dgasmd

What has surprised you about the ToC so far? I'll tell you a few surprises for me:

1. Team Cervelo has been a player at all.
2. Landis and Basso have done so poorly. Especially Basso!
3. Armstrong has done as well as he has.
4. Vande Velde hasn't done better.
5. Sastre has been a pack filler!
6. Versus channel has cut off the end of a stage and extended some by a lot unannounced. Makes for very difficult DVR recordings!!
7. So much repetition of meaningless crap and facts by the commentators. Some is expected, but I guess I never expected it to this degree.
8. More clown on the roads with costumes than one would expect. Then again, it is Kalifornia.
9. Lots of crappy roads.
10. No real mention of most other significant riders in the race outside Armstrong or Leipheimer. Then again, this is the Tour of Armstrong!!
11. That indian chick for Versus is actually somewhat funny!!

Tell us your surprises.

bhikkhu

A big stage race in February still needs some getting used to, I think. It wasn't that long ago that the season would just be getting in gear for a long slow start.

I'd like to see Basso and Landis do better, and it is good to see Armstrong in shape and working for Levi, but its a long way to the Grand Tours. Even so, I think Cali has done a great job of putting the race on, and I hope its back every year.

bbllaakke

ehh, no.

grolby

How about this: Levi attacked!

dsellinger

The Vs. thing has been a bit of a pain, I think they planned on the stages being done a little quicker and thats how the time slots first got assigned. So instead of doing the last 2/3 of the stage live, they do the last 2/3 but cut out 5 min to the end, and then at 8(pacific) they have been doing a stage recap and then the last 5 min of the race.
It's a pain but at least i can record it. Before it would just run overtime and the dvr would quit recording. This way at least there is a show I can schedule to record.

Hezz

Yes and how, I do think it was a combination of Levi's great early season fitness, high motivation and Armstrong's influence. He seemed like he was doing an Armstrong maneuver of yesteryear. Could also be the amazing quality of the Astana squad is giving him a lot of support and motivation.

I'll tell you something even more strange. If you look at Levi's photo of the TT stage on Velo News, his face even looks like Armstrong in that picture. So much so that I thought it was Armstrong until I realized that it couldn't be him in the yellow suit.

Actually, I'm pretty impressed by Armstrong's performance since I thought he would be performing more where Landis is after being out for so long. Considering Landis has an artificial hip socket I'm pretty impressed by his performance also.

patentcad

Armstrong is almost riding too strong for February. Sastre was getting shelled on some of the tougher climbs. It's amazing how some of these guys come around to have such improved form by May or July. Landis isn't riding that bad. Levi always rides like a beast, February or July, it's just that his form varies less, and by the Tour de France his form was good for 3rd instead of 1st. But he is without question one of the top 5 all around riders on the planet at the moment. His career really has not disappointed, but man I'd love to see Levi win a Grand Tour in Europe. His bike racing years grow short. The ideal outcome for me in the Tour de France would be Contador cracks, Levi and Armstrong duke it out for the team leadership and Levi prevails. Far fetched perhaps, but far from impossible.

Can you imagine how cool it would be to have two 35+ Americans fighting for the Yellow Jersey? Man that would ROCK. They can't ride against each other because they're on the same team you say? I think they can if they're close enough in the GC and it gets to some late Tour TT. But that's July. We should all live that friggin long. There's a lot of bike racing between now and then. It's going to be huge fun watching Astana this year, that's for sure. And I really hope it helps the bicycle industry sell a few more bikes in what's shaping up to be a very tough retail year.

Hezz

It's going to be interesting to see what effect this early season high intensity riding is going to have on Armstrong when the TDF comes around. Perhaps he is looking at this year as a method for getting back into pro form in an attempt to make a serious TDF challenge in 2010. One thing is for certain. If he continues to race like this and he is able to continue to maintain his fitness he might be a real contender for the 2009 TDF podium.

patentcad

Armstrong's form looks like it's for real at the moment, the only question is can he take it up a notch or two, can he peak in July and not burn out riding this hard in February/March, and can he recover during a three week stage race @ age 37 (almost 38, his birthday is in September).

