Posted on Wednesday 22nd April 2009

Former Aussie raod champion Matty Lloyd was just one of the many riders that found the pavement over the weekends racing. Lloyd was involved in a crash that occured 73kms from the finish. The crash happend toward the back of the lead group and all riders were lucky not to be run over by the foloowing vehicles as they laid wounded on the ground.

"I was super lucky... Lloyd said on Monday Night..." It could of been so much worse with the injuries that I have to my spine."

"As it is I have smashed my sacrum and busted bits of Vertebrea etc and should be back on the bike in 4-6 weeks. Maybe even sooner if the bones come together well"

For someone who had been in a serious crash Lloyd seemed up beat and happy that it wasnt anything any worse.

He will know more about his condition by the end of the week after some more scans. Team mate Cadel Evens will be hoping he can get back to full fittness by the time the hills in the Tour de France come around as Matty was looking to be a very strong climbing domestique for him in this years race.

R.H.Crank

Posted on Wednesday 22nd April 2009

U23 Australian National and Oceanic Cross Country Mt Bike Champ, Lachlan Norris, again proved he is one of Australia's best young hopefuls in Mt Biking with a fantastic display in Switzerland on the weekend to finish 4th in the U23's and 11th over all. Lachan was the 4th non Swiss rider in the race also and on a course that was technical and very wet and slippy he rode a very well planned and composed race.

Starting on the front row he was confident he could get a good start and then ride it out from there:

"I was sharing the front row with some pretty good company, the Fluckinger brothers, Swiss and European champion Florian Vogel and Cedric Ravenel. The start was narrow, only 5 across so I had confidence I could stay well up there. Sure enough when the gun made a noise and the tensing legs sprung into action I was in poll position. There were guys chopping left right and centre but by the single track I was in third. Solid." Lachlan told us after the race,

"I finished off the race at a good pace, without digging too deep with next weekends World Cup in mind. Just outside the top 10 in 11th and 4th U23 it was a good, solid race..."

'The only real issue I had through the race was my front end set up either a fork issue or too much pressure in the front tyre but still rode smooth till the end. Again these new Reynolds carbons with stood a beating and were fantastic to ride on"

Lachlan is now feeling good for the gruelling next world cup course that is Offenberg Germany and will enjoy a week in Italy with team mates preparing for his next race.

You can contact Vaughan McVilly, Lachlan's PR manager at Vaughan@youandiride.com for further information.

R.H.Crank

All systems go, for the VDB show!

As I sat in the hotel restaurant on the morning of stage one of 3 Days of West Vlaanderen, downing my dry, bland pasta, I wondered who this VDB guy sitting next to me was. I'd certainly heard a lot about his achievements which included victory in some of the biggest events in cycling, races I dream about just starting such as Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Gent-Wevelgem and Paris-Nice. I also knew he'd had his fair share of problems too and was known as somewhat of a 'bad boy' in Belgian cycling. But now that he was a team mate of mine, would anything change for our small cluster? Right on cue, the beast arrived: Big, black and badass. The new team bus was a lot bigger than expected and definitely a sign that Frank Vandenbroucke, aka VDB, had arrived on the team.

The 40minute transfer to the start was a little more comfortable than usual as I cranked out some tunes on my trusty old IPod and stuck my numbers onto a fresh jersey: eight pins per side just to make sure. Around me, my team mates were going through the pre-race motions, one cutting perfectly good brand new socks to modify the height, others applying liberal amounts of leg oil, whilst another was keeping us entertained with his own rendition of Lady GaGa's 'Poker Face'. Before I knew it, the bus was backing up in to a nice parking spot between the Quickstep and Vacansoleil vehicles and we had arrived.

It's when the spectators saw the Cinelli-Down Under bus arrive, the VBD show really got going. They flocked like sea gulls to a salty chip and within minutes the area surrounding the bus was engulfed with fans. I'd seen fans gather round ProTour buses before, but this was ridiculous. We were a small continental team (with a big bus!) and usually drifted through races like this one as consolation prize for fans that had missed out on seeing the big stars, but today we were the main act. When we eventually left the bus, kitted up and headed in the direction of the sign on podium, VDB took the time to meet and greet a decent percentage of the fans, while the rest of us did the same be it in a much lesser demand. Although he has been in and out of the sport over the last few years, it was here that you could see that VDB holds a special place amongst the Belgian people and why his fans once referred to him as 'God'.

So over the next three days the race run and won, with the Vacansoleil team coming out victorious. For me, the tour was quite a tough start to the year as I battled get the racing legs firing, succumbing to the infamous Kemmelberg on day 3 and calling it a day once the our group hit the finishing circuits. However, the race served as some important racing kilometres which should pay dividends over the next few weeks. VDB finished the race in good spirits and is one to look out for over the next month or so, because the only way for him from now is up. God is Terug: God is Back!

After a tough introduction to the European peloton last year with Team Cyclingnews-Jako, YOUANDI-Ride's latest ambassodar Chris D'Amelio is back for another crack with the Belgian based Cinelli-Down Under. Damage as alot of people know him as has joined the team which includes Belgian star Frank Vandenbrouke and is currently gearing up for the early season one day classics. Chris 'Damage' D'Amelio will be giving us a regular insite into what it is like to be a pro trying to make it in Europe. These little diary entries will know from here on in as 'The Damage Update'

Hi, well here it is, my first Damage Update!

I have arrived in Belgium, be it a bit jet lag and in shock with how cold it is here. However, the team is really positive about the year ahead and everyone is pumped to get off to a good start. So far, only the bikes have arrived which are some high class machines. I've been busy over the last few days setting up my new Cinelli 'Best Of' rig equiped with Sram Red and FSA cranks, brakes and wheels, and I must say the bike is awesome. The other equipment and clothing will start filtering in over the next few days.

Training has got off to a slow start with the legs still a little blown out from the flight over and the cold, wet roads relegating me to the ergo on a few occasions. At least this has given me a bit of extra time to get to know my new team mates, as well as catching up with some old ones. The team housein good ol' Booischot is choco-block with personalities this year which is sure keep everyone entertained. For me, racing starts this Sunday with a small kemesse in Leuven, the home of Stella Artois. I'll be looking to put in a good performance as it will serve as a bit of a selection race for some big races next week. If i do well I may have to partake in a Stella too!

That's all from me today - please send any feed back or questions you want answering to ambassadors@youandiride.com

Chris - Damage

Posted on Tuesday 27th January 2009

While Lance Armstrong was making his return to racing in Adelaide, the Australian MTB Championships were being held in Canberra where newly appointed YOUANDI-Ride MTB Ambassador Lachlan Norris claimed the U23 cross-country title.

Lachie has had a hectic start to the 2009 season racing in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in early January where he took it up to the pros on the final stage by riding solo across to a breakaway group only to be caught by eventual top two Baden Cooke and Brett Aitken.

He featured well in all stages and proved that his talent goes far beyond the single track dirt stuff like another former mountain biker, Cadel Evans.

This was backed up with a solid performance in the Australian U23 Road Championships where he finished in a strong sixth place.

