Professional Cycling For the Fans - Tour of Utah Thread

I started one for the USA pro cycling challenge, figure we could use one for the similar 2.1 Tour of Utah.

Anyone going to watch on FSN or ROOT?

They put together a really good route this year. (Stage 4 looks like a real leg breaker.) It's harder than Colorado, but the field isn't as good. Danielson could win, but he'll probably be saving some energy for Colorado. I could see Leipheimer winning this. I'll be interested to see how Mancebo will do.

They put together a really good route this year. (Stage 4 looks like a real leg breaker.) It's harder than Colorado, but the field isn't as good. Danielson could win, but he'll probably be saving some energy for Colorado. I could see Leipheimer winning this. I'll be interested to see how Mancebo will do.

Do you really think Utah is going to be more difficult then Colorado? I just did some fancy spreadsheet work and came up with these figures:
TOU: 408.35 miles, 30,061 feet of climbing
USA: 507.37 miles, 36,258 feet of climbing

The Tour of Utah does make its numbers in 1 less day however.

Without day 6 of the USAPRO:
TOU: 408.35 miles, 30,061 feet of climbing
USA: 433.58 miles, 33,129 feet of climbing

Also, the Colorado race has the altitude factor, which is a big one.
Also, the better quality field in the Colorado race should make the race more difficult in my eyes.

However, I really like the venues for the Utah race, the race track and mountain top finish on the final stages, as well as the circuit like features of the race (including SLC) will make the Utah race more spectator friendly.

Both routes are punishing.

I agree that both races are going to be hard. The hardest thing about Colorado will be the elevation, not the actual stage profiles. Then again, I might be too harsh on Colorado based on what the stages could have been. Just look stage by stage.

Colorado
Prologue: Flat
Stage 1: Big climb, but it's very early in the stage. I like the short, uphill finish, but I think it's a stretch that they are calling that a mountain top finish.
Stage 2: Very tough stage with two climbs that break the 12,000-foot barrier. Guys will definitely get dropped, but it ends on the flats after a long descent, so some of them should be able to catch back up. The finish is almost 20 miles after the summit of the last climb.
Stage 3: TT. It's uphill and should be very interesting, but it's not all that steep.
Stage 4: Sprint Stage
Stage 5: Rabbit Ears Pass looks nice, but it's very early in the stage. Looks like a strongman type of sprint stage.
Stage 6: Sprint Stage

Utah:
Prologue: Uphill
Stage 1: 3 times up a decent climb, but the finish is downhill.
Stage 2: Sprint Stage
Stage 3: Flat TT
Stage 4: Very tough stage with 11 repeats of a short but difficult climb, finishing on an uphill.
Stage 5: The Queen. Two big climbs and a true mountain top finish.

I give Utah the nod. Except for Stage 1 it uses its elevation wisely. Colorado kind of packs in the elevation but less of it is decisive. Utah also has a true MTF and Colorado just leaves you wanting more. Utah ends with a bang while Colorado finishes with 3 stages that aren't likely to have an impact on GC. Colorado's Stage 2 is very tough, but mainly thanks to the altitude. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. Will Tommy D really have an advantage, or will they all suffer equally? Add that intrigue to a stronger field and Colorado could be more interesting, but Utah has a better route if you ask me. Utah's Stage 5 should be more decisive than Colorado's Stage 2.

"Over $116,000 in prize money and award jerseys will be available in 2011."
http://www.tourofutah.com/race/fact-sheet

Cycling isn't going to be confused with the NFL anytime soon.

I'm very interested to see how the prologue ITT goes. It seems to me to have LL's name written all over it. It's not very long but except for short downhill at the beginning it is pretty steep. Steep enough that many guys may not be using TT bikes. I'm curious to see if it will favor the climbers who are good at the TT or if the medium sized strong guys who can climb fast for short periods will be favored. DZ is a pretty good climber for short distances in a week long stage race setting. I'm really wondering if this stage has the potential to sort out some of the GC guys from the very beginning.

I'm very interested to see how the prologue ITT goes. It seems to me to have LL's name written all over it. It's not very long but except for short downhill at the beginning it is pretty steep. Steep enough that many guys may not be using TT bikes. I'm curious to see if it will favor the climbers who are good at the TT or if the medium sized strong guys who can climb fast for short periods will be favored. DZ is a pretty good climber for short distances in a week long stage race setting. I'm really wondering if this stage has the potential to sort out some of the GC guys from the very beginning.

Is this a joke? The prologue is a little over a mile... Unless there is a 20 minute time bonus for the winner, everything you said is a bunch of nonsense.

