Keith Maddox, courtesy of Calhoun County Sheriff’s office
An Alabama man was arrested after video of him harassing cyclists surfaced on the Internet.
The driver, Keith Maddox, of Piedmont, Alabama was charged with reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. He has since been released on bond.
In the video which appears to be mounted on his dashboard or held in his hand while driving, Maddox can be heard in a long diatribe about how cyclists are in his way when he needs to get to work quickly.
In the first portion of the video, driving around dusk he approaches a cyclist with a red back light on a narrow two lane road.
“See this car up here trying to make it to work,” he says about the car in front of him. “Me trying to make it to work,” he continues. “Can’t nobody make it work, because you got this little piece of crap, fool crap,” he yells, referring to the cyclist on the road. “Oh Lord, Good Lord, have mercy Lord,” he continues, “I’m going to hurt one of them one of these days, I can’t help it, I’m gonna’ do it.”
In another section of video taken during the daytime, there are two cyclists up ahead. Maddox starts ranting again about them being on the road. As he approaches he says, “Watch this,” as he attempts to cut them off or run them off the road, or buzz them (it’s not clear because we can’t see the cyclists behind him.) “That scare you boys?” he says with satisfaction in his voice. “Get your pedaling butts off the road,” he screams–“GOD! I hate bicycles!”
After his videos went viral, Maddox issued a public apology on his Facebook page. He said he would never intentionally hurt anyone, and he urged others to share the road with cyclists.
A pending resolution to convert the lower portion of Amsterdam Ave. into a safe cycling area is being voted on this coming Tuesday.
Amsterdam Ave. near Columbia University at 116th Street in Manhattan.
The measure is being considered by Community Board 7 in Manhattan, and if passed would request the city’s Department of Transportation to redesign the one-way avenue to make it a safer and more welcoming street for all users.
The vote was delayed on Nov. 7 when so many people came to speak about the changes, that there was no more time to take a vote.
The resolution, which passed in the transportation committee earlier in November, calls upon the DOT to consider a study for a street redesign that would increase Amsterdam Avenue’s “safety, aesthetics, and efficiency for all users.”
Currently Amsterdam is the only four-lane, one-way thoroughfare on the Upper West Side and has injury and death rates almost double those of surrounding northbound avenues, reported the Columbia Spectator this month.
Ken Coughlin has been working as a cycling advocate to improve cycling safety on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City.
Amsterdam is also a designated truck route for 18-wheelers to pass through the city: these trucks are not allowed on Broadway where congestion is much greater, unless the truck is within blocks of its delivery end point.
Those trucks tend to dominate the roadway, as do fast vehicle speeds due to timed lights and four lanes traveling north, making it more dangerous for non-motorized users.
The resolution being weighed calls on DOT to consider removing an unnecessary lane of traffic and use it to create a physically protected bike lane, as well as pedestrian islands, dedicated left-turn lanes and much-needed loading zones, said Ken Coughlin, bicycle advocate and editorial director at ElderLawAnswers.com.
Gale Brewer, soon to become Manhattan Borough President, has worked tirelessly towards shared roadways on the Upper West Side.
“At last month’s full board meeting, so many voiced their support for traffic-calming this overbuilt and lethal highway that the vote had to be delayed a month,” said Coughlin in a written message. “The chair of [Community Board 7] has decided not to permit any further public comment, but it will be important to have as many there as possible quietly registering support.”
Newly elected Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer who is finishing her term as Upper West Side councilwoman, has been in favor of the changes, and believes that they will benefit cyclists and pedestrians as well as businesses along the avenue.
Brewer urged residents of the Upper West Side to make more use of the current Columbus Avenue bike lane, which she said was doing a “great job.”
“We need to use our bike lanes more; we need to make sure that they’re safe; and then we need to make sure that the merchants are happy.”
The changes on Amsterdam would mirror changes on Columbus Avenue, which extended its southbound bike lane this summer almost the length of Central Park, following a months-long debate.
In the Nov. 7 meeting, a majority of attendees testified in favor of a protected bike lane on Amsterdam. Supporters maintained that it would make the avenue safer, create a more livable streetscape, and encourage bike traffic along the store-lined avenue, wrote the Spectator.
The meeting will take place at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, on Tuesday at 6:30 PM. The hospital is located at 1000 Tenth Ave. (at 59th Street). Enter through the main entrance and tell the guard you are attending the Community Board meeting.
Chris Froome, winner of the 2013 Tour de France, wearing a slightly wistful look on his face. He remembered his mother in a short speech after his win: she died last year. (c) Benepe
To the delight of fans, Chris Froome, the new winner of the 2013 Tour de France rode into Paris sipping champagne, while the sun set on the Champs Elysees.