Just prior to the Australian MTB Championships Lachie had a nasty crashed, which wasn't ideal preparation. Although he didn't feel 100 per cent at the start of the race he showed his real grit and determination.

"The last climb was brutal. But my coach, Chris Clarke, confirmed I was on track for my second National Title as I headed out for the last half lap, which helped me stay smooth and keep the throttle open all the way to the line." Lachlan Norris

Lachie's focus will now turn to preparing for his the first World Cup event in April where no doubt the added rings of green and gold on his jersey will give him that little bit extra motivation and confidence.

All the Team at YOUANDI-RIDE want to congratulate Lachie on a fantastic start the year! Well Done Mate!

Posted on Friday 23rd January 2009

Baden Cooke was sitting on the wheel of eventual stage winners Rabobank Team for most of yesterdays gruelling stage in the TDU. Cooke's UNI.SA team mates Matty Wilson and Simon Clarke where in the break that also included O'Grady, Rogers, Armstrong, and 10 other crème of the peleton. With 2 in the break there was no need to panic and get his team-mates to chase, Cooke just sat on the back of Rabobank train and "Picked my nose while they did all the work". He reported this morning. "I was feeling fantastic and on the climbs I was just tapping over the pedals on my new Bianchi, sitting easy while I watched as the other contenders looked to be feeling the days relentless action."

"I could not of been in a better position all day and was really feeling good for a stage win. We were descending at around 75kph on a long straight when in an instant I was on the asphalt with my team-mate landing on top of me surfing me down the road. Then another fell onto of me and then another as I continued to slide on the right side of my body along the asphalt." Cooke said while standing to show the skin missing from his body from his right shoulder all the way down to his ankle.

A rider, 2 wheels in front of Baden had apparently had a stick blow into his spokes in the windy conditions and came down right in front of him. At 75kph Baden could do nothing and also hit the ground in a blink of an eye as other riders piled up on top of him. The Victorian former Tour De France Green Jersey winner was starting to find some great form after competing in both the Jayco Bay Classic and the Australian National titles. In stage one of this years TDU he looked the faster of the sprinters in the race to the line. Its arguable that if he didn't have to jump off the throttle and change direction when Robbie McEwen was struck by that infamous camera it would have been a different podium.

It was an unlucky crash for Baden leaves for Europe on Tuesday to join his new team for 2009; VACONSOLEIL. You can stay tuned to Baden's career this year on his website
www.baden-cooke.com

Posted on Thursday 22nd January 2009

Today stage was pretty much how everyone predicted. Tuff and hot were the order of the day and again an early break went away to take the early sprints. Aaron kemps took both the sprints but there time out front was always going to come to an end and with about 25kms to go it was all back together and looked certain to be a bunch sprint. Matty Lloyd had other ideas and launched a strong attack with 10km to go. Matt Wilson went with him along with around 5 or so others. They worked well together but again the sprinters team jumped on the front and worked hard to bring it back together.

Luis Leon Sanchez then burst out of the peloton in the closing couple of kms and looked certain to steal it but again they bunch slowly reeled him back in. Just as he was getting caught with about 1200 meters to go Alan Davis jumped out and started his uphill sprint as many were saying "too early" but the gutsy Queenslander held on to take it from Graham Brown and Martin Elmiger.

General Classification:

1 2 3 4 5

Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - High Road

3.46.25 (38,424 km/h)   0.02   0.04

Posted on Wednesday 21st January 2009

Stage 2 of the TDU and the riders will make there way from Hahndorf to to a circuit around Stirling - the Distance is 145km

This is what they said;

Baden Cooke: "I am feeling strong and want to have a crack at GC so I am hoping that it gets tough on the last lap and that I am still there for a stage win."

Matty Lloyd: "Hey Mate .... Given the few opportunities to break the field its ON this afternoon ..."

Matty Wilson: My legs have come good over the Bay Series and the Nationals and I am chasing a stage win, we also have Cookie doing well in the team so if we can get him to the finish and he can get a win .. That would be good too.

Its gonna hurt a few that's for sure!

R.H.Crank

Posted on Wednesday 21st January 2009

Well the very first Pro Tour Stage got under way yesterday in the Tour Down Under and what a cracking stage to get the year under way. The stage was a 140km burn from Norwood to Mawsons Lakes. A burn because the temperature hit 40 degrees and the racing was on like deep fried corn right from the get go.

A break went early with Olivier Kaisen (Silence-Lotto) and Andoni Lafuente (Euskaltel-Euskadi) getting away in the first ten kms. The break would last until 20km to go in he stage with the peleton being lead mostly by Colombia, Uni-SA and Katusha left the boys out there to fry before bringing them back.

The surprise of the day was 19yo Aussie Jack Bobridge who launched an attack at the 110km mark and flew past the remnants of the break like they were standing still. Out alone in to a strong head wind the young gun churned the pedals on his Bianchi to get out to a 1min 30sec lead before the sprinters teams jumped on the front and wound him back with just 10km to go.

Andre Greipel looked strong and his team was near the front but it was the Rabobank boys of Graham Brown who lead the train into the finishing straight. Suddenly as the sprint hit out it looked as though Robbie McEwen was again going to out sprint the pack. Then from the aerial shot you saw Andre launching off his wheel as McEwen was struck by a spectators camera with around 150m to go and Baden Cooke was easily the fastest guy in the peleton coming from behind like a steam train on avgas! The slight change in Direction from Andre caused Baden to turn the power to coal for a few pedal strokes before switching it back to Av but that was enough for Greipel to take the win. Stuart O'Grady wound out the podium showing that he is still as fast and catty as every in the bunch kicker.

Cooke said he was happy with his finish and felt strong all day. He believe tomorrow will be the day that will dictate the overall winner but he is not ruling himself out on his current form. (read more and www.baden-cooke.com)

McEwen is now a question mark to start tomorrow but we are all hoping to see him back out there doing battle as the action of today's finish felt like a Die Hard movie with a story line!

This is a community announcement please call limbs and photographic hardware inside the barriers during sprint finishes or else you may end up killing someone!

R.H.Crank

Lance Armstrong - 7 time Tour De France Winner and Cancer conquering super man will saddle up and ride again with the Americanised Kazak team Astana! Known for his ruthless leadership of the team in those years of success he finds himself in the company of a young superstar who has already accomplished something that he never did. Three Grand Tours!

Merckx done it, Ss did Hinault! Anquitil did it too as did Gimondi. Alberto Contador succeeded this year by winning both the Vuelta and the Giro and winning the TDF in 07. But Lance Armstrong does not appear on that very elite list.

Not taking anything away from the tank slapping Texan but riding right next to him in the 2009 TDF will be what most consider is the next biggest thing in the Sport. Then, when you look at the rest of the line up you start to scratch your head and say "What The!!!"

You have Levi third in 2007 not allowed to ride 2008. Andreas Kloden - 2nd in both 2006 and 2004 to none other than Lance himself. Chris Horner - arguably one of the most experienced and best domestics in the peleton and a top 20 finisher in the tour in 2007 when he was doing the work for runner up Aussie Cadel Evans. What a Team!