Live video on now: http://ec2.tourofutah.com/tourtracker/

I think Dave Z will take it.

Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure no-one guessed todays winner.

Spoiler:

I'm pretty sure no-one guessed todays winner.

That wasn't really a spoiler, but I'm glad because I read it despite the alert. :) Predicting who will win a 1.25 mile bike race is a pretty difficult, and inconsequential task really.

Is this a joke? The prologue is a little over a mile... Unless there is a 20 minute time bonus for the winner, everything you said is a bunch of nonsense.

I don't think so. I think it has possibly already showed us who the top ten that are really in contention are. Normally, I would say you are right. But this is a climbers stage race and I think the winner is likely one of the top ten in this prologue. But, as you say it is no guarantee since the times are not spread out enough and the winner of the queen stage can easily put 2-7 minutes on any of these guys if they are having a particularly good day.

Good Lord... the footage on Root Sports looks like it was filmed with a webcam at 20 frames per second. The colors aren't even balanced for daylight color temperatures it seems. Everything is green.

Good Lord... the footage on Root Sports looks like it was filmed with a webcam at 20 frames per second. The colors aren't even balanced for daylight color temperatures it seems. Everything is green.

Tour tracker was not much better. USAPCC was smart to get versus to do that race. I expect them to do a good job.

The Tour Tracker was basically a behind-the-scenes look at how they put together a highlight show. On the one hand it was embarrassing that they were showing that on the live stream and nobody caught it, but on the other hand I found it fascinating to see how the TV world works. As a kid I always wanted to be a sports broadcaster, but I have neither a silky smooth voice nor a likable personality.

Meanwhile, my Dave Z pick was terrible. I didn't realize he was still injured. Levi didn't look great, but he's going to gain a little time in the TT. The bad news for him is that the TT is only 9 miles long. Danielson looked very good, as did Mancebo. Obviously Henao was strong and his team may not be great overall, but having Sevilla up there in the standings could come in handy for him later.

Tour tracker is not doing much better today... more motorcycle camera man chatter than commentating. "re-takes" from the commentator when he messes up. they haven't showed the peleton in ages. just showing the breakaway and thats about it.. sometimes the shots are good.. sometimes they are from 200' away.

haha camera guy is *****ing his legs hurt or something and the driver is trying to tell him how to stand/sit so he is more comfy

The Tour Tracker was basically a behind-the-scenes look at how they put together a highlight show. On the one hand it was embarrassing that they were showing that on the live stream and nobody caught it, but on the other hand I found it fascinating to see how the TV world works.

Agreed. When I first started watching it today, I thought it might have been deliberate, sorta to let us feel like it we were part of the crew. Either way, it's still more interesting than just watching guys in spandex pedal up a road all day.

I'm actually watching it because of the screw ups - kinda like a live blooper reel.


Oh, and actually $1300 for that stationary bike isn't a bad deal at all.

Oh, and actually $1300 for that stationary bike isn't a bad deal at all.

I agree, I expected to see a price tag over 3 grand.

Towards the end of todays coverage things go a little better. I used to do hockey broadcasts at college, as well as being an on air meteorologist in college, so I can tell whos slouching. The main problem so far has been whoever operates the switcher needs to be quicker on the uptake when they loose a feed.

Also why do we have to watch them switch the tapes? Switch to another shot... As I said, I expect Versus to do a much better job in Colorado.

Great stuff from Gobernacion. Not so great for the major teams not named RadioShack. Henao is in a good position to win this thing. If he limits his losses in the TT he can drop Levi on the last stage.

Yea the end got better. even most of it was decent.. they just left it on weird shots far away. Setting up the Heli shots was not fun to watch though.. was like sitting on a rollercoaster out of control.

Oh, and actually $1300 for that stationary bike isn't a bad deal at all.

a quick hijack...

Yes...not a bad deal for some. However, I bought this bike and have recently returned it. While it absolutely is rock solid, shipped to front door just fine and has integrated vertical movement and some neat software, it lacked adjustment for me to the point it was unusable for my 6'3" frame. Additionally, it set up really well with minimal bolts etc. and has it's own wrench included. It is heavy (around 148 lbs) and cumbersome but helps with top heavy riders (my riding weight is 175 lbs).

But that was not the problem.

I expected handle adjustments, greater saddle adjustments, and certainly a seat post adjustment that would manage my 35 inseam. IMO; any serious cyclist would expect more large and fine adjustments to keep his/her position near that of their optimum with a dedicated machine of this price. Too much is placed with the 20 percent +/- elevation, software and mapping rather than the "usability" of the actual machine. Some of the rides from the TdF that are pre-loaded will cause some real knee popping if you can't get fit dialed in correctly. With the lack of handle movement and the "V" geometry between handle tube and seat tube along with the saddle limited in forward adjustment you soon find your pedal spindle well ahead of the rest of you as you approach, IME, 6 foot or above. Even still, my wife of 5'6" felt "odd" and compromised with fit.