Marcel Kittel came to the line in a final sprint, dashing all hopes of a final stage win on “the greatest avenue in the world” for Mark Cavendish, though they were bike-to-bike in the end.
Cavendish had a flat in the middle of the race in the Elysees, and had to work hard to get back to the peloton, an event that may have impacted his ability to take the stage.
Though Froome lost 53 seconds to the winner of the final stage and 43 seconds to his nearest rival, Quintana in the general classification, the Sky team sealed its second successive victory in the Tour de France.
Colombian Nairo Quintana (MOV) won both the youth (White Jersey) and climbing (Polka Dot Jersey) classifications in his debut in the race. As he accepted his honors on the podium, a large crowd of Colombians stationed near the finish line waves Colombian flags and screamed his name, “Quintana, Quintana, Quintana,” drowning out all other sounds including the voice of the master of ceremonies who remarked that there was “a large group of people here for Quintana.”
Peter Sagan who was fourth in the final stage won his second successive green jersey.
Froome who seems to maintain a low profile was also briefly upstaged when two small children of Joaquin Oliver Rodriquez climbed up the podium stairs to join their father, the smallest one barely making the stairs.
At one point Froome gamely leaned down and shook their little hands, and it was quite a sight to see. Froome who is so tall and thin he bears a slight resemblance to the Tin Man, as he stretched out his long arm he towered over them and their father by not only his own height, but also the extra height of the podium for the overall winner.
(c) Jen Benepe. Nairo Quintana (2nd), Chris Froome (1), and Joaquin Rodriguez (3) on the final podium.
It seemed like all of Paris was out to see the Tour de France on Sunday, with the exception of those who had to work. The normally sophisticated Parisian doesn’t really pay attention to the Tour, many of them using the main avenue to get from one place to another, navigating around tourists who walked at meandering paces. One could see fashionably dressed women on bikes and on foot going about their business with impatience.
Riders did not come onto the Champs Elysees until well after 8 PM. So before that fans melted in the sweltering heat, some sleeping in their self-reserved spots, or cooling their heels in the few fountains around.
Displayed on large screens positioned along the Elysees, Froome could be seen sipping champagne on his way in from Versailles alongside the Sky team car having a laughing chat with his support team.
After much anticipation, the teams came down the their first lap of the Champs Elysees, and huge roars came up from fans all around.
With a 9.40 pm finish, four at the top of the sprinters classification came to the line with Marcel Kittel who began the Tour as he started it – with a victory.
The German also won Bastia, St-Malo and Tours (stages one, 10 and 12) and held off a late challenge from the four-time winner in Paris, Mark
Marcel Kittel of the Agro Shimano team takes the win in Paris, beating out Cavendish by a wheel. (C) ASO
Cavendish.
But behind them the mood was much more celebratory: Froome came over the finish line arm-in-arm with team-mates David Lopez and Richie Porte, with an advantage of 4’20” over the best young rider – and King of the Mountains – Nairo Quintana.
“I get a lot of inspiration from reading messages from fans who say that just watching the Tour de France makes them want to get out on their bikes or start cycling,” said the champion of the 2013 Tour. “That’s what this is about. It’s one of the main reasons we’re here, why Sky is sponsoring us – to get that kind of response and support from the public back home is a really cool feeling.”
Sadly, because of the late hour, organizers at the Amaury Sports Organization decided not to allow the teams to do their normal parade around the Champs Elysees. Some, like Orica GreenEdge, did a spontaneous parade anyhow.
But for the winners it most certainly must have been a comedown. By the time he was finished with his podium finish and interviews in a closed off area for big media only, Froome attempted to reach out to a small crowd that happened to be in the right place at the right time and had the patience to wait for him to appear. But surrounded by about 15 strong-arm handlers who threatened photographers, he was whisked away into the night.
A mostly symbolic ride into Paris, Except for the Sprinters
The official start of the final stage of the 100th Tour de France was at 6.26 pm and included two category-four climbs in the opening hour: the cote de Saint-Remy-les-Chevreause (at 29.5km) and cote de Chateaufort (at 33.5km). The peloton idled along at an average speed of 35.6km/h for the first hour, and rode around the gardens of the palace of Versailles to showcase the beauty of the area for TV cameras around the world. There is no doubt that the Tour is one of the best marketing tools for travelers entertaining a visit to the country.