Not saying that the Schleck boys cant take it to them or even Cadel has the ability to find possibly another notch no that he has Kohl riding along with him but seriously!!

The question is - who leads Astana? The Boss is Lance that is undisputed! But what happens when Contador isn't even blowing out a candle in the alps and the Pyrenees and is towing Texas and the Live-strong Cancer foundation up the climbs. Does he twist the throttle and leave them all for dead or is it have another year off Alberto ..... Politics is winning the race again this year!

R.H. Crank has Spoken

So, I'm in a bar in Greece, and its quite late as you'd imagine.. And things are how you say, going off. There is a young guy and he's dancing like wild, the estreet shuffle or whatever they call it in Greece,.. and the crowd is going wild.. fuelled by nicotine and alcohol.. clapping and cheering and the waiters are all sweating and getting into it. A heady mix of English folk, tattooed and happy, sunburned and drenched in this mish mash of culure. What's on display is the best they have.

Appreciation of these young dancers, high on life and their own skill and ability, the braver the dancer gets the more the crowd bay for another drop to the knees, an intensity of speed and panache. The roars grow when Zorba's kicks in again.. My beautiful bride watches, clapping enthralled. The whole room intensifying its love towards the display of passion and skill that is with each note increasing its pace, breath getting faster as the concentration takes hold..

And I think to myself god I wanna be that guy in the middle of the floor turning and moving and picking up the pace and feeling the crowd take me on to move faster and faster. And I think to myself while I stare at the torn wine and tsasiki stained table cloth.. how can that be me? I want to live that feeling.. I want to be in the middle of all that..

Then I remember some time ago the third stage of the Tour of Britain.. The very last climb of the stage from Chard to Burnham on Sea.. And I all of a sudden I relate. To the baying crowds calling out my name on the last hill as I struggled to maintain contact with the break, the claps the yells the cheers, the passion, the feeling.. And then, I know that what I do is alright. That feeling was the same, right up there in an intensifying agony that I just wanted to finish but I never wanted to end. Craving for that second category summit that like zorbas beat just gets faster and harder and closer and yet is so quick it almost doesn't let you breathe..

And in my moments of wine fuelled joy I think to the things that inspired me to move, I think to Bono in a club in New York singing the dying refrain of 11 o'clock tick tock.. 'You'd better call out my name, You better call out'.. And I realise what I do.. It makes sense and what I get from it comes from all those people on a hill, calling out.. Ain't nothing better than dancing up a hill in front of your home town crowd..

Tommy Southam

The tour of Ireland is underway and the Cav (Mark Cavendish - Team Colombia )showed again that he is the fastest finisher in the world. He clearly out sprinted New Zealander Julian Dean - Garmin Chipotle and Alexander Kristoff - Joker Bianchi over the final kilometre after again his team mates provided him with the perfect launching pad.

The stage was mostly controlled by a break away that was formed a little after the 35km mark that saw two Aussie riders from either end of there careers thrive on the hilly stage. Team Type 1's and defending Jayco herald Sun Tour winner Matt Wilson would end up taking the Mountains jersey after leading over every one of the 3 climbs including a cat 1 up Mount Leinster. He joined a the three man break that included SA.com's young star in the making Travis Meyer and it wasn't long before the pace that the two Aussies set was too much for the other escapees and as they powered over the climbs. Matty Wilson said the ride from Meyer was very strong but was disappointed that the other riders couldn't stay with them as they raced for the finish line. In the end they were caught with in the last 10km as the big team set up for the sprint.

The Tour of Ireland back to its glory days - R.H.Crank has Spoke'N

Stage Results:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Mark Cavendish GBR Team Columbia Julian Dean NZl Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 Alexander Kristoff Nor Joker - Bianchi Boy Van Poppel Ned Rabobank Continental Dean Downing GBR Rapha Condor - Recycling.co.uk Kurt De Schrooder BEL An Post - M. Donnelly - Grant Thornton - Sean Kelly Team Russel Downing GBR Pinarello Racing Team Nikolas Maes BEL Topsport Vlaanderen Kurt Hovelijnck BEL Topsport Vlaanderen Zakkari Dempster AUS Southaustralia.com - AIS

5.00.20 (38.36 km/h)

Once a year in the south of Tasmania they have an event called the winter challenge. YOUANDI-RIDE Area Ambassador (Tasmania) Al Matthewson was there and competed and this is what he had to say!

Well this has become a really big event now with this year's event attracting a total of 420 competitors, a record field for the events 18 year history.

The winter challenge consists of a 10 km run cross country, a very full on muddy and wet 18km MTB ride, a flat out undulating 37km road TT finishing with an 11km Kayak.

This year's fastest open male was Johnathon Hitchens completing the event in a blistering 4:06:23
The fasted junior male was Alex Hunt 4:34:51
Fasted veteran male Dr Phil Murrell 4:12:46
Fastest open Female Su Sprott 5:10:38
Fastest vet female Jacqui Guy 5:35:00

Fasted 2 man team Ride Bellerive in a scorching 3:59:49
The fasted 4 man team went to Solution Paddle Sports in a total time of 3:34:04. Super quick.

And for the record I completed the MTB leg for our 4 man team we manage to finish 11th in the open men's division, with our team coming in with a combined time of 4:17:33. A fairly solid performance considering there were over 107 teams making up the rest of the combined field.

I can only comment on how full on the MTB leg was. The 18 KM course started out with a fast road section then quickly moved into a normal rural gravel road before turning into the hills where the fun began. Mud that you could only walk through shin deep in some sections before we went into some more technical single track into the thicker bush land. Then we had to navigate or should I say just walk through thigh deep ravines before we even got half way. Then came the crazy downhill mogul style decent with some of the more experience MTB guys and Gals forgetting to use their brake and not caring whether they live or die, descending like bombs from planes.
So the MTB leg for all those that want to know. Great fun but be prepared to completely rebuild your bike from top to bottom after the event.

Tassie the place where bike legends are born! Al

At the St Kilda Cycling Club annual Peleton Ball recently a fund raiser was held for Michael Forbes who was hit by a car in June this year whilst riding along Beach road and suffered severe damage to his cervical spine (neck) which has left him with paralysis in the arms and legs.

With over 150 members and supporters of the club attending it was clear to see the support for the well respected and regarded elite cyclist. The money raised is going to Michael and his family to help them with dealing with the life transforming accident that will see Michael restricted to a wheel chair for the rest of his life. Michael's wife, Monica attended the ball and gave an update on his progress and an insight to Michael's never say die attitude and positive outlook, know by his friends and family as the Forbes Factor.

Just over $7000.00 was raised on the night with one item going for $4000.00 The YOUANDI-RIDE.com Pro Ride experience for ten people was brought by a good friend of Michael's, Chris Degenaar and the package was made even sweeter when managing director of Youandiride.com Vaughan McVilly gave a call to Baden Cooke to ask him if he would make some time to join the group as well.

