Withdraw

To abandon, fail, give up, be forced to end

with·draw
verb
1. remove or take away (something) from a particular place or position.
2. leave or come back from a place, especially a war zone.

Le Tour calls it "no longer riding", whatever you call it, watching it was really painful. It is a testament to the mental strength and physical toughness of a professional bike racer that they do not give up easily. Many of the riders who have withdrawn from the Tour de France this year suffered fractures, some tried to ride on through the pain to the point of non function.

Today was an emotional day of tears at the Tour de France. Not a good day, regardless if you are the type that tries to see the glass as half full. Sure Nibali, Valverde, Porte, VanGarderen, and four French men (!) are still in the fight, but the sight of Tony Gallopin drooling in the final kilometers and sobbing over the finish line, sums up how many of us felt about the day, Bastille Day to boot.

All the attention given to who will win pre-race, all the focus on training and preparation, all the confidence demonstrated - can be shattered within seconds. Yes this is the race, an analogy of life itself, and yes the saying, "Life is not fair, shut up and suffer," applies. But Stage 10 seemed sad and cruel today, even with Peter Sagan's let's cheer everyone up with an 11% no hands wheelie over the finish line.

Stage 10 of the TDF, down 4 team leaders, my favorite out plus @iamtedking today, and I've lost my tolerance for Phil and Paul commentary.
— Pedal Dancer (@karenrake) July 14, 2014

Stage 10  had a major impact on the overall GC standings and on the remainder of the race. I for one am glad there is a rest day tomorrow because I need to decide how, what and whom I am going to watch for the remaining thirteen days.

General Classification after Stage 10 (thank you Steephill.TV for compiling)
ITA  1  NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA)                         42:33:38
AUS  2  PORTE, Richie (SKY)                                +  2:23
ESP  3  VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR)            +  2:47
FRA  4  BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE)                  +  3:01
FRA  5  GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO BELISOL)                     +  3:12
FRA  6  PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr)                            +  3:47
USA  7  VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING)                   +  3:56
FRA  8  PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE)         +  3:57
POR  9  FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (LAMPRE - MERIDA)      +  3:58
NED  10 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN)                            +  4:08
BEL  11 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL)             +  4:18
DEN  12 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA)                           +  4:31
POL  13 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP)    +  4:39
GBR  14 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY)                              +  5:17

Tremendously sad sight today as Alberto Contador abandoned the race. (Photo AP) via @Telegraph link to tweet

Three more riders today were added to the growing list of 18 withdraws for the 2014 TDF:

Rest Day
Fsbian Cancellara TFR quit

Stage 10
Matthew Hayman OGE 
Ted King CAN
Alberto Contador TCS (video)

Stage 9
Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel COF

Stage 8
Frank Mathias  IAM (DNS)
Bart De Clercq LTB

Stage 7
Danny Van Poppel TFR
John Darwin Atapuma BMC
Stef Clement BEL

Stage 6
Ariel Macimiliano Ticheze LAM (DNS)
Jesus Alberto Hernandez Blazquez TCS
Egor Silin KAT
Zabier Zandio Echaide SKY

Stage 5
Chris Froome SKY

Stage 4
Andy Shcleck TFR (DNS)
Greg Henderson LTB

Stage 3
Sacha Modolo LTB
Mark Cavendish OPQ (DNS)

Was Contador's bike broken?

Photo of the damaged toptube, downtube, seattube and VeloNews report whether the damaged was caused under Contador or by a car (and six possible scenarios NOT accurate). This article explains the story of the day the best: The Independent, we were so confident in Alberto we didn't have a plan B. With Nicolas Roche's eye witness account.

Update 07/15/14:

Contador's big fall was caused when he reached for food in his back pocket while descending (the fall that Valverde witnessed as his "handlebars slipped"). Contador received a bike from teammate Nicolas Roche. Roche reported that Alberto's bike was broken in the fall. Roche waited with Alberto's bike for the team car. Contador road on a bit with Roche's encouragement, then stopped at the side of the road for the medical and team cars to catch up with him. The bike on scene at the side of the road while Contador was attended to was in fact Roche's bike. Alberto was bandaged, got new shoes and got back on yet another replacement bike taken from the team car. He continued with Sergio Paulhino and Nicolas Roche, coming upon Rafel Makjka and Michael Rogers a little later up the road, after 10km that adrenalin rush faded into inability and Cantador's abandon. Five of his teammates banded together in a team time trial formation and finished the race 18 minutes behind the race leader.