Hezz

I think this is going to be the big question. Recovery is always the biggest issue in a grand tour. And a much bigger issue at Lance's age. And the Giro a month or so before the TDF. This has to be one of Armstrong's toughest seasons leading up to the TDF if I am not mistaken. But then again he is under no pressure because he is just out to race his bike and generate as much publicity as possible.

travkat

I was pleased but surprised at the performance of Rock Racing. King of the Mountains, in the break everyday and a top ten (so far). Also, Levi attacking, the race getting a bit blown apart in the first day or so due to weather etc. I am looking forward to the last two days...hopefully some good action on Palomar mtn.

Hezz

I think what I like the most about the TOC is the utter drama of the race due to early season conditions. Bad weather, inconsistent fitness among racers, technical difficulties due to weather, etc.

mazdatech10

pcad sastre is still sick at least sounded like that today, and put in a good TT to boot, basso out with knee

save10

The FREE and live video feed on Cycling.TV with some english dude and Magnus Backstedt has been really pretty good.

frpax

Craig Hummer is kind of disappointing to listen to. Phil & Paul are great. I don't understand why they have the 3rd wheel there...

rivethead

+1, Magnus rules

I wish the other guy wouldn't talk so loudly, though.

enjoi07

rock racings display today shouldn't have been a surprise...but i was embarrassed for the driver trying, and miserably failing, to get a bike off the roof rack to help hamilton...i hope hamilton was mocking ball when he threw up the horns..."is this rock and roll ball?"

someone else said it best...this is levi and astanas race...with the local teams trying to get coverage in breaks...and training for the rest.

HigherGround

In my opinion, Bob Roll is the only American announcer I have seen who could completely hold his own with Phil and Paul. So many of the others seem like they got stuck with the job as their second (or third, or fourth, or...) choice. And in all fairness to Craig, he doesn't seem as bad as most of his predecessors. Bob's goofy, which I like, but you can tell that he has a genuine appreciation and love for the sport. After all, he's a former pro who has been there, done that. I remember cheering for him when he rode for 7-Eleven; even then he was one of the more colorful characters around.

Disclaimers:
1) I don't ever recall having seen EventServices work with either Phil or Paul; I'm sure he would do a fine job.
2) Even though John Eustice isn't as polished as Phil and Paul (who is?), I still like to hear his announcing. I am a bit biased though, because he was local pro when I began racing in the 80's. It was always good to go to his clinics and learn from what he had to say. Some of it still rings true, over 20 years later.
3) I know Phil makes mistakes. However, for anyone who remembers the sparse coverage of cycling on TV in the 80's, Phil Liggett is THE Voice of Pro Cycling; hearing him commentate on ski jumping at a Winter Olympics seemed so out of place.

peterot

Pcad just made me gag.

peterot

Zero surprises. Levi is winning, Cav with a couple of stages and a bunch of guys running sub par as you would expect in Feb. I dont care how star studded the field is, the ToC needs to move up to a spring date to really make the star studded field count for anything. Better stages. Maybe try a summit finish, duh!!!!! In summary, it is no Tour of Georgia.

Tapeworm21

My biggest surprise....

Seeing the speedometer for their final sprint after a 134 mile race. 45ish mph? Jesus. I feel like such a wussy when I watch these guys.

EventServices

1. Thanks! but I have begun my push to take over producing the program.
2. Eustice knows so much about the sport. He's awesome.
3. I can't criticize other people's mistakes. I introduced a Cuban rider today as being from Colombia because I mis-read the COL as being Colombia instead of the three-letter abbreviation for Colavita-Sutter Home. Then when I got to the CUB which is the three letter abbreviation for Cuba, realized my mistake.
I should have just let it go; no one would have noticed. But instead I tried to fix it and only highlighted the error more.

HigherGround

I'm sure it's tough for race announcers to talk nearly continuously, off the top of their heads, and recalling much of the information from memory. Someone once said that if you want to appreciate what announcers do, mute your TV, and try doing your own commentary without any dead air. If I had to call a field sprint, I'd hand the mike over to someone else!

CrimsonKarter21

Hasn't Sastre ALWAYS been pack fodder in any race not beginning with a 'T', and ending in an 'our de France'? And even then he's pack fodder a lot of the time.

And that Indian girl has no redeeming qualities at all. She's got that annoying quality of making her voice louder when she thinks she's goign to say something funny or outrageous.

HigherGround

Funny, but not entirely true. He has twice finished on the podium (overall) at the Vuelta and been the Vuelta King of the Mountains. However much of his early career was spent as a domestique, especially for Basso. He's also one of the few riders to complete all three of the Grand Tours in the same season.