"The day sounded pretty amazing on its own but when Vaughan told us he had rung Baden Cooke and organised for him to come along as well, myself and some of Michael's other friends at my table knew we had to have to have it..." Said a happy Chris Degenaar

Once it was realised that is was a close friend of Michaels that made the top bid it has now also been organised to actually take Michael along for the day.

Baden Cooke added,

"Youandi-ride are sponsored by Barloworld Australia and have some beautiful Mercedes Benz Team cars, so I am looking forward to driving over and picking up Michael and spending a great day with him and his mates"

One of Youandi-ride's favourite riders Tommy Southam showed that he is still a super force to be dealt with by Smashing the field apart in the Revolutions 5 day in the UK this week. I'd love to tell you all about it but when we have the guy himself here to give us the low down I'm not going to bother ...... Heres Tommy!

G'Day Youandi-Ride Fans

Some success to report from the U.K. Last week I won the overall classification of the U.K.'s second biggest stage race only after the Tour of Britain itself. The Surrey Revolutions 5 day ran from the 15th to the 20th of August around the counties of Sussex and Surrey. The race took in some very demanding stages, averaging 160km a day with no flat whatsoever.

After winning both the Mountains and points competitions in previous events, plus a third place overall back in 2002 I went in with only one real ambition to win the overall classification and complete the set. Things started well and just got better really, on the first day I slipped into what would turn out to be the race winning move 11 riders representing all but one of the teams managed to pull out 8 minutes on the bunch effectively ending the GC hopes of all but the first 11. The only disappointment of the race coming when I lost the stage to one of the Irish team and had to settle for second.

The race was won overall though the following day when my team mate UK national Champion Rob Hayles set up the perfect springboard for me to move away with only one other rider 40km from the finish. Knowing that I would move into the jersey I drove the move until we pulled out a massive 2 mins 49 on the rest of the break by the finish. Having pretty much sealed the G.C. I let the stage win (again) go to the dogs or whoever and settled for second.

Over the following days it was just a case of keeping an eye on the Irish team who's rider was in second only 10 seconds back. Gradually though, thanks to Rob I chipped away, first in the TT then on successive road stages by playing a waiting game and forcing the Irish teams bluff, they left themselves exposed and I pushed the ten second lead out to almost a minute and a half by the final stage on Tuesday.

Although this meant I missed out on a stage win, after grabbing another second I did also seal the points competition for a second time and finally get my name on the list of overall winners.

I now have a few more targets over in the UK before returning to Australia to try to improve on my last years 4th place at the Tour of Tassie and finally have a stab at the Warnie, something I've been promising to do for way too long.

Cool,

Tom

Gotta love that man! R.H.Crank

Fabian was Awesome, Nicole was a likely Champ, Sanchez a surprise and there's a new Armstrong on the scene but the real answer I seek is where on earth where the spectators for some of the best racing I have scene???

The Men's road race was always going to be a cracker! The Spanish team looked the strongest but I was honestly surprised when one Mr Alberto Contador said he had had enough and left it up to Valverde, Carlos and Sammy Sanchez finish the race with out him! The final KM's were amazing and the Aussies looked good with Evans, Rogers, Lloyd and probably the gutsiest of them all Simon Gerro Gerrans all still in the leading pack.

Gerro had been in the early break and after being caught was again seen chasing down a break of none other than Alberto Contador in the final Laps. To still finish 37th in the main group only a little over 2 mins behind the leader was pretty awesome! In fact the Aussies should be proud because although no one on the podium, they had Lloyd finish in 31st, Evans in 15th and Michael Rogers in 6th who finished with the lead group of 6 but admitted he had totally hit the Great Wall a few kms from the finish. The Spanish rode a great race and Sammy Sanchez out sprinted Davide Rebellin and arguable the best ride of the day Fabian Cancellara who came across to the break on his own catching Rogers and Kolobnev who were chasing Andy Schleck, Rebellin and Sanchez. Cancellara then dragged them across to make it a group of 6 for the run to the finish. He then dug deep for the sprint and picked up the bronze. Fabian Fabulous!

The Men's race was super hot with sprinkler systems set up to cool down the riders. This wasn't an issue for the women's as it rained like Niagara for the entire race. This made it wet slippery and one hell of a tuff day in the saddle for the girls and the group that finished up front were clearly the strongest on the day. The finish had Nicole Cooke's name etched into it and watching on the telli I thought she was a certain winner however with about 500meters to go she seemed to have a technical hic-up and lost contact with the group momentarily. She quickly regained herself and her machine and switched on the afterburners and accelerated towards the finish to take a monumentous win.

TT Time and in the women a new Armstrong took the cycling world by storm and rode a near flawless race to take the victory. The course was more of a mountain time trial and would see the likes of Janine Longo-Ciprelli and Judith Ardnt loose over a minute to the flying American who finished the 23.5km race in 34m51s. Great Britain's Emma Pooley put in a great ride for the silver 24 seconds behind and Switzerland's Karin Thurig took bronze 59 seconds back.

Then the men started to roll down the ramp. The course again hilly and over twice the distance of the girls at 47km it was thought that it would suit the climbing time trialers like Evans, Contador, Leipheimer and a lot of people were talking up Schumacher's chances after fairing so well at the Tour de France TTs. It was also thought that although the favourite on the books, the course would be too hilly for the big Swiss super star world TT champ Fabian Cancellara and at the first time check it looked as though everyone was right. Contador started like a rocket and Levi looked the goods. Evans was a little off the pace but all new he would finish strong. The big surprise was Gustav Larsson of Sweden he was trailing Contador by just 17sec at the first check and Fabian had lost 25 secs to the climbing sensation from Spain.

At the second time check fabulous Fabian had stomped into the lead 15 secs ahead of Contador and 25 seconds ahead of Larsson. The Race was on!!! The third time check was at the 34.6km mark and it was thought that the Swedish rider in Larsson had gone out too hard too early as he looked to be suffering badly up the climb. Contador looked uncomfortable and also seemed to be feeling the heat while Fabian was punching holes into the tarmac with every pedal stroke. The times came through and it wasn't the Swiss super star in front it was actually the hungry Swede! Larsson lead Fabian by 6 seconds and Contador by 19. Cadel Evans had the diesel working overtime and although being over a minute behind at the half way mark and running forth behind Levi Evans had jumped to 3rd only 44 secs behind Larson and closing on Contador like a man possessed.

The finish line was up a final little pinch of a climb and all eyes were glued on the clock as the big surprise Swede thrust his bike over the line. His time was 1h2m34s and he took the top of the leader board. The big guns rolled into town one after another. Had Evans done enough to get on the Podium? Had Contador cracked? Would Fabulous Fabian have enough in the tank to make up the 6 secs and take Olympic gold after making such an amazing run to the finish line in the road race only a few days before... ? Of course he bloody did!!! He found another gear and rocketed over the line to take the Gold medal by a whopping 33 seconds over Larsson and even sat up and thrust an arm into the air with about 25 meters to go. The bronze went to a gutsy ride by Levi Leipheimer who jumped back passed Evans and Contador to finish 1m9s behind the big Swiss Super Star. Contador 4th and Evans 5th.