Steegmans (OPQ) and Rojas (MOV) were the riders who claimed the final climbing points of the 2013 Tour. There was a small crash involving Lagutin (VCD) at the 25km mark but he remounted his bike quickly and rejoined the peloton
Sky leads to the streets of Paris
The Sky team led the peloton to the site of the finish for the first of 10 laps of the Champs-Elysées while Richie Porte had the honour of leading the peloton through the first lap. After the first lap, Lars Boom (BEL) became the first to gain any ground on the peloton.
With 53 km to go, the winner of the four most recent stages in Paris – Cavendish (OPQ) – punctured his front tire; it took him three kilometers to rejoin the peloton. At 48 km to go, Meyer (OGE) instigated an escape. He was joined in the lead by David Millar (GRS), Juan Antonio Flecha (VCD) and El Fares (SOJ).
Millar and Flecha kept the break alive and led by 20 seconds at the intermediate sprint (87km) where the Spaniard took first place for the intermediate sprint. Westra (VCD) was forced to abandon the Tour de France with 38 km to go.
Omega prepared for the stage win
With 36 km to go, two riders from the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team went to the front of the peloton. Millar and Flecha were 10 seconds ahead. Millar remained at the front of the stage while Flecha, who was briefly joined by Muravyev (AST) was caught 30 km from the finish. With 25 km to go, Millar had a lead of 30 seconds and held off the peloton until 18 km to go. With 21 km to go, Jeremy Roy (FDJ) attacked the peloton, he caught and passed the stage leader but then retreated to the peloton. This prompted another move: Quinziato (BMC), Valverde (MOV) and Tankink (BEL) were in the lead at 17km to go. They had an advantage of 12”. Omega Pharma-Quickstep got seven men to the front of the peloton with 10km to go and Valverde’s trio was 10” ahead. The escape was over with 6.5km to go.
100th Tour ends as it began: Kittel 1st in the stage
But Omega Pharma-Quickstep team came to the front of the peloton in the closing kilometers though Argos-Shimano, Lotto-Belisol and Cannondale battled it out for the front. Kwiatkowski led Trentin and Steegmans to the ‘Flamme Rouge’ but it was Argos-Shimano that opened up the sprint as they traversed the Place de la Concorde. Kittel started his sprint with about 300m to go and held off a strong challenge from both Cavendish and Andre Greipel. The German is the only rider to win four stages of the 2013 Tour de France.
Chris Froome after winning the Tour de France, which is usually won in the penultimate stage (today’s) with the ride into Paris mostly symbolic and for the sprinters to battle out. (c) Jen Benepe
Chris Froome, winner of the 2013 Tour de France told reporters that his win was “overwhelming.” “The arrival on the Champs Elysees will be enormous tomorrow.”
The Yellow Jersey winner who triumphed today on the penultimate stage into Le Semnoz, more than 16 km above the town of Annecy, said the Tour hadn’t been all easy: his worst moment was on the Alpe d’Huez, he said, when he had 5 km to go, and he had no strength left. “It’s a horrible feeling when you really have no more energy left in your body,” he said adding that he only made it because Richie Porte helped him to the end.
His best day was on Mont Ventoux, when he pedaled away from Nairo Quintana to take the stage.
“It’s been a real fight,” all the way through, he said, first with wind, then rain, then the mountains. “There have been good days in the mountains and bad days in the mountains.”
The ultimate reason he said for winning is to inspire other people to ride, and he hopes he will provide that for young Kenyans. As a young boy himself he first started riding mountain bikes. After studying economics in South Africa, he got an invitation to spend a solid year with a small development team at the Unione Cyclistes International in Aigle, Switzerland. He decided to take the risk, and see if cycling was something he could really do well.
Froome’s mother died before last year’s Tour, and though the Team Sky rider tried to deflect the question, he could not hide the emotion in his voice when he said, “she’s been a really big motivation for me. I’d like to think she has been alongside me all the way.”
Most observers expected Froome to win, but he said he did not start to relax until he was 2 km away from the top of Le Semnoz today, battling it out with Quintana and Rodriguez.
“With two kilometers to go, I thought, ‘I’ve got five minutes, this is pretty much wrapped up now, this is it now, I’m here, and nothing has gone wrong,” he said. “That became an overwhelming feeling and it became really hard to concentrate.”
The rider also tribute his team for their hard work, but also for being fantastically organized, which he said he appreciates. Calling himself both a team player and “independent,” he said the structured training, teamwork, and schedules worked well for him.
