"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Well, I thought this was a pretty big deal...

Guess not.

Go Chris. Excellent job and a long painful journey getting all that crit training out of your legs to learn how to really race a bike. Romandie's a tough race.

It's on cyclingtv today...

There should be a screenplay about Chris Horner's life. And it should be made into a movie.

I don't think he was ever pigeon-holed as a crit rider. He has always been capable of winning on any course. Were it not for dirty Federation politics, he would have been on the 96 Olympic team, and the way he was going that summer, he likely would have won the RR.

There should be a screenplay about Chris Horner's life. And it should be made into a movie.

I don't think he was ever pigeon-holed as a crit rider. He has always been capable of winning on any course. Were it not for dirty Federation politics, he would have been on the 96 Olympic team, and the way he was going that summer, he likely would have won the RR.

Except it's his second trip over to Europe and all his racing was here...and he even talked about the huge difference between that racing and what's done over here and how hard it was/is to make the transition. That's my point...brought out by the Velonews op ed piece two editions ago about how the US domestic riders struggled in the Tour of California against the stage racers.

I admire his perseverance. And since he's only got about 20k to go today, hopefully he'll hang on to the lead.

Great job regardless of the outcome.

We need more events like the Virginia (US Open) race a few weeks ago.

Well, he smoked most of the field in the TT. Even beat Zabriskie by 2 seconds! I figured Savoldelli had it in the bag, but here's how it played out:

1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 26.36.24
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 0.05
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.12
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.23
5 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 0.46
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0.52
7 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 0.55
8 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.57

Final standings:

1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 17.27.02
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 0.11
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.34
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.43
5 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 0.46
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 1.35
7 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.51
8 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 1.53
9 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre - Fondital 1.55
10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.00

Well, he smoked most of the field in the TT. Even beat Zabriskie by 2 seconds! I figured Savoldelli had it in the bag, but here's how it played out:

1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 26.36.24
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 0.05
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.12
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.23
5 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Astana 0.46
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 0.52
7 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 0.55
8 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.57

Final standings:

1 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank 17.27.02
2 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Astana 0.11
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 0.34
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 0.43
5 Chris Horner (USA) Predictor - Lotto 0.46
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas 1.35
7 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.51
8 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 1.53
9 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre - Fondital 1.55
10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.00

Yeah, he said he was not sure he could do well enough in the TT to win, but thought the climbing was going to help him. He figured top 5...

Which he got.

Nice job!

Except it's his second trip over to Europe and all his racing was here....Jonathon Vaughters is quoted as saying he thought Horner had massive talent and the reason why he didn't make it in his first trip to Europe was his inability to adapt to the Euro lifestyle, not his "crit legs".

I think it was something about not finding a good hamburger.;)