Blog Archives
Episode 36: Short and Sweet
We could get used to this off season business- helps keep our episodes short and sweet!
- Anna crawls out from under her rock and finds out that the UCI is in talks with the OPQS owner and chairman to start a new cycling league. Not that we really understand what this means, but we do know that anything the UCI/Pat McQuaid is attached to, we don’t trust. [VeloNation]
- Benoit Joachim laments that dopers made more money and had longer careers than him…and that he never doped. [Cyclingnews]
- More pro stars than ever are on Twitter- does it affect your opinion of them? Also, Jeff does his Jens impression. And spends some time on a soapbox.
- Stop the presses! Vino paid for a race win! Who is shocked by this? Anyone? [VeloNation]
- Wiggins gets hit by a car and changes his tune (events not related). [VeloNation]
[audio http://archive.org/download/PelotonitisPodcast/PelotonitisPodcast36.mp3] [sorry the audio is a bit wonky. Jeff’s mic was out of wack.]
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Episode 29: Grumpy Old Man
Jeff is back again this week, and Anna gets distracted by the color maroon, we discuss why Anna would make a terrible professional cyclist (besides the obvious), and she declares herself the Jan Ullrich of podcasting. Plus, Jeff casts the role of Hein Vebruggen in the upcoming cycling movie!
NEWS!
- First, we discuss Cannondale taking over the lead sponsor title at Liquigas (article, article)
- Pat McQuaid and the UCI does its best impression of a flip-flopping politician, and decides maybe truth and reconciliation isn’t such a good idea after all (article)
- Hein Verbruggan does his best grumpy old/senile man, and gives a crazy-pants interview (article)
- Verbruggan/McQuaid sue Kimmage (article)
- Operacion Puerto trial begins (article)
TRANSFERS!
- Kreuziger, Breschel, and Bennati to BankBank
- Bobridge first and only to leave GreenEdge and goes to Rabobank (article)
- Cancellara would like to leave RadioShack, but can’t (article)
WORLDS!
- We discuss what it means to wear the rainbow jersey, and this obsession cycling fans have with “respecting it.” Plus Nibali’s valiant attempt and Gilbert’s emphatic win.
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Episode 28: Cycling goes to the Movies
Marianne is back! Short and sweet this week, we talk about movies (Wiggins and Levi), the Schlecks and their separation anxiety (link), Jens and hero worship (link), Contador’s attachments to 7 wins, Bernie and Cav’s potential break up (link) and WORLDS!
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Episode 20: Drama!
Another week of drama, intrigue and rants! We do our best to drive away all listeners in the first 5 minutes, Jeff feels the Lance drama would make for a good Grisham novel, reveals the secret to knowing when a team’s about to fold, sees Jens add to his Chuck Norris status, and accuses Bernard Hinault of poisoning riders.
SAGAS!
- First up, the Lance saga! The plot thickens as a Livestrong lobbiest supposedly paid a visit to the chair of the Appropriations Committee to push for an investigation into USADA (article). Bruyneel opts for arbitration (article) and USAD isn’t intimidated by Lance and files a response to Lance’s injunction (article, PDF of USADA’s motion to dismiss, PDF of USADA’s exhibit 1, outlining all their arguments)
- Next, the Leopard/Schleck saga: Fugulsang sues for his wages (article) and Frank and Cancellara admit they haven’t been paid (article). Of course the team denies financial trouble (article). Frank tests positive (article) and what that might mean for his and Andy’s future. Also, the Schlecks to ASTANA?? (article)
THE TOUR!
- First we talk about how Twitter has gone off the chain. Then we tackle the nationalism issue.
- Froome is a very loyal supporter, but admits he’s sacrificing, but we’re sure he’s waiting to be repaid in the coming years.
- We dive into different interpretations of what happened on Stage 18 when Froome seemed to be dropping Wiggins and was “denied” a stage win.
- We have a minor disagreement over what went down on Stage 14, when tacks were thrown, Tejay left Cadel without support, and Rolland left the peloton behind.
- And we discuss my “breakdown” on Stage 17, with Nibali’s doomed attacks.
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Deep Thoughts: Stage 10 TdF
While today’s stage wasn’t quite as electrifying as the previous stages, it was still definitely a good time.
- Apparently the yellow helmets were optional. If that’s the case, why did Sky choose to wear them? Maybe they thought it was a good idea, and then when it turned into a bad idea, it was too late to turn back. But I’m also hearing that it IS required and teams are fined if they don’t wear them! Who knows.