Wow what a few days of Racing!! Simply Awesome! Bring on the Track, The MTB and the BMX.

If it has got something to do with Time the Swiss are usually pretty good at it... R.H.Crank has Spoken.

With all the hype around the Tour De France it's easy to forget that a passion for cycling takes many forms. Cyclismo Bendigo is about all cycling and we reckon the mt bike extreme challenge is pretty unique. Taking in an uphill start/finish on View St, a plunging descent through Rosalind Park and a wild ride along the cobbles of Bendigo creek before heading back into View St for the finish. With 4 riders per heat in a full on head to head and a course like no other, this is one event not to miss!

Check out the website www.cyclismo.com.au

The Cyclismo Kid

Youandi-ride ambassador Baden Cooke has spoken about the events for him and his team at this years tour de France. Cooke looked to be doing a lot of lead out work for his team mate Robbie Hunter in the early days of the tour and some of the experts were saying it possibly should of been the other way round as the former green jersey winner looked strong and faster than his South African team mate.

Cooke crashed out of the event on stage 12 when it seemed he may come into his own as in stage 7 with a cat 2 and a cat three climb the bunch hurtled toward the finish line and was whittled down to a group of about 30 or so riders. Right in there amongst that group was Baden Cooke surviving over the mountains but not quite able to catch the escapees.

ON his website today www.baden-cooke.com.au here's what he had to say about his Team mate and the future of the team

"I was really shocked and disappointed with Duenes and by the whole event, he certainly had all of us fooled. I had hardly any real communication with him due to our language barrier, but I still knew him enough to think he was a stand up guy that was a straight shooter. He has really spoilt a great atmosphere that we had in the team. I just hope that the team can manage to move forward and put the incident behind us. At this stage it looks as though the team will go on in some form next year."

Baden's next race is the Tour of Portugal and all the guys in the office are hoping he can get a win!

Spoke'N! By Ronald!

The Final stage of the 2008 TDF was pretty much like any other with the race be ridden under control all the way to Paris where it heated up for the final 8 laps of the Champ Élysées. Stuey O'Grady lead them over the finish line the first time and it was open slather from then on as attacks tried to get away. It came down to a bunch Sprint however and Quicksteps Tour was saved by Gert Steegmans who jumped early and out sprinted the fast men of the tour.

Cadel says he will be back next year to go one better however it is more than likely that so will Last years winner, Alberto Contador and Levi Liephimer and Andreas Kloden. The race starts in Monaco next year and I am definitely going to be there!!!

Bring on 2009 what ever the result its party time! R.H.Crank has Spoke'N!

Stage

1 2 3 4 5

Gert Steegmans (Bel) Quick Step Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Columbia Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank Robbie McEwen (Aus) Silence - Lotto Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole

3.51.38 (37.04 km/h)

Green Jersey

1 2 3 4 5

Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia

270 pts 220 217 181 155

Polk dot Jersey

1 2 3 4 5

Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner

128 pts 80 80 65 62

Young Rider

1 2 3 4 5

Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel

88.04.24 1.27 17.01 24.09 1.08.34

Team

1 2 3 4 5

Team CSC Saxo Bank AG2R - La Mondiale Rabobank Euskaltel - Euskadi Silence - Lotto

263.29.57 15.35 1.05.26 1.16.26 1.17.15

GC

1 2 3 4 5

Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30

87.52.52 0.58 1.13 2.10 3.05

Stage 20 - How do you like your TDF? Well and truly Done!

Well I know I yelled for Cadel but it wasn't enough to keep Team CSC- SAXO Bank and their man Carlos Sastre from taking this Tour De France. Apart from a miracle or an unfortunate accident the race has been ridden and won by the Spaniard who is a deserving winner after ripping it up Alp D Huez only a few days ago.

YOUANDI-RIDE congratulate Carlos and all the team for not only have they done enough to win the Yellow jerseys but they will also take the White jersey home for best young rider in Andy Schleck who also was an amazing part of this team who ALSO take out the best team. Rightfully so to they took the race by the throat and with efforts from every member including Big Bad Jens Voight, World TT Champ Fabian Cancellara and the incredible tuff Stuart O'Grady this team made the rest of team look second rate.

Speaking of team efforts the question has to be asked of the team supporting Cadel. I am not sure the size of the value of the contract for Popo but I would have kept Horner and whacked in Aussie national champ Matty Lloyd after what all the experts are describing as a very disappointing showing by the Pop! I must admit the stage before the Alps had me quite perplexed! Why ride on the front of that group for so long? Why put yourself in the hurt bag the day before the penultimate stage of the tour? Anyway cant change anything and as Cadel said CSC-Saxo Bank has a budget more than double that of Lotto's so can afford the stronger team.

Something else to note: Menchov needs to practice Russian down mountains! (Sorry had to put that in) After loosing 30+ seconds in stage 16 on the decent into Jausiers and 40 secs on stage 3 he must be kicking himself as that time has cost him his place on the Podium. Let alone the time he fell whilst putting in a strong attack and was clear of the main contenders!

Most of us who have ridden a bike have some strong memory or other of someone who helped along the way, or we have a memory of how much easier it would have been if we had that sort of help.

I was lucky enough to have a few people who bothered to tell a strong but stupid kid what to do and what not to do, and it made a difference! It was no one person or no one time but it sure helped. The Vet racer who could sit on 40kph endlessly and showed me how to spin, or the A grader who showed me how to sit a wheel. All these people who I met on the road and who figured anyone who was keen to ride a bike should be supported and encouraged.

I guess there are a few key points I want to make from this. The first is pretty obvious – ask for help and look for people to learn from. It is a no-brainer really but so many people seem reluctant to do it. That's a lead in to my second point. One of the most appealing things about cycling has always been the sense of fellowship and camaraderie. You see it in the Tour De France when the breakaways share a bottle or the peleton doesn't attack a crash. And you see it everytime complete strangers get to talking about bikes on the road, on the trail or in the café.

And my final point – you will enjoy being a biker, of whatever ilk or commitment level, much more if you know what your doing. So look for a ride, a club or a buddie and enjoy being part of those in the know!

From the pen of the small chainring biker

Hey there Spoke'N! fans, Cyclismo Kid here,

A big part of the very successful start of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Bendigo in 2007 was the Excelior Cyclismo ride with the stars and community cycling events. Building on the success of this weekend the 2008 Cyclismo Bendigo is now confirmed for 22-23 November and entries are open for the Excelior Gran Fondo (Including corporate team challenge), the elite men's criterium and the YOUANDIRIDE Cyclismo experience.

We have some great names and great new additions for 2008, and the weekend offers something for everyone. Stay tuned as over the coming months we announce some stars who will join us and some great prizes for every participant."

So if you love your cycling, then head up to Bendigo on the weekend of 22-23rd November for Cyclismo! It's a weekend to participate and spectate, we're calling it the perfect cycling weekend!! Check out the schmick website for the all the details. www.cyclismo.com.au

Don't forget to tell all you're cycling buddies about it, better yet challenge your buddies to one of the great rides or even better get a team together and help us raise money for MS Australia! You better start preparing because in the wise words of the man himself Phil Ligget:

"Cycling is 90% mental. The other half is physical"

Chat soon!