Again, a well manufactured machine that can take punishment and the company has honored my RMA without hassle. Great people over the phone...with apologies left and right. But buyer beware...fit and sizing limitation maybe a issue for some...and as I found and told them...I had wished there were some comments regarding this on the website. The hassle of re-box and return shipment along with the 4 to 6 week refund back to my account is not great.

My stationary bike in our community gym serves me much better on those rain days. And, even from the same company (and others) there appears to be a better (less expensive) stationary bikes of "gym quality" with more adjustment.

The commercial we viewed over and over during the tour was cool along with a couple of reviews I read sold me in that moment of online purchase. I also think the TdF sticker on this bike would have made me spin faster :roll eyes:

Hope this helps in your decision to purchase. Good luck.

Good Lord... the footage on Root Sports looks like it was filmed with a webcam at 20 frames per second. The colors aren't even balanced for daylight color temperatures it seems. Everything is green.

The image was poor and the audio often missing. But after following this tour for the last few years it is nice to have something. It may have been partly intentional so that the national broadcast looked much better. I don't know but would like to see the Fox Sports Network edited version. I was at my house watching the race on the internet while the race went within 3 blocks of my house. I would get on my bike and fly out to cheer the guys when they came by. Then I rode over to the finish. Jesse Anthony was flying down that final flat straight to the finish line. And I can tell you that the last circuit was spectacular. A total blow out which I wasn't expecting. The peloton was shattered by the attacks on the last circuit.

The lack of cooperation really did the main group in it seems. The break did great work together, even if Anthony skipped a lot of pulls. He played his cards just right and did enough work to keep from getting attacked out of the break.

Stage 2 looks to be much less of a decisive day with not much climbing (less than 3000 feet of it on the day). From what I've read crosswinds may be present which would help to hold together the pack but potentially cause a crash or two. What would be the best day for any sprinter type will probably go to a puncheur (sp?) due to the reported uphill nature of the finish.

Im sure after the first day out on the road the camera crews and technical staff will know what worked and what didn't and do a better job today. At least in theory.

I'd like to know who did the write ups on the stage descriptions on the tour of utah.com website... wtf is a "punch kick" lol think he was going for Bunch sprint but missed. and eschelons are not little groups.. they are side drafting at an angle with the wind....

just finished watching Fox recording of last night's broadcast. Make one really appreciate the HD coverate of TdF and TofC, among others. But that said, interesting finish. I think Levi is 'in it to win it', and unless the Columbians really do turn out to be better than expected, I think he can do it.

I agree.. between Levi's TT and him paired up with Jani in the hills.. should be a few good days on the weekend.

For another good race the Eneco tour in holland/belgium that is going on is pretty fun to watch. Bunch of the usual euro guys are in there.. Gilbert, Farrar, Greipel. Good coverage by British Eurosport through Steephill.tv

The lack of cooperation really did the main group in it seems. The break did great work together, even if Anthony skipped a lot of pulls. He played his cards just right and did enough work to keep from getting attacked out of the break.

Stage 2 looks to be much less of a decisive day with not much climbing (less than 3000 feet of it on the day). From what I've read crosswinds may be present which would help to hold together the pack but potentially cause a crash or two. What would be the best day for any sprinter type will probably go to a puncheur (sp?) due to the reported uphill nature of the finish.

Im sure after the first day out on the road the camera crews and technical staff will know what worked and what didn't and do a better job today. At least in theory.

Stage 2 seemed like it would be a normal sprinters stage for the most part. I think the usual winds in this area were not too bad because the average speed of the race was very high. Over 27 mph so there was either a lot of tail winds or a very excited peloton. Somehow the ending of the race did not transpire as was thought it would. I think when TJV attacked with about 4-5 kilometers to go it really confused the sprinters teams. It looked like he was going to do it but he lost his power during the last 1.5 kilometers or so. Between that and two crashes in the final few kilometers there was a lot of indecision at the front of the peloton. I guess there were no big lead out trains or teams like we see in the big tours to crank up the pace so high that no one can break free at the end.

I have a feeling that a lower video budget is part of the culprit for the lost live video link. They did not seem to have the helicopter until the last hour or so of the race. Probably to save money. Whenever the race would approach a hill on either side of the road the signal would get lost from the motorcycle camera's. I don't know how they were beaming their signal but either the signal was getting blocked at times or there was a bandwidth problem on the internet servers. I think this is why the big network doesn't do real live video for the bike race. That plus they want more time for cutting it up for advertizing and for other programs.

