I’ve watched footage of Fabian Cancellara’s Worlds time trial win five times today. Unbelievable! Much respect.

I’m back in Savannah and slow to report my trip up north. So instead, I checked to see what’s happened in La Vuelta. I am surprised to see a large number of withdrawals from big name cyclists: Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Alexander Vinokourov, Sandy Casar, Sébastien Chavanel, Tom Boonen, and even Tyler Farrar. Poor Saxo Bank! Lots of illness, injury, and exhaustion going around with the riders. Given the end of the season is nearing, it’s understandable. On the other hand, lucky number 51, Caisse d’Epargne’s Alejandro Valverde holds onto the general classification. But with a week left of racing, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The gold jersey could surprise us.

Image courtesy of Saxo Bank Taking the Lead.

P.S. Check out the huge crash of Stage 4.

“My Every Changing Moods” by the Style Council featuring a cycling Paul Weller. This song fuels my creativity during my last week of class. Keep on keepin’ on!

* Embedding is disabled so click to visit the YouTube page to watch it.

Wow. Love it. Via Lance Armstrong’s twitter.

The Brothers Schleck

Every time I put laundry away I’m reminded of Jonathan’s enormous hat collection. He has a lot of cycling caps, which are my favorite, of course. Take a look at all of them! There’s probably a bunch that are still hidden away that I couldn’t find. His collection includes Team Discovery Channel, Garmin-Slipstream (his newest addition), 2006 Tour de France Polka Dots, Eddy Merckx, Phonak, Mapei, pink Campagnolo (my favorite), etc.



Most of the caps were acquired during his employment as a bike mechanic. But one of them was purchased in France after he rode up Mont Ventoux!

"My relationship with Lance is non-existent. Even if he is a great champion, I have never had admiration for him and I never will."

— Alberto Contador on Lance Armstrong

Cheers to the end of the 2009 Tour de France. I’m looking forward to the Tour of Ireland and the Vuelta.

"Everybody cheats. I just didn’t know."

— Dennis Christopher as Dave Stoller (Breaking Away)

“Bike Ride to the Moon” by Dukes of the Stratosphear

Oh, Andy. You did a great job today!