Indeed the broken #31 bike was Contador's, and indeed it was broken in the fall. Saxo-Tinkoff claims it was broken when hitting a Belkin team car.

Men of carbon and steel

After the race and all the talk and controversy over Alberto Contador's broken bike, it was quickly discovered that Alberto had ridden 18km on a fractured tibia. He was seen dancing on the pedals through the pain. Chris Froome himself had also attempted to steer his way onto the cobbles with a fractured hand and wrist just days earlier. No one can say the modern men of the peloton are without the right stuff.

And what of Tiago Machado (NetApp-Enduro report) today? Reported to have abandoned after a long skidding fall, he crawled back out of the ambulance onto his bike and continued racing. He finished dead last (43'06" after Nibali) along with teammate Andreas Schillinger, over the time cutoff, but Le Tour race jury has allowed both men to remain in the race. These are the stories of modern legend.

By far my favorite camera footage of the day could be seen at 90,8km into the race after Alberto Contador's fall. As a battered and bloody Contador floated up the road climbing behind his teammates, one by one each rider turned to watch the marvel. They must have been thinking as they turned in succession to face this brave man, what happened to him?!

Soon everyone would know that one of the most talented climbers would abandon the race just kilometers up the road, and this, the first major climbing day of the Tour. It was the solitary drop of a head by Michael Rogers, riding near Alberto after a discussion next to their team car, that signaled what was about to happen.

Alberto Contador would withdraw.

Contador and Armstrong

Remember when these two men were teammates? 

Their union on the Astana team was only 3 years ago! So much has changed since then. The battle raged between these two men then and has since evolved into individual battles against agencies, testimony, codes, rules, truth and time. We have all heard the news by now - Lance got off, Alberto got banned. Or as I read in a text from a friend, "Lance wins again!" Well, I personally don't believe there are any winners in either of these cases. Only outcomes. Justified or not, these outcomes have now become fact. 

The facts:

• Alberto Contador has been given a 2-year ban for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, backdated to January 25, 2011 (with some credit for his previous suspension period), his punishment will end August 5, 2012. After he returns, any points he earns in races over the next two years will not count for his team.
• Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France victory, he has also been stripped of his 2011 Giro' d' Italia win and any other victories after February 2011.
• Alberto Contador has paid for his legal expenses, and may have to pay for the legal expenses of the UCI which is seeking a €2,485,000 fine from Contador. 
• The Press released the news of Alberto Contador's positive blood test results on September 29, 2010. The next day Contador claimed his positive test for 50 picograms of clenbuterol during the Tour de France on July 21, 2010 in Pau, was due to ingesting contaminated beef. He was immediately suspended by the UCI. But Contador was then cleared in full by the RFEC (Royal Spanish Cycling Federation) on February 16, 2011 and returned to racing. The UCI and WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) disagreed with the RFEC decision and continued their own investigation finally concluding today, after 565 days of suspense, in a guilty verdict.

• The U.S. Federal Investigation against Lance Armstrong has been dropped.
• The USADA (Drug Administration) may proceed in further drug-use (or misuse) investigation on Armstrong.
• Lance Armstrong has incurred tremendous legal expenses since before his case began in May 2010, so too have many of his former US Postal teammates, who may not be out of the woods quite yet.

You are remembered for the rules you break. ~ Douglas MacArthur 

The news is shocking, but I think we will look back over time and realize it was the only outcome possible. There are people who need to believe in Lance Armstrong, whatever his service to Livestrong.org (or Livestrong.com lucrative service to him), Armstrong is a part of the modern history and development of this sport. Perhaps not an admirable example of how it should have been done, but how it was done - 7 times. I am one who believes that doping was prominent in the sport, rules were broken, cheaters won, but did Armstrong commit a crime in the United States? Apparently that was either too long or too expensive or simply not worth proving. Still I believe it has tainted his legacy.