I imagine that it is very expensive to do full live coverage with high quality. Probably would require having your own satellite high bandwidth signal and a satellite at just the right location for your racing venue. A set of requirements that small budget operations could probably not get setup. Even for the TDF which usually has the best live coverage I know of they have to have a few mobile signal relay trucks nearby. I imagine they have a whole crew of guys inside to composite the video and relay it to a satellite. To do it in near real time is probably really expensive. The more it is time shifted the cheaper it can be done.

Towards the end of the stage they were really having problems with the video and they were fudging back footage in between the helicopter shots but it was obvious that it was hacked together to cover up problems that they were having. It was not even obvious to me that TJV had been passed because they went over that part of the race video with commercials. Totally unethical in my view. Why they put in commercials during the last 2-3 minutes of the race is beyond me but it is really offensive.

Havent watched this tour at all but where in the world are the results or something??? I see some pdf files with some results but it is that hard to pay the web designer to publish the results in the web site itself?

NERD ALERT: I watched the first two events now on Root Sports and just saw the Fox Ohio listing and tuned to the replay. The Root feed is 15 - yes 15! frames per second. Wow. It's also weirdly playing 2 frames, then doing a jitter 3rd frame, then a repeat 4th frame. They are also showing it in a 4:3 pillar box with 10% zoom lost so you miss the first letter of everything on the left edge.

Now, on FoxOhio, they are doing a 16:9 stretch of the original 4:3, so you see everything, but everyone is squished and fat...makes me feel good! Their video is still 15fps, from the helicopter and most motorcycles, but I saw some motorcycle feeds that are 30fps...I wonder if that was also the case on Root and I just didn't catch it.
NERD OUT.

I'm not suprised. I guessed 20 fps earlier in the thread. I'm not a videographer or anything, but I think it bothers me more than most. It's really borderline unwatchable for me.

Who are the two commentators in the live feed from the web site??? They call some stuff wrong, they scream and stuff.. pretty annoying

ps: no wonder nobody wants to broadcast the race at least in this area, those 2 commentators are really annoying. They need to get somebody else in my opinion.

Congrats to TJVG. Henao lost more time than I thought. I wonder if Henao will try an attack now to set up Sevilla. The next two stages are very hard and Gobernacion is a team of fighters, so it should be an interesting weekend.

:rant:

OMG!! FOX SUCKS!! Talk about gaining an appreciation for other broadcasters!! Besides the hokey, amateur commentators, the fps rates and everything else mentioned so far ... where were the results after stage 1? You had to tune in the next day to get them! Where are the running time gaps? They mention time gaps MAYBE twice in a race! They don't even mention breakaways! We didn't even know Jesse Anthony was out on a solo break for some 30 miles until he caught and passed the day's earlier break!!

Stage 2 was almost as clueless, and now I just tuned in to watch today's stage, the ITT. What do I get? A recap of the prologue and stages 1 and 2, and you have to tune in tomorrow sometime to see stage 3! :troll:

That's it. I'm done. Fox sucks, and I'll just read VeloNews for my results. They post them a full 8 hours before Fox's broadcast anyway!

Are you listening, advertisers??!!

Ok, Root Sports is just showing the prologue again instead of today's time trial. Who do I e-mail to just get everybody fired all at once?

grrrrr. same for Fox. just a recap of the prev. days, no ITT!

Great race today, even if the coverage did suck and it took until now to find out how much time Henao gained back on Leipheimer. Henao is now just 23 seconds back on GC. He could win this thing tomorrow. He's looking strong and the Gobernacion team is actually looking better than RadioShack.

I still don't get why RadioShack let that break get away. There were some strong riders in there and the peloton is smaller than normal, so it's dangerous to let such a big break go.

Yea.. they messed up for sure. they burned a lot of legs getting it back as much as they did. Levi will have to earn it a lot on his own tomorrow up Little cottonwood if he's going to get the win. has to watch Henao and sevilla and ignore everyone else.. CVV isn't going to pull 1:18 back on a mountain.. Mark, follow, win :)

It is early morning Sunday. Is there a decent, live internet feed that I can watch today's final Queen Stage? From reading above, it sounds like there isn't any consistent coverage.