The Cyclismo Kid has Spoke'N!

Stage 16 saw the birth of what I think could make the TDF a little more extreme!!!

You ready... Get a flagon of Redbull for this one!

After watching Team Barloworld's young hot shot John-Lee Augustyn climb over the top of the highest mountain in this years TDF in first place and then miss cue a corner on the decent and launch himself off the side of the road, it was with much excitement that I chatted with one of the uglier looking heads in our office about the idea of making the descents off road! My esteemed colleague in the office cant do much about the Battered fish head he has on his shoulders, however he did come up with the idea of a bike swap as you cross the peak of the mountain and at the earliest possible moment head off the bitumen to take the most direct route to the base of the mountain .... Straight DOWN! That's why we love him!!

Not sure how the motorbikes following the riders with the cameramen on the back will go but hey that just adds a little hilarity of it all.

I then went on to thinking what would be even more extreme would be to base jump off the other side! With your bike still connected to your bike shoes and release your chute just in time to slow you down enough to make the landing and then dispose of your shoot while riding the final km's of the decent. Imagine the skill sets of this event ... Whoa! You could tactically let your shoot go right in the face of a following competitor, blinding them from the hairpin corner just before the finish! I'd like to see that!

OK I have gone too far... Or have I? R.H.Crank has Spoke'N

Well while one Aussie handed over the Yellow Jersey to by far the strongest team in this years tour another one rode one of the gutsiest rides to date to take his first stage win in the Tour De France and his biggest win of his career.

Simon Gerrans had good form going in to today's stage and on his website had made mention that he was going to be looking to get himself in a break that could stay away. He predicted right after making a cross to 3 earlier escapees and the 4 worked hard to stay away to final climb. Included in the break away was American Danny Pate, and two Spaniards in Egoi Martinez De Esteban and José Luis Arrieta Lujambio. After sitting on and looking the most vulnerable Danny Pate had sharked the others and when Egoi attacked the American was first to follow the move. Jose couldn't go with them and it looked as though the Aussie was going to be unable to keep up either but he dug deep and didn't panic and slowly but surely rode back on to the wheels of the two leaders.

Pate attacked! Again Gerro fought hard to get back on. Smaller attack sand accelerations followed trying to crack the Aussie but he just kept pegging them back. As they went under the final kilometre banner the games started and Simon "Gerro" Gerrans plan had worked. He knew he had a better kick than the other two and with about 300 meters to go leaped away from the others and took a convincing win!

Well Done Gerro - your a superstar!

The race for yellow again was controlled and aggravated by team CSC- SAXO BANK. Evans was unable to stay with the onslaught of The Schleck brothers and Carlos and handed over the yellow jerseys to elder brother Frank while loosing valuable seconds to all his major rivals. Cadel now sits in 3rd 8 seconds off the lead but with a big time trial in the last week still is the certain favourite.

Forty nine seconds cover the leading 6 riders! It doesn't get much more exciting than that!

When its clean the racing is mean .... And believable!! R.H.Crank has Spoke'N!

1 2 3 4 5 6

Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank

63.57.21 0.07 0.08 0.38 0.39 0.49

WooHooo Another Cheat caught and lets hope the Cobra, Ricardo Ricco is locked away and banned from cycling for life.

Cycling is now the leader in the fight against athletes that use performance enhancing drugs. Hell not even just performance enhancing, with Team Quick Step super star Tom Boonen not being allowed to race the Tour this year because of a nostril full of Cocaine! Not too sure how performance enhancing that is but it shows that the sport is far ahead of other sports in reference to the use of drugs. You don't see Footballers getting even a one game suspension for the use of party drugs and the level of testing that is done in other sports compared to cycling may as well be "Hey mate did you take anything?".

That's probably a bit harsh, as the professional sporting world is trying hard to clean things up but my real point is some of the heads of other sporting bodies should go hang out at the tour and watch as the UCI and ASO come down hard on anyone who is even suspected of taking drugs and if caught instantly kicking them out.

The response from the riders has been pleasing also, with both Cadel Evans and Mark Cavendish supporting the UCI and ASO and their quest to clean up cycling, both commenting that more should be written about the good that they are doing rather than harping on the negative. "It is something that is very unfair. Our sport is doing the right thing and we are being crucified for it. What are we supposed to do, let it be a free for all like other professions? Or are we going to be complimented for it?" Evens remarked about the medias negative look in to the latest capture of another drug cheat. (See cyclingnews.com for more of the Evans interview)

CSC's Stuart O'Grady said, "If he's cheating then throw him out! There's nothing else to say. As far as I'm concerned they should be hit with a life ban..." the former winner of Paris-Roubaix commented when questioned by the media after the Ricardo Ricco finding.

Here in the YOUANDI-RIDE office we are all stoked that the sport we love is leading the way in cleaning out the cheats!

Long Live the Tour and Long Live Clean Hard racing!

A cobra minus its Poison is really nothing more than a snail! - R.H Crank has Spoken

Holly smoked German sausages!!! No matter how awesome the finish was, stage ten belonged to team CSC-Saxo Bank, if for nothing else other than the super human full gas freak effort of Jens Voight up the Col de Tormalet!

French man Rémy Di Gregorio tried to put it all together on Bastille day and lead by over 8 mins at one stage after escaping an earlier break away group in the first kms of the Tormalet. By the bottom of the Col de Hautacam the lead was cut down to less than 45secs as team CSC-Saxo Bank just drove the lead group with Voight and Cancellara doing power turns that left pre race favourites Valverde and Cunego in a group over 2mins behind!

As they started up the Hautacam Voight didn't let up as he worked him self so deep that no one could believe it! Even as a true blooded Aussie I was hoping that either Carlos or F. Schleck would win the stage for his efforts.

Voight pulled of the front and nearly immediately Schleck and Carlos started one two-ing them. Suddenly Schleck and two Saunier Duval - Scott riders in Leonardo Piepoli and Juan José Cobo were off the front and opening up a gap and with the Cobra sitting behind Evans, Menchov and Carlos the finale was set!

Frank Schleck needed 1:51secs on Cadel to take the Yellow. Carlos didn't work and nor did Ricco as the lead was out to 2mins at one stage to the leading three and Schleck was suddenly the virtual leader. Then with a little under 3km to go Schleck lost contact with Juan Jose and Piepoli and the latter rode on to win the stage in front of his delighted team mate.

All eyes were on the time gap between Evans and Schleck. Schleck had it but the ever consistent Cadel was slowly pegging him back. With 400meters to go it looked Schleck had it but a last ditch effort for the line and Evans goes into the rest day in yellow!!

Wow what a stage!

