the event promises for $88 ($77 for working press) a two-course lunch and complimentary beverage of your choice! But it looks like Phil and Paul will be eating crow. Smack in the middle of the flier is the quote, “Phil staunchly defended Lance Armstrong for years. Now he feels like a fool. Deceived by what he calls ‘the most incredulous doping scandal to hit any sport’.”

Looks like P&P are going to have to face up to the fact that they were “fools.” Liggett was quoted as saying he believed Lance was clean because, “Lance told him so.” WHAT?!?! When I read that I took my eyeballs out and washed them with Windex because I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

I’m hoping those two stand up and state how they were biased in their reporting. If not their cycling broadcast will remain unwatchable for those who have more than a passing summer fling with cycling.

Credits roll: “Oprah’s Next Chapter”

Video montage of Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France.

Speaking over the video Winfrey describes Armstrong’s accomplishments in a serious tone: world champion, fighting cancer, returns from near death to professional cycling and winning seven straight Tours. Reminds the audience the hardships he endured coming from a single parent home.

Scene opens to Armstrong seated on a sofa inside his Austin, Texas home with Winfrey positioned in front of him.

Let the redemption begin…

As we’re all aware Lance Armstrong is going to sit down with Oprah Winfrey for a 90 minute interview. It will be conducted in Armstrong’s home in Austin, Texas, broadcast on OWN and streamed on her website Oprah.com. However, the interview will not be live but pre-recorded before the 17th.

Questions were immediately raised – will Oprah ask the tough questions that need asking? Remember, the talk show host is not cut from the same cloth as a David Walsh. She isn’t on par with any reporter from a real news program. Her former show “Oprah” was early afternoon light television fodder. While no longer on the air “Oprah” is still widely known (or perhaps infamously known) to the general public as where Tom Cruise lost his shit and bounced up and down on the sofa proclaiming his love for Katie Holmes. “Meet the Press” this show is not.

As someone on Twitter said, you go on Oprah to get redemption, not apologize. The truth isn’t too far from that. Armstrong will use Oprah’s show as his venue to admit to doping. There’s too much evidence for him not too. The head of United States Anti Doping Agency Travis Tygart said representatives of Armstrong approached him to discuss some kind of agreement of admission. In return USADA would allow the disgraced rider to return to real competition, something he has been banned from for life.

With the interview taking place in the comfortable setting of his home he’ll admit to doping, but lay the blame on everyone but himself. The excuses will be, “everyone was doing it,” “UCI was complicit,” “how did you expect us to race like that?”, etc, etc, etc…

At no time will Armstrong state that it was his fault. He’s just not programed that way. There will be no apologies to anyone he’s tried to ruin or has ruined. For many people that will leave a bitter taste in their mouth because once the interview is over the public will collectively shrug their shoulders and think, “Yeah everyone was doping so what’s the big deal.” And move on. Time will pass and Armstrong will continue to bleed millions of dollars ranging from lawyers fees to the loss of endorsement deals. But that’s the short term. At this point in the game Armstrong and his advisors are looking long term.

Long term the Oprah interview will be his path back to a “normal life.” He’ll have a book written about his experiences and soon he’ll sit down with Matt Lauer of the Today Show. There will be speaking engagements and if he gets his lifetime ban reduced to just years, you’ll see him in a Speedo at the Ironman. Sponsors will clamor to have him use their equipment or have a logo plastered onto a jersey. That’s just the way business works. Bottom line is if that person can push their product they’ll sponsor them. The sporting world is filled with examples – one of the more egregious being Michael Vick. Upon his return to professional football Vicks was again part of the Nike family.

I say to those who are expecting that cathartic moment when Armstrong admits to doping and starts to tear-up about the people he’s wronged – it’s not going to happen. This is all a well calculated kabuki with the end game being a return to eventual normalcy.

Some people will continue to push and examine Armstrong, but the takeaway from all of this is to not expect much from the Oprah interview. Realize that the 90 minutes of sofa time with Oprah will be a disappointment for some.

But let’s not focus on the disappointment that will be the interview. Let’s not focus on the pound of flesh we think we’re deserved. Let’s focus on the fact that cycling is at a turning point where institutionalized team doping is no longer the norm. I’m not going to say there’s not going to be another doping case, because that’s simply not true. However, here’s a new generation of riders who won’t have to feel compelled to dope and take huge risks with their health. I’m also not naïve enough to think that Armstrong is the top of the food chain. He had a lot of support coming from fellow riders, people in management positions, all the way to the top of the UCI. Eventually it will all tumble. But for now be happy that the sport is a bit cleaner for this.

Immediately following the Oprah/Armstrong interview TourChats is live with guests giving expert analysis. Tune in at 10:30p EST.

Three time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond posted this open letter on his Facebook page.

Can anyone help me out? I know this sounds kind of lame but I am not well versed in social marketing. I would like to send a message to everyone that really loves cycling. I do not use Twitter and do not have an organized way of getting some of my own “rage” out. I want to tell the world of cycling to please join me in telling Pat McQuaid to f##k off and resign. I have never seen such an abuse of power in cycling’s history- resign Pat if you love cycling. Resign even if you hate the sport.

Pat McQuaid, you know damn well what has been going on in cycling, and if you want to deny it, then even more reasons why those who love cycling need to demand that you resign.

I have a file with what I believe is well-documented proof that will exonerate Paul.

Pat in my opinion you and Hein are the corrupt part of the sport. I do not want to include everyone at the UCI because I believe that there are many, maybe most that work at the UCI that are dedicated to cycling, they do it out of the love of the sport, but you and your buddy Hein have destroyed the sport.

Pat, I thought you loved cycling? At one time you did and if you did love cycling please dig deep inside and remember that part of your life – allow cycling to grow and flourish – please! It is time to walk away. Walk away if you love cycling.

As a reminder I just want to point out that recently you accused me of being the cause of USADA’s investigation against Lance Armstrong. Why would you be inclined to go straight to me as the “cause”? Why shoot the messenger every time?

Every time you do this I get more and more entrenched. I was in your country over the last two weeks and I asked someone that knows you if you were someone that could be rehabilitated. His answer was very quick and it was not good for you. No was the answer, no, no , no!

The problem for sport is not drugs but corruption. You are the epitome of the word corruption.

You can read all about Webster’s definition of corruption. If you want I can re-post my attorney’s response to your letter where you threaten to sue me for calling the UCI corrupt. FYI I want to officially reiterate to you and Hein that in my opinion the two of your represent the essence of corruption.

I would encourage anyone that loves cycling to donate and support Paul in his fight against the Pat and Hein and the UCI. Skip lunch and donate the amount that you would have spent towards that Sunday buffet towards changing the sport of cycling.

I donated money for Paul’s defense, and I am willing to donate a lot more, but I would like to use it to lobby for dramatic change in cycling. The sport does not need Pat McQuaid or Hein Verbruggen – if this sport is going to change it is now. Not next year, not down the road, now! Now or never!

People that really care about cycling have the power to change cycling – change it now by voicing your thought and donating money towards Paul Kimmage’s defense, (Paul, I want to encourage you to not spend the money that has been donated to your defense fund on defending yourself in Switzerland. In my case, a USA citizen, I could care less if I lost the UCI’s bogus lawsuit. Use the money to lobby for real change).

If people really want to clean the sport of cycling up all you have to do is put your money where your mouth is.

Don’t buy a USA Cycling license. Give up racing for a year, just long enough to put the UCI and USA cycling out of business. We can then start from scratch and let the real lovers in cycling direct where and how the sport of cycling will go.

Please make a difference.
Greg