It is early morning Sunday. Is there a decent, live internet feed that I can watch today's final Queen Stage? From reading above, it sounds like there isn't any consistent coverage.

http://ec2.tourofutah.com/tourtracker/

Live broadcast at 11:00 mountain time

http://ec2.tourofutah.com/tourtracker/

Live broadcast at 11:00 mountain time

Thanks!!! I just got back and strapped in. I think they are passing by Deer Creek Reservoir and are just about to the bottom of climb up to top of Alpine Loop.

ok.. this guy has to stop calling it a grand tour... he's said it like 4 times now.

well the live feed was better than FOX. all done til Colorado!

6 days till Vuelta

Perfect ride by Levi today.. have Radioshack ride to keep the breaks reasonable. stick to Hadao's wheel like glue and giving him the stage was classy. Hadao busted his ass trying to shake him so he deserved that respect.

6 days till Vuelta

Perfect ride by Levi today.. have Radioshack ride to keep the breaks reasonable. stick to Hadao's wheel like glue and giving him the stage was classy. Hadao busted his ass trying to shake him so he deserved that respect.

This is what I don't understand about racing. It looked like Levi could have easily blown by Hadao during the final climb. By not racing for the stage win, wasn't Levi saying "I'm better than you, but you can win anyway." How is that classy?

This is what I don't understand about racing. It looked like Levi could have easily blown by Hadao during the final climb. By not racing for the stage win, wasn't Levi saying "I'm better than you, but you can win anyway." How is that classy?

The other option was the beat him and say "I'm gonna win this thing and not even allow you the consolation prize of the stage win cause I'm a greedy jerk". Aside from all of that, Levi has more racing to do in a week, and he needs to save energy for that. How stupid would he feel if he had burned the extra energy today, then lost the next race by two seconds or something cause his legs were tired?

Because Levi has won this tour before, had this one in the bag.. he didn't need to win the stage, let this kid have some glory and a bit of cash for putting out one impressive ride. Gobernacion is a tiny little team and held their own against some tour pro's with some major players on them. they get recognition for their sponsor, levi gets another 1 week tour win, everyone can be happy. Gobernacion also won the team competition too i think.

It's like when Cav can let Renshaw get a stage when they blow everyone away as payback for leading him out all year. It is a gift.

“My number 1 goal, my only goal,” Leipheimer said after claiming the overall victory at the 2011 Tour of Utah, “was to win the race.”

"“The way the Gobernacion team rode today and all week, they deserved to win,” Leipheimer said.

That is classy.

Too bad for Henao. I was rooting for him to take the win. I'm looking forward to see what Gobernacion can do in Colorado.

This is what I don't understand about racing. It looked like Levi could have easily blown by Hadao during the final climb. By not racing for the stage win, wasn't Levi saying "I'm better than you, but you can win anyway." How is that classy?

It's not so certain that Levi could have blown by him near the finish. Maybe, but's it's a dangerous gamble. Henao already beat Levi in a sprint to the line in stage 1 so Levi knows the he is a better sprinter. Levi looked good and maybe could have attacked with 3 km to go. But he may have burned himself out doing it and Henao may have found what he needed to beat Levi by 23 seconds. They could have sprinted it out in the last 500 meters and I think Hedao would have won anyway. And Levi may have lost a couple of more seconds which wouldn't have mattered.

Levi is calculating. He is also thinking about saving energy for the Colorado race. And Hedao really probably hurt Levi on that climb more then it showed which is why Levi did not try to blow him out at the top. Say that Levi had attacked at around the 3 km to go mark. He may have died at 1 km to go. And when you die on these steep hills you can loose time really fast. He could have attacked at 2 km to go but probably though that he didn't have enough to do it convincingly.

Levi is not a good sprinter at all. He had a 'lucky chance' of coming around Henao only because Henao was in the front leading for so long, but even so it's doubtful. You can call it a gift, but I personally think Levi just choose not to contest a sprint that he probably would not have won.

I don't recognize many of the Radio Shack teammates Levi has riding with him in the Colorado race that starts on Tuesday. For example, there is no Brajkovic, Kloden, Horner or Zubeldia. Except for Horner, those guys are all in the Vuelta. I would guess the chances for another Levi victory are not real high for Colorado. Besides no Brako, there is stiffer competition --- Schlecks and Evans for example. Radio Shack should do well in the Vuelta.

Radio Shack Colorado Team: George Bennett, Philip Deignan, Ben Hermans, Ben King, Levi Leipheimer, Jason McCartney, Dmitriy Muravyev, Ivan Rovny

Radio Shack Vuelta Team: Jani Brajkovic, Matthew Busche, Markel Irizar, Andreas Klöden, Geoffroy Lequatre, Tiago Machado, Nelson Oliveira, Sérgio Paulinho & Haimar Zubeldia