No Utahns in the race this year
Like most weeks in late June and early July, pro cyclist Levi Leipheimer has been riding through valleys and mountains to log training hours on his bike.
Only this year, his views are of the Wasatch Mountains and not the French Alps.
For the first time since 2002 when he made his Tour de France debut, Leipheimer isn't participating in cycling's grandest race.
Leipheimer's team, Astana, was banned from the race officially because tour organizers said the team had too many ties to past drug scandals.
However, a prevailing belief is the French were tired of Johan Bruyneel coaching a rider to a win.
Bruyneel guided Lance Armstrong to seven wins and Alberto Contador to the 2007 title.
The ban means Contador can't defend his title and that Leipheimer, the third-place finisher a year ago and who would have been America's best hope, is spending the coming weeks grunting through the local mountains instead of the Alps.
Leipheimer, the Rowland Hall graduate who resides in California, is training in Utah under the guidance of his coach, Max Testa.
Instead of the yellow jersey, Leipheimer's goal this summer is a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. However, he would have liked to have both on his calendar, Testa said.
"Being in Spain now would be too hard for him," Testa said. "I am trying to keep him busy. It would be hard for him to watch on TV."
Also not participating in the 2008 Tour is Salt Lake rider Dave Zabriskie, who is recovering from a crash in May.
Being unable to participate was particularly hard for Leipheimer because it was for reasons out of his control and because he felt he had a good shot at winning, Testa said.
"This is the race all his career he focuses on," Testa said. "He felt he could win. Last year he thought he could win but unfortunately for him the other strongest rider was on his own team."
Leipheimer will race in the Cascade Classic in Bend, Ore., July 9-13 as part of his preparation for the Olympics.
"The Olympics are his main focus now, the tour is next year," Testa said.
The tour will have just four Americans in the race, three of whom are support riders on Garmin Chipotle. The other is George Hincapie, a captain for Team Columbia who is riding in support of Kim Kirchen.
"From our standpoint, it's going to be a different tour for the American people," Testa said. "I don't know if we have anyone who can go for the overall."
The one who could will be here, in Salt Lake City, riding the up beautiful mountain climbs, just not the ones he wanted to be on right now.
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Selangor cyclist has to fend off Azizol in bid for Sukma gold
IT is going to be tougher for Selangor cyclist Mohd Akmal Amrun to defend his gold medal in the men's 1km time trial at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Terengganu from May 31 to June 9.
Selangor Cycling Association (SCA) secretary Amrun Misnoh admitted Akmal would face a stiff test going up against Olympic-bound cyclist Azizol Hasni Awang in the sprint event.
"Akmal contributed three gold medals for Selangor at the previous Games held in Kedah two years ago. Then, he took the 1km individual time trial, 40km individual time trial and 80km criterium point race," he added.
However, the SCA is aiming to repeat the feat and match the three gold medal achievement at the upcoming biennial Games.
The team comprising 12 men and eight women cyclists went through the paces in the centralised training for three weeks under the guidance of three coaches - Valentine Sotnikov, Nazali Talib and former national cyclist Shahrulneeza Razali.
The 21-year-old Akmal said he had a thorough preparation as a build up for his final appearance at Sukma.
"I am confident that I will be among the medal contenders for both the 1km and 45km individual time trial. I will also be featuring in the team time trial. But, I am still not sure whether I will get to ride in the team road race," added Akmal, who is pursuing his pre-university education at Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS).
Besides Akmal, Selangor will also have the service of national cyclist Rauf Nur Misbah to fight for the top spot on the podium in the men's individual road race.
In addition, the quartet of Uracca Leow, Nurul Ahmar Badrul Zaman, Nurul Shafinaz Moklas and Muslihah Salim are also expected to spearhead the Selangor challenge to bag the gold medal in the women's team time trial.
Selangor has also included rookie Hamdan Hamidon in the men's line-up.
The 14-year-old, making his debut at the Games, will take part in the men's criterium and mountain bike cross-country events.
"Training with the seniors in the Sukma squad has been a good learning experience. For each ride, we register up to 150km. It has always been tough to keep up with the pace set by the more established riders," said Hamdan, a SMK Seksyen 11, Shah Alam student.
Meanwhile, Hamdan and newcomer Malek Marcus Abd Tariq confirmed their places for an international junior tour at St Petersburg, Russia in July.
"This will be our fourth time taking part in the tour. Although we did not do well in the first two editions, we have been making steady progress over the past two years. We accomplished our best outing last year and we are going all out to maintain our good run in the tour," added Amrun.
Last season, the pint-sized Hamdan took the final two stages to emerge the team's best performer.