A hard-working Lance Armstrong ©Photo by PedalDancer/ArchRake

Rules are not necessarily sacred, principles are. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I recently was grateful for an interview with Peter Thomson of Thomson Bike Tours. Peter operates cycling tours as an official tour operator for A.S.O. races and has seen a lot of races in person on the roads of Europe, and raced with Bernard Hinault on the La Vie Clair team back in the day. When I asked Peter the question, "Which rider appears to you to have the most natural talent on a bicycle?" Without hesitation he answered, "In modern times, there is only one guy and that is Contador, he was born to ride a bike. I know he is not popular in the States ... but he is a phenomenal rider, he looks great on a bike, he is an attacking rider, he goes for it. He doesn't sit back and play tactics ... at the Tour de France he was not on top form at all, he was really suffering this year but he was still attacking, he was going for it. I love riders that race, that make a spectacle of it." "And the one looking back, has got to be Bernard Hinault, he was absolutely phenomenal, Bernard would race from day one to the Champs Elysees. He would climb, he would time trial, he just wanted to win, win everything ... if Bernard Hinault was in the race you were going to see a good race." 

I am a fan who wants to see Alberto Contador racing. I am saddened by Alberto's experiences over the past 2-3 years. But the fact remains that his lab results tested positive and the WADA code demands a strict 2-year ban. Contador now joins the ranks of those officially found guilty of doping, whether he is guilty or not, this is the path he will walk as a man into his future. He will miss the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2012, he will never again be eligible to compete in the Olympic arena. I am certain innocent men have been banned before, I am certain guilty men have walked away free. WADA had no choice but to stand by their code. We are talking about the principles of competition here, the rules of engagement, and unfortunately the sport of cycling to date has not proved it's ability to do without standards, as unjust as they are sometimes applied. This is one code that needed to be enforced however sad this case truly is.  

A sincere Alberto Contador ©Photo by PedalDancer/Sys

Integrity has no need of rules. ~Albert Camus

Oh how I wish this were true in sport. Perhaps this day marks the point were we walk away from a shameful expensive and inconsistent past, accept the punishment today, and know that the message into the future stands that doping in cycling is not acceptable. 

Read Red Kite Prayer's report of the news today Contador suspended, stripped of Tour and Giro titles. RKP also mentions that Alberto Contador and Saxo Bank general manager, Bjarne Riis, will hold a Tuesday press conference.

Update 02/07/12: Alberto's Press Conference and statement - Alberto Contador Press Conference: Spaniard considers appeal, vows to return By VeloNation.

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The Power of The Look

150,000  11,650  1.5

Pedal Dancer is one and a half years old

Today I celebrate 150,000 visitors in 11,650 cities around the world over the past 1.5 years. A modest unexpected exciting beginning for Pedal Dancer™.

It seems like only a few weeks ago when I excitedly posted the popular posts 15,000+ views and counting - legs glorious legs (November 2010), followed closely by 30,000 views - The Men of the Peloton (March 2011). Subjects near and dear to my heart as a fan of cycling. At that time, I hadn't seen anyone so daringly pointing to the finer parts of this sport. Now I see much more of these fun topics out there on the web.

As a celebration of 150,000 visitors (although some of those phone visitors sneak in uncounted), I thought I would display a few of the images within my photo library that demonstrate The Power of The Look. There is something magical when an athlete looks straight into the lens of the photographer. I had fun looking back over the years selecting photos to share of the athletes I have watched as a fan or as a friend.

We gather as fans to witness athletes in motion; their bodies our main focus. Their voices familiar from many interviews, but it is oft said the eyes are the window to the soul. A professional cyclist's eyes are typically masked behind sunglasses, cloaking expressions of pre-race angst, gut-wrenching pain, or exhilarating joy. It can be a moment of vulnerability to look into the eyes of an athlete, allowing us to see what they are thinking before, during or after a race. Sometimes that moment is magical. 