Tomorrows a rest day which equals sleep YAY - R.H.Crank has Spoken!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Scott Fränk Schleck (Lux) CSC-Saxo Bank Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval-Scott Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Saxo Bank Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin Chipotle - H30

4.19.27 (36.08 km/h)   0.30 1.05 2.05 2.30

GC

1 2 3 4 5 6

Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence-Lotto Fränk Schleck (Lux) CSC-Saxo Bank Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin Chipotle - H30 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank Carlos Sastre (Spa) CSC-Saxo Bank

0.01 0.38 0.46 0.57

With both the Col de Peyresourde at km 166.5 and the Col d'Aspin at km 198 this 224 km stage was going to have something special and that something special was The Cobra Ricardo Ricco who struck for his second stage win of this year tour in miraculous style. Ricco put in an attack that left the elite lead group in his wake and the speed that he caught and passed the escapees of the day was like watching the bandana'd pirate Pantani all over again. The Italian accelerated over the top of the Col d'Aspin and even with some hard pulling work by Casse d'Epargne he finished over a minute ahead.

The days also saw tour hot favourite Cadel Evens take a spill. Well really not saw as the cameras didn't catch the incident and it is not know the extent of his injuries. What is known is that he ripped his jersey to shreds and had blood coming from his knee, elbow and shoulder. He had treatment through out the stage but never seemed to be in much pain through out the stage and finished in the lead pack.

Tomorrow however is a mountain top finish and as we often see in the tour the real soreness and effects of a crash come to the fore front the day after. With 2 outside category climbs tomorrow will be a day when the leader board gets a real shake up, lets hope Cadel's injuries are only superficial and he is able to show the world his real strengths!

Intravenous Caffeine - it works! R.H.Crank has Spoke'N!

Team Colombia produced an awesome one two finish when sprinter Mark Cavendish lead home team mate Gerald Ciolek. The stage was always going to be battled out by the sprinters but the weather didn't turn up to provide a nice day for anyone! The heavens opened up and in drenched the peleton and the sprint was a fast paced nervous and very wet race to the line.

Team Colombia worked super hard to set up the win and even yellow jersey wearer Kim Kirchen put in his utmost to deliver the teams 23 year old bullet to the line. The break away group was again caught with in seconds of the line and no one had anything on the fast finishing Brit.

Although only 154kms in length stage 7 was not for the faint hearted. Heavy winds again belted the day lights out of the peleton. A crash after about 60km including Damiano Cunego saw the peleton thrust forward with Team CSC-Saxo Bank driving the peleton and putting it in the gutter leaving Damiano's Team Lampre to chase hard in the blustery conditions.

With a cat 2 and cat 3 climbs to wind up the stage the pace never settled and it was a very elite group of riders that were left to fight it out. Notably Baden Cooke was obviously feeling good as he was spotted in the lead group with only 15km to go. The stage was won by Luis León Sánchez who broke away on a decent with around 4km to go. He pointed to the sky as he crossed the line and the as the bunch was lead home by Stefan Schumacher only 6 seconds behind.

No real change to GC

Well the first Mountain Stage didn't disappoint! With the 2 cat @ climbs in the last 60km of the stage it was always going to be left till the final few KM's where the crème would rise to the top. Maybe the more interesting moments of today's stage was when one of the early possible favourites Damino Cunego was dropped from the front group with about 2km to go and then when the Maillot Juan took a closer look at the tarmac with less than 1km to go when Stephan Schumacher rubbed wheels with Kirchen and hit the tarmac.

Gerolsteiner controlled the peleton until the climbs started taking there toll and then Cassie d'Epargne came to the front setting up something for the bandaged up leader Alejandro Valverde. Evans looked strong but was on his own in the final kilometres and possibly showing a little weakness from his team.

The run to the line was set up by Cassie d'Epargne but the winner was the Cobra Ricardo Ricco who out sprinted Valverde and Evans. There was a small gap back to Kirchen and F. Schleck but with Schumacher crashing under the 1km banner, Kirchen managed to take over the Leaders jersey with Cadel Evans only 6 secs behind.

Ran out of Coffee today!!! R.H.Crank has Spoke'N!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia Moises Dueñas Nevado (Spa) Barloworld Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott

4.57.52 0.01   0.04   0.07

GC

1 2 3 4 5

KIRCHEN K.THR24h EVANS C.SIL SCHUMACHER S.GST VANDEVELDE C.TSL MILLAR D.TSL

30' 41" 00' 06" 00' 16" 00' 44" 00' 47"

Hi, Now I know the Tour is the biggest race going on at the moment but hey the girls are over in Italy racing just as hard as the guys, not that some Cranky buggers would realise it. (Yes that was a shot at you Mr R.H.Crank)

The Giro d'Italia Femminile is currently being fought out just next door in Italy and the best road racing girls in the world are battling it out for the sacred Pink Jersey. Today's Stage 4 saw the first of the Mountain Stages and sprint queen and current leader, Ina Teutenberg knew it would be the day she would hand over the pink jersey to one of the more nibble climbers in the tour. On the early slopes of the Prato a Ceragiola a group formed ahead of the main peleton including Italian Champion Fabiana Luperini (Menikini-Selle Italia-Master Colours). The Pressure was on and that group continued to splinter until it was the Italian champ riding out the front on her own. Another group formed behind and tried to close the gap but Luperini was too strong and stayed away taking both the mountain jersey as well as the leaders jersey.

Women Road Racing - Sexier than Men's! Libby T has Spoke’N!

Stage results

1 2 3 4 5

Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Menikini - Selle Italia Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Gauss RDZ Ormu Claudia Häusler (Ger) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung Nicole Brändli (Swi) Bigla Cycling Team

2.54.06 0.54 1.21 1.40 1.44

GC

1 2 3

Fabiana Luperini (Ita) Menikini - Selle Italia Edita Pucinskaite (Ltu) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung Tatiana Guderzo (Ita) Gauss RDZ Ormu

12.46.12 0.57 1.26

Mountains
Fabiana Luperini

Sprinter
Ina Teutenberg

Team Colombia's Mark Cavendish galloped across the line by more than a bike length to take his first ever win in the big race and with his performance today I am sure it wont be his last. The stage today from Cholet to Châteauroux, was the longest in this years race at 232km. Unlike Stage 4 the breakaway was reeled back into the bunch absolutely perfectly with most of the work being done by Team Colombia.

Adam Hansen, team mate of The Cav said "He's a 2nd year pro and he has won stages in the Giro and he said this is what he really wanted and we said we will do this for him and he said he will win today, so we gave it everything..." The team showed that they are arguably the strongest team when it comes to the sprinter as they set up the train into the finish line catching the final break away rider with just 50 meters to go.

YOUANDI-RIDE ambassador Baden Cooke finished in 5th place and on his site baden-cooke.com.au said that "I started my sprint earlier than I would have like..." he also said that he encountered a lot of the lead out men coming back through the field that he had to manoeuvre around so its my guess that he is not far away from a win.

Tomorrows stage finishes on a Cat 2 climb, so we will likely see some time gaps.

Less Sleep more caffeine... R.H. Crank has Spoke'N!