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Teutenberg fends off chasing field for Aude win
High Road speedster Ina-Yoko Teutenberg kept the opposition at bay by a handful of seconds to clinch the win in Wednesday's stage five of the Tour de L'Aude. At the end of a 60 kilometre attack, Teutenberg and her breakaway companion Charlotte Becker finished just four seconds ahead of the field.
"It was truly spectacular," said sports director Ronny Lauke. "With ten kilometres to go, Ina had an advantage of just 50 seconds, but she managed to hold on by the skin of her teeth."
"I didn't think we'd make it," said Teutenberg after the stage. "At 2.5km to go they were right on us. But there was a bridge that really hurt and I think that messed up the chase a little. I just put my head down and went as hard as I could. It seemed like such a long way. When I saw the 500m to go mark I accelerated and managed to hold it," said Teutenberg.
"The bunch could see Ina all the time from about six kilometres to go," added Lauke. "They knew she was out there, they knew they had to catch her, but they couldn't do it. It was really exciting. What’s great is that Ina enjoyed herself. She loves getting away in breaks like that and seeing what happens."
Teutenberg's move was planned from the start. In a pre-race meeting, the High Road squad had decided to go with the breaks. "She attacked after the second climb of the day, just when Becker decided to make a move as well. Charlotte's a great time triallist, so it made sense to keep going, even though the wind kept changing direction and making it very tough for the two of them."
"There was a technical section after the climb which suited Ina's bike handling skills well and meant they could build up a big gap quickly on the bunch. It was close at the end, but she still managed to do it!"
Last year Teutenberg won the final stage of the Tour de L'Aude in a similar long, two-rider, break.
Copyright Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
ORBA supports grassroots women's racing
In support of women's cycling, the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) announced a new grassroots women's racing series, the Norman Babcock Category four Women's Series. Named in honor Norman Babock, a strong supporter of women's cycling who recently passed away from cancer, the goal of the series is to draw women cyclists to try racing. In conjunction with the Monday Night Portland International Raceway women's intro clinics and women's clinics throughout the state, the series will provide an opportunity for Cat 4 women to try out their racing skills.
The promoters have agreed to run separate Cat 4 women's fields for the following races, which will culminate in the Eugene Celebration Stage Race: Swan Island Criterium on June 8; Salem Fairview Circuit Race on June 29; High Desert Road Race on August 3; Mary's Peak Hillclimb on August 16; and the Eugene Celebration Stage Race from August 30 to September 1.
"This is a great opportunity to increase grass roots participation in women's racing," says Kenji Sugahara, Executive Director of OBRA. "We are working closely with many sponsors and promoters to create an exciting and supportive environment for women's cycling.
Copyrigth Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
Vital: Record Cycle Team Are All Training Hard And Sweating Pints
May 5 2008 John Ferguson
WITH just a few weeks left before Scotland's toughest bike race, the Record's cycling team have been getting serious about training.
In our final preparation for the gruelling 81-mile Caledonian Etape, myself, Magnus Gardham and Mark McGivern have been hammering in the miles in the hope of . . . well finishing at all would be good.
Weekly runs of up to 40 miles, taking in climbs over the lung-busting Campsie Fells, have slowly but surely been beginning to impact on our fitness levels as the big day draws closer.
The only problem is that our warm-down drinking sessions in the pub are regularly lasting longer than the actual bike rides.
The dark horse of our little group has turned out to be mild-mannered political editor Gardham.
He has been leading from the front, sometimes pounding out over 100 miles a week, and up to four pints to finish off a weekend run.
So dedicated is the man that on a week's annual leave, Magnus took his wife to Carlisle on the train then revealed that the plan was to cycle home.
Meanwhile, marathon runner McGivern has been proving to be a slippery customer when he's out on the road.
Just when you think you have him beat, he will find some reason to stop and discuss the route in order to catch his breath, then race off into the distance.
My own performances have been mixed.
After a slow start, I have begun to improve to the level just above absolutely awful.
While McGivern and Gardham have been vying for the yellow jersey on every training run, I have been hanging on for dear life, then nonchalantly trying to pretend I found it easy at the end.
On May 18, just like the Etape du Tour, the roads of Perth will be closed for seven hours of traffic-free cycling.
About 2500 riders will head west from Pitlochry around Loch Rannoch before looping back to the start.
Last year's winner, Ed Woodhouse, crossed in a super-human three hours and 48 minutes.
If all three of us manage to cross it at all, it will be a fantastic achievement.
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Milram's game plan may propel Roels
Milram cannot rely on its super sprinters Erik Zabel and Alessandro Petacchi at Rund um den Henninger Turm, so the milk team had to change its game plan. They will now try to get into breakaways and hope to evade the bunch sprint, where High Road would be the big favourite. The team can look to experience in the form of Christian Knees or to the youth, with Dominik Roels.
