Sunday, July 13, 2014

Women Ride n Run Takes Mug, Stage Takes Toll

The Women Ride n Run team of directeur Turtle Runner n Cyclist scored top points in the MiniLeague on the strength of a 1,2,3 finish by riders Blel Kadri, Alberto Contador, and Vincenzo Nibali. WRnR picked up a daily total of 469 points. Turtle Girl, drop me an e-mail at jbarcycling@comcast.net to claim your exclusive JBarCycling coffee mug.
In the meantime, American Andrew Talansky crashed for the second day in a row, losing over 2 minutes to the other top contenders. Night before last, as I looked over the prospects of my team following the Stage 1 loss of my sprinter Mark Cavendish and the emergence of Nibali as the race leader, I had, in spite of those factors, become pretty optimistic about my chances. I still had Alberto Contador, Peter Sagan and Talansky. I reviewed Talansky's time trial cred, which includes being 2010 under-23 national TT champion, and started feeling pretty good about his chances in the one individual TT  in this Tour. If he could only gain a little time in the mountains. They don't call him Pit Bull for nothing.  Then Talansky crashed and lost another 2 minutes.
That's the way it goes in the Tour de France. Training, talent, and team can win the race. A moment of bad luck can wipe it all out. Ask Cavendish. Ask Chris Froom. So Talanky's crash might have put him out of reach, but anything can happen. Ride hard, ride smart, and hope for good luck.

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