Click any image to enlarge. All Photos by PedalDancer.com

confidence of Matthew Busche, California 2011   Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

calm of Daniel Navarro Garcia, Colorado 2011    Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

diligence of Lucas Sebastian Haedo, California 2011    Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

unknown of Alberto Contador, France 2008    Photo by ©PedalDancer.com/Sys

perseverance of Allan Peiper, California 2011    Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

devotion of Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå, Boulder, Colorado 2003    Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

excitement of Oscar Sevilla, Colorado 2011     Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

fatigue of  Zach McDonald and cyclocross, Colorado 2011  Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

inspiration of George Hincapie, France 2001  Photo by ©PedalDancer.com

cockiness of Mark Cavendish, France 2008   Photo by ©PedalDancer.com/SyS

Thank you with all my soul for visiting PedalDancer.com. Thank you to those who have been kind enough to link to my articles or photographs. A special Thank you to the amazing individuals I have met through this blog and through my own cycling travels. You have been wonderful and remain an inspiration to me. 

The Pedal Dancer™guide is a strong search-based source for providing information to cycling fans. I hope when you visit, you were able to find and learn what you came looking for. When I asked this question of a friend recently, he replied, "I liked your bullet points." I loved that response. I try to listen to what interests you as fans, so if it is more bullet points you want, it is more bullet points you shall have. 

• Please visit again
• I love spontaneous visitors
• All 150,000 of you

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Responsibility and punishment

"it could not be shown conclusively that Contador had deliberately taken the product"

Nothing is black and white when it comes to doping in cycling. I am not clear about the message sent when Alberto Contador is cleared of all doping charges against him. Punishment is not just about the individual but the message sent to others about right and wrong. Alberto Contador has been cleared to race again this season. This is after he was charged and suspended for a year, but now 6 months after it all started, influenced by a tweet by the Spanish prime minister, we are supposed to forget all about the fuss. Contador will race as soon as tomorrow in the Tour of the Algarve, and until the UCI spends more time and money saying he can't.

Are we going back to the days when an athlete was not held responsible if they claimed they did not know they ingested a performance enhancing drug? Does this open a window to athletes receiving unknown substances from others? I thought we learned that lesson ages ago with the Russian Olympic athletes given drugs by their coaches. Now who is responsible for doping? It seems the various attempts to hold the individual riders responsible have failed. Meanwhile Alberto Contador's team SaxoBank-Sunguard gained by holding onto Contador and his points during this unknown waiting period. Their star rider is back on the team, a good outcome for the team and the rider.

I am still reeling from the whirlwind of bad press, insufficient punishment, and a lack of lessons learned. In the past two years I have seen dopers immediately being hired back by teams, dopers not being required to pay fines previously agreed upon, dopers given differing penalties depending on who they are, dopers continuing to compete (and win) even after substances are found in their blood samples, and teams using doper's points for overall team ranking. If not wrong, it certainly is confusing.

Financial penalty and suspension from competition hasn't seemed to work. What if all the history of a riders wins and points were immediately taken away, or combined with a life suspension? Now a rider could claim they were a victim. The doping problems remain in cycling, and have now grown even bigger and more gray with the added difficulty of proof of doping intention. That is what Alberto Contador has contributed to this sport.

The attitude towards doping in Spain continues to be at odds with other countries. The easy to access performance enhancing drugs available in Spain continue to be: clenbuterol, nandrolone, growth hormone and EPO. 

As usual when I want to read real facts and excellent viewpoint versus strictly opinion, I turn to Charles Pelkey: The Explainer: Questions about the Contador decision By Charles Pelkey Published Feb 16th 2011

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The Tour Hag

My sister-in-law is a crazy fan of Professional Cycling

Over the years Suz has traveled to the Tour de France, Dauphine Libere, Giro d' Italia, Tour de Suisse, Tour of California, and probably a few others. She is the fan that knows all the tricks. She knows the names, the history, recognizes all the riders, knows how to jump the barriers, and somehow scores the schwag. Suz has the personality to make the riders laugh with her comments and friendliness. She is also not shy about getting her photo with the riders, which has resulted in some great Fan Pictures over the years.