Two years ago, Roels was celebrating his 19th birthday while training on Mallorca, with no other than Jan Ullrich. Lots has happened since. Ullrich announced his retirement, still facing some questions about doping from the Swiss federation. And Roels, who was still doing a lot of U23 races last year, caught the eye of Milram, who secured the young German for its line-up. Roels has shaken of the bad news in cycling. "If I would see the future of cycling negatively ... I don't think I would have the motivation to concentrate my life on cycling."
At only 21 years of age, he emphasised that "I hope I can still be a professional for a long time, so I hope that the situation will be getting better again in cycling. I hope the emotions can be again like in the years, when Jan Ullrich caused the cycling boom [in Germany]."
The youngster is aware that "I still could do two years of U23 races. I started riding for a ProTour team at a very young age and I think I still need a little time to reach the same level with the pros as I had it in the U23 category." But he emphasised he is also happy with his performances so far.
While he cautioned that "I would say having left a good impression at Pais Vasco is relative, seeing that a rider like Alberto Contador is a few kilometres per hour faster than I," he was happy to have completed some "tough races." Asked about the differences between the U23 races and the ProTour races, he said that "the distances, except for races like Liege-Bastogne-Liege, are the same as last year. I did a few races that came close to 200 kilometres." But the difference is in speed, especially at the end of the races, "where the pros really put down the hammer."
Hailing from the Cologne area, he often trains with others from the dome city on the Rhine river, like Gerald Ciolek. "When we do longer sessions, we go out into the Eifel. There are some good climbs."
Roels used the climbing in the Basque Country and the training loops in the Eifel to bring himself into a good position. He is no stranger to the race as many of the German professionals have done this race in the amateur or youth categories. Roels finished third as a junior, so he knows how to do well in Frankfurt. He acknowledged that "I am fully motivated and I am always good for a surprise," indicating that he will not just ride in a support role.
The more experienced Christian Knees said that he wouldn't have a problem to support Roels, if the situation would allow it. The main thing is a win for the team, which would be especially nice in light of the fact that cannot participate. Knees also confirmed that Roels is still very young and will need some time. For his own ambitions, he indicated that "so far I have been able to go up all the climbs in the Taunus area. And towards Frankfurt it's all downhill!" the 1.94-metre giant laughed.
Knees confirmed that "the tactics will be different this time. We hope to be in all the breakaways and of course especially in the final selection." It should be an interesting Labour day for the 'new' Milram team in Germany.
Copyright Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
Fitness: Start fitness plan early to get in beach shape
Angie Ferguson - special to news-press.com - April 29, 2008
With the temperatures on the rise, you may find your thoughts drifting to sun-kissed beaches. If you're planning on relaxing and soaking up the sun, you're going to want to look your best.
But toned muscles, slim waists and the healthy glow of fitness don't just appear overnight. The key to getting beach-fit is to start your fitness plan early, rather than taking a crash course in training and dieting.
First things first: Turn up the resistance. Including resistance training exercises in your exercise program will not only tone your muscles, but also will also increase the amount of calories you burn throughout the day - even when at rest. The reason:
Muscle requires more energy than fat - so if you strength train, you'll not only tone your muscles but your engine will run faster and more efficiently, burning fat and calories 24 hours a day.
Look for good balance. When you look in the mirror, the main muscles you see are in the frontal plane - your abdominals, chest and biceps. Many times we train only the muscles we can see. However, this can lead to serious postural imbalances. Make sure you're paying due diligence to the muscles on the sides and back of your body too.
Incorporate cardiovascular training (CV) often. When we think about toning up, it's sometimes easy to neglect our CV training. For balanced health and fitness, CV training is essential to ensure your most important muscle - your heart, is properly trained too. And, an additional advantage of CV training is that it involves the lower body: running, cycling, walking, rollerblading, so these exercises help tone and strengthen your legs as well.
Despite what infomercials claim, you cannot spot-reduce. No matter how hard you try, abdominal curls will not give you the washboard stomach you're looking for. Rather, focus on training the entire core, or deep postural muscles. Good core strength will pull everything in and also improve your posture.
And of course, good exercise habits go hand-in-hand with proper nutrition. No matter how much you exercise, if you don't watch your intake, you'll never achieve your goals. Avoid processed foods (foods that come in packets) as they are generally low in nutritional quality and high in unwanted calories, fat and sugar. Always try to select whole-food choices for meals and snacks and keep in mind, proper food choices equal fewer calories.
Finally, stay hydrated. Inadequate hydration often presents false hunger pangs. Ensuring that a bottle of water is always available, at you desk, in your car, will help keep fluid levels topped off, make your skin look great and fend off false hunger symptoms.
- Angie Ferguson is a Fort Myers based exercise physiologist. She is a USA Level 2 Advanced Triathlon coach and USA Cycling coach. She can be reached at www.gearedup.biz
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