The first real test for the GC riders has arrived. The Time Trial was held in the town of Cholet and was a 29.5km blast on a ..You guessed it .. Wind swept course. The wind has actually settled a little to be fair but the course also has some short climbs in it just t mix things up. Early on it was Garmin Chipotle’s Danny Pate who held the best time of 36min54secs with and average of just under 48kmh.

But soon the times fell as Menchov started ripping up the course and then one of my all time favourite riders Mr “FULL GAS” himself Jens Voight came out and rode his bike like a man possessed. Smashing the first two intermediate times of all those before him Jens looked to be on some sort of mission! He didn’t let anyone down either taking 33 secs off the best time before him to record a time of 36min19secs.(Avg 48.8kmh) Unfortunately Menchov was the next over the line 1 second quicker! The next big name on the course was the world champion Fabian Cancellara and hooly dooly was he a picture of pure aerodynamic super beast, but in the first two time checks he was struggling to top his team mate Jens’s blistering times but the final ten km was always going to be where it was won and lost and the big man looked poised to throw down the gauntlet the remaining competitors. Cancellara accellerated up the finishing straight like it was a buch sprint and took another second of the time finishing with a time of 36min17secs.

Then a man not known for his TT’s Stephan Schumacher rolled down then start ramp and did what know one suspected. He annihilated the times of Cancellara and the Gerolsteiner rider swanned across the line in 35min44secs at an AVG of 49.5kmh!!! Behind him the GC favourites were lining up to have a crack at the course but would anyone come close to Schumacher’s time? David Miller the British champion wasn’t able to beat it and nor was Evans. Leaving Kirchen and Valverde the only other rea frets. The other race that everyone was interested in was between Evans, Kirchen and Valverde for GC and unfortunately for the Spaniard it seems all the energy he spent in the first few stages cost him dearly as he lost big time to the Aussie as Evans crossed in 36mins11secs. However Kim Kirchen rode himself inside out and crossed the line in 36min02secs.

This race has found a new star TT rider and a new battle on the cards between Evans and Kirchen! I’m excited!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) Kim Kirchen (Columbia) David Millar (Garmin Chipotle - H30) Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) Fabian Cancellara (CSC-Saxo Bank) Denis Menchov (Rabobank) Jens Voigt (CSC-Saxo Bank) Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle - H30) George Hincapie (Columbia) Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas)

35.44 36.02 36.02 36.11 36.17 36.18 36.19 36.21 36.26 36.31

GC

1 2 3 4

Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) Kim Kirchen (Columbia) David Millar (Garmin Chipotle - H30) Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto)

0.12   0.12

Until tomorrow – YOUANDI-RIDE has Spoke’N!

Well the wind blew and rain fell, making stage 3 of the Tour De France another nervous day on the pedals for all participating. The usual break went as soon as the flag was flown and 4 riders were away including US first timer, William Frischkorn (Garmin Chipotle - H30), Italian Paolo Longo Borghini (Barloworld), and the two Frenchmen Romain Feillu (Agritubel) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis). The 4 turned on the pace and had built a lead of over 1'30 after five kilometres and didn't look back from there, opening up a pretty big lead with the gap at one stage being over 15 minutes.

The sprinters teams failed to get them selves organised properly and even though they had cut the lead down to 6 minutes with with 60km to go and even with the break being held up by a protest they only managed to take another minute out of the break by the 30km to go mark. Finally Quickstep came to the front and opened up the throttle and a crash split the field leaving likely GC contenders Menchov and Ricco trapped behind and ended up loosing 40 seconds to there main rivals.

The break stayed away and Samuel Dumoulin, the Cofidis rider took a massive win for such a little guy. (The shortest rider in this years race) The French were happy and even more ecstatic when they realised Romain Feillu snatched the Yellow Jersey from Valverde's shoulders for tomorrows Time Trial Stage.

The peleton was lead home by Aussie Rocket Robbie McEwen who out sprinted birthday boy Eric Zabel. YOUANDI-RIDE ambassador Baden Cooke gave a very strong lead out for team mate Robbie Hunter who managed to finish fourth.

Tomorrow the race against the clock will possibly see one of the Favourites take the Yellow cloth. Evans is feeling relaxed, Valverde has proved he is in good form so the race will surely be on. My pick for stage 4 is Fabian Cancellara and I recon Cadel has what it takes to wear Yellow!

Until next time .... YOUANDIRIDE has Spoke'N!

No surprises today with more wind and rain most of the day. The peleton was as nervous as a teenager dancing in her first set of heels and the day was marred by a few crashes. With more climbs today the battle for the polka dot jersey would resume but it was again the French pin up boy Thomas Voekler who put himself in a break and took a swag of points to hold on to the jersey. The pace was on in the last half of the stage and again the break was drawn back into the peleton with only a few kilometres to go.

The finish was again uphill and when Fabian Cancellara launched himself with a thousand metres to go, it looked like it the big world time trial champion would put in another trade mark win. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and with an amazing lead out by Mark Renshaw, 2007 Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd launched for the line and took his first win of this years race.

No change to GC with Valverde still in Yellow.

My highlight today though was:

Call me bias but the last 1000 metres my eyes were on YOUANDI-RIDE Ambassador Baden “Cookie” Cooke who had Team Mate Robbie Hunter on his wheel and they are charging towards the line like a freight train without breaks. A team Columbia rider wanders across the road and leans all over Baden causing him to loose his momentum. Baden, realising his momentum has been lost and that Hunter has shot up his inside, leans forward off the seat and lets go of the bars with his right hand and pushes Robbie onto the wheel of Gerald Ciolek who was on the wheel of the eventual winner Thor Hushovd. This happened with about 400 metres to go and doing about 65kmh+!! Taking one hand off the bars after you have been nudged off course to give a team mate a push along at full throttle... Now that's Awesome!

Check out Baden's Website for his diary entries www.baden-cooke.com.au

YOUANDI-RIDE Has Spoke’N!

Well the most watched bike race in the world has made its grand depart for stage 1 of the 2008 Tour De France (TDF) and what a ripper stage it was. With wind, rain and not a Prologue in sight the finish of stage one was always going to be thought out with extreme vigour! We weren’t let down either, the finish was uphill and the pure sprinters were always going to struggle to compete against the more all-round riders in the finale.

A break went away and at one stage had opened up a gap of over 8 minutes. In the group of escapees was Frances favourite son Thomas Voeckler and German Björn Schröder who battled for the mountain points that were up for grabs. They finished with 8 points a piece but the escapees were dragged back into the peleton and Voeckler finished in a higher overall position than Schroder he donned the Polka Dot Jersey at the end of the day.

The closing kilometres all the GC favourites could be seen near the front of the pack. A few riders tried unsuccessfully to make a final attack for the line but when Kim Kirchen over took Stephan Schumacher in the final few 100 meters it looked like he had done enough to take it, but the line just didn’t come soon enough and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde swooped around him and crossed the line to take the first Maillot Juan. All the favourite were right there with Evans, Ricco, Frank Schleck and others in the top ten.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia Riccardo Riccò (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne

4.36.07 0.01

YOUANDI-RIDE Has Spoke’N!