In honor of my sister-in-law Suz, who is a Physical Therapist, and has helped me tremendously these past 3 weeks as I recover from a broken pelvis - I give you Suz:

and some other guys

 

George Hincapie

 

Christian Van de Velde

Chris Horner

 

Erik Zabel

 Mark Cavendish

 

Frank Schleck

 

Iñigo Landaluze 

with Mr And Mrs Landaluze on top of Mont Ventoux

 Fabian Cancellara

 Alberto Contador

"Johan honked" - Suz at the Tour of California in Santa Barbara 2009

Okay so she had some bad taste in cyclists over the past 10 years -

Floyd Landis

but she had a lot of fun!

Suz being a fan at the 2005 Tour de France on Plat d'Adet 

and being a TDF fan in Montpellier, France

Suz with Phil Ligget, Paul Sherwen and me at the Bulldog Coffee Shop in Solvang, CA in 2009

Suz gets a smile from Johan Bruyneel and Dirk

and she married a great guy, my brother Straw

Thanks Suz!
Suz is currently training our nephew Kenny to follow in her footsteps ... the next post will be a progress report on Kenny learning the ropes ..... it is worth waiting for

* Post post note: I forgot to mention, Kenny grew up calling Suz MOAS (Mean Old Aunt Suz), they have a special bond those two. 

Post post Tuesday, November 9, 2010  A Cycling Fan in training

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Upsetting the Apple Cart

I like tradition in cycling

I allowed myself to settle on the idea that my favorite riders were all on the same pro cycling team. It wasn't necessarily my favorite team, but the team had my favorite riders. Times are changing for those riders. Jens Voigt, Fabian Cancellara, Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Stuart O'Grady, Jakob Fuglsang, Richi Porte, Matti Breschel - remember what a great combination of riders Saxo Bank was? Now what?

At the 2010 Tour de France I heard that Alberto Contador wanted 5 million to transfer to Saxo Bank. I was told, "he is worth two Schleck's". Well not in my mind. In the end Bjarne Riis brought Alberto Contador over from Astana to Saxo-Bank (which is officially going by the new team name SunGard-Saxo Bank) for 4.5 million euros. Contador walked in one door and my favorite riders are walking out the other door.

The forever likable Andy and Frank Schleck announced their departure from Bjarne Riis's Saxo Bank team a week ago. They plan to be part of a new Luxembourg-based team in 2011. Jens Voigt, Stuart O'Grady, Jakob Fuglsang, and Matti Breschel are clearing out as well. If all Americans got to know the character and determination of Jens Voigt, we would have millions more cycling fans in this country. [Jens Voigt: pronounced like Yense Voked].

Jens Voigt on the yellow bike he jumped on during the 2010 Tour de France after crashing on his own bike. Determined to make it to the final day in Paris, he was not going to give up without a fight, even if it meant riding a Juniors bike with toe clips. Read the full story at: VeloNation Jens Voigt avoids abandoning Tour de France with help from kid's bike  Photo by: Robin Wilmott/Bicycling.com

Also watch the video of the post race interview with Jens: Jens Voigt: I borrowed a children's bike to drive down. To read about the man who handed Jens this fine yellow bike read Word of the day at the TDF: voiture balai

Jens Voigt is one of a kind. I haven't heard where he is headed after seven years with Saxo Bank. It is possible that Voigt, Fuglsang, and O’Grady will follow Andy and Frank Schleck to their new team.

Matti Breschel announced today that after six-years with Saxo Bank he is moving to Rabobank for a 450,000 euro salary with a focus on the spring Classics. It has not yet been announced whether Fabian Cancellara will remain with Saxo-Bank to complete the last year of his contract, or whether he will be moving to BMC or to the new Luxembourg-based team with the Schlecks.

Now that Alberto Contador has won three Tour de France titles, people are willing to reorganize entire teams around the man, they seem to do so every year. Contador wants to bring his choice of men to Sungard-Saxo Bank. He has suggested his fellow Spainairds Benjamín Noval, Jesús Hernández and Daniel Navarro. Tasmanian Richie Porte may also remain on the team as the second GC man.

Out with the old, in with the new. Forget about the Saxo Bank team, I am following my favorite riders instead. Wherever Jens, Cancellara, and the Schlecks go - I will follow.

Contador tests out the cobbles

Defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador took to the treacherous cobbled roads of northern France on Tuesday, preparing for terrain he admits could dent his bid for a third yellow jersey this year.

Read the full Velonews article Contador tests out the cobbles

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