- There were some good attacks on the descent today, mainly by my man Nibbles. I’ve read some really good interviews with Nibali, where he talked about his tactics. Part of me wonders if he’s giving too many secrets, but I love the insight.
- He’ll have to do more than attack on the descents to get back that lost time, but it’s a good start.
- It was great to see Nibali attack, but I’m a bit worried that he’ll burn himself out. He’s a pacer, not an attacker!
- Another win by a Frenchie! And this time by Thomas Voeckler, no less! It makes me happy to see him win- he’s a nutso attacker and also does crazy things. It’s good to see his crazy rewarded once in a while.
- The best was his expression as he crossed the line. It was exhausted elation.
- Again Jens just misses out on a stage win. Would love to see him win, but I love that he keeps trying!
- That was a nasty uphill kick at the end. I think those are almost more fun to watch than the summit finishes- it always encourages a slo-mo sprint amongst non-sprinters.
Videos of today’s stage at CyclingFans and full results and recap at CyclingNews.
Episode 17: We Have Velogames!
Before we get into talking about the same ol’ same ol’ with Lance and SchleckShack, we take care of some fantasy cycling and a cause close to Jeff’s heart. Also, do you think people will notice if I spend the whole episode talking about Jakob’s dimples? Be warned- there’s a fair bit of silliness and rambling.
FANTASY CYCLING!
As someone who’s never done fantasy cycling (or fantasy anything), the more I get into cycling, the more I was intrigued by it. As Jeff is someone who has done fantasy cycling, he’s convinced me that Pelotonitis needs to play. So fantasy cycling is taking Pelotonitis by storm!
Jeff has started up a mini-league over at Velogames.com called the Pelotonitis Listening Party (don’t blame me for the name- Jeff did that all on his own). So if you want to try your hand at fantasy cycling, please head over to the site, sign up for an account and search for our league. To join, you’ll need the league code, which is 23085514. [Edit: just realized I entered the code wrong- sorry for the confusion!] My biggest fear is that no one will join and it’ll just be me and Jeff competing against each other. So please join and help me feel not like a loser (because isn’t the podcast all about me??).
RAAM!
Jeff is paying attention to Race Across America because he has a local Fresno team racing that is riding for a local girl who was killed while cycling and donated all her organs. Website and Twitter.
NEWS!
- Jens might stop riding the Tour?? Article
- We wonder why Zabriskie, Hincapie, Vande Velde, and Liepheimer asked to be kept off the Olympic team. Article
- Lance’s lawyers responded to the accusations. And I don’t really care. I also compare Lance followers to politicians. Article
- We don’t care much about Johann not being at the Tour. We suspect he doesn’t care either. Article
TOUR DE FRANCE!
- We speculate on Cav’s new training regime that seems to be reducing is sprint power. And who might be a green jersey winner in the future. Article
- We also think that someone should make a video mashup of Sagan victory salutes. Get on it. We also think Sagan is using this video for inspiration.
- We think Sky has told Cav he’s on his own for the Tour, while they support Wiggins.
- ShleckShack Saga update: I don’t really understand the uproar over leaving Jakob Fugulsang off the TdF roster. I think I’m too distracted by his beauty to take him seriously (article).
- We talk about who teams are taking to the Tour.
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Episode 6: Dan has a man crush
NEWS!
- Apparently Cipollini is aspiring for a comeback. We think it’s because he misses his youth. Also, Anna still does not want to sleep with him. And if you suggest it to her, she will punch you. (CyclingNews article) (0:20)
- The breakaway league that’s not really a breakaway league. (CyclingNews article) Anna attempts to explain it, but perhaps fails miserably. (2:42)
- Amgen Tour of California bigs itself up again by claiming to have assembled the “most prestigious field of talent ever.” This is not the way to make Europe love you, AToC. (VeloNation article) (7:05)
- And apparently the quasi development team of Radioshack, Bontranger Livestrong, has some of that talent, as it was chosen over other awesome US teams (such as Team Type 1 or Jelly Belly or Jamis-Sutter Homes….). Conspiracy? Cronism? Indeed. (VeloNation article)
- Great article explaining the intricacies of the problem by UCI Overlord on Cyclismas.
RACES!
- Paris-Nice: Levi crashes a lot, LL Cool Sanchez dares beat Jens, Wiggins may or may not win the Tour now. (18:40)
- Terrino-Adriatico: Unrest in the Liquigas camp! But Anna will always be loyal to Nibbles. Riders get shit for pulling out early, even though it’s not a new thing. (31:20)
- Milan-Sanremo: Anna actually talks strategy, but still won’t predict a winner (38:05)
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