He said he was sorry not to have teammates Edvald Boasson Hagen and Vasily Kiryenko in Paris with them. Both men dropped out due to injuries.
who was born in Kenya, went to school in South Africa, has lived and trained in Britain, and now lives in Monaco, said one of the best feelings is when he goes home to Kenya.
“One of the things that makes me smile is when I go to Kenya and the customs officials grim at me, and that really makes me happy.
“People tell me this is a life-changing event, but I don’t really want to change,” he said.
The 28-year-old also expects to come back for another Tour de France, because he said most people peak in their early 30’s.
Finally responding to the speculation swirling around him that he might be doping, he answered, “It’s totally understandable given where the sport has come from, and the history of the sport.”
A plant discovered in Great Britain was manufacturing fake Glen’s Vodka with poisonous ingredients chlorine bleach, and methanol.
But we bet you haven’t heard of this one: Vodka laced with chlorine bleach and methanol, enough perhaps to kill you or blind you for life.
An alarming report surfaced out of Great Dalby, England recently about the arrest of Kevin Eddishaw who oversaw the distillery at Moscow Farm which produced large numbers of tainted and counterfeit vodka under the Glen’s vodka.
The findings were first reported by the New York Times.
This reporter first suspected something was amiss more than 4 years ago when attending the East Side bar AuBar at 41 East 58th St., and a glass of vodka made me so sick I spent most of the night in the bathroom.
Fraudulent Bollinger’s champagne has been discovered.
The high from that one glass was sickening, making me feel as if I swallowed a toxic poison.
Since then AuBar has closed and has been replaced with The Grand.
But I never forgot that experience, and now, news is coming out that Glen’s vodka is the handiwork of the Russian mob.
Cases of poisoning have been reported across Europe, including the Czech Republic where more than 20 people died from counterfeit liquor.
Vodka isn’t the only foodstuff being foisted in poisonous form on the public by organized crime: horse meat, chocolate, olive oil, and even wine and champagne carrying the labels of Jacob’s Creek and Bollinger’s, have been found to be laced with poisonous additions.
“Increasingly the frauds are the work of organized international criminal networks lured by the potential for big profits in an illicit trade,” wrote the NY Times.
These criminals are capitalizing on the world economic downturn, and offering their counterfeit goods to an unsuspecting public that has tightened their pursestrings.
Among the poisons used to water down goods are so poisonous that they cause real harm–such as olive oil that was found with added engine oil.
Fraudulent foods aren’t limited to toxic additions, as many foods are intentionally mislabeled for higher pricing.
Sometimes small details give away otherwise convincing forgeries, such as the name Australia spelled without the middle “a”, or “Austrlia.”
Other items the authorities found was a box of fake Durex condoms. Sales online can be particularly troublesome.
All of this suggests that you should only buy food goods from companies you trust, but your best bet is to shop at a local farmer’s market where you know exactly where the food is produced.
Citibikes lined up and ready to go along Union Square North (c) Benepe
May 29, 2013 –New York City–Union Square and 17th St.
By Jen Benepe (C) Photos, Jen Benepe
Three days after it’s opening day, the Citibike bike share was going gangbusters at Union Square in New York City.
Standing along Park Avenue and 17th St., we witnessed more than five Citibike users sail past us on the bike lane in a matter of minutes.
Business was brisk at the bike terminal around the corner, along Union Square North between Park Ave. South and Broadway.
Cyclists on Citibikes riding down Park Ave. South around 17th St. (c) Benepe
Al Muzaurieta who has been a resident of New York for 10 years said he already owns a bike, but was taking a Citibike out to get to an event at his daughter’s school on 14th St. and 1st Ave., about 10 blocks away, because it was convenient and quicker than walking.
He had already found a bike parking station on 16th St. and 1st Ave. using the Citibike app on his iPhone, which is where he would leave his bike when he got there.
The 36-year-old said he “has no complaints” about the system, but he doesn’t use it for long commutes because of the weight of the bicycle which comes in at 42 pounds.
Al Muzaurieta has a bike at home, but he was using Citibike to get to an event 10 blocks away. (c) Benepe
A couple of minutes later, Jeff Ferzoco came by to pick up one of the glowingly blue bicycles. He was fastening his new helmet on his head as he unlocked the bike from its parking stand.
Ferzoco said he was heading to Grand Central Station to meet a friend for drinks, though he didn’t intend on riding back inebriated.
But he gives the system a lot of points because for one, it doesn’t feel “as treacherous” as riding in London.
Jeff Ferzoco has used the system 8 times since Sunday, and is heading off to Grand Central Station to meet a friend. (c) Benepe
“It’s my eighth trip in three days,” said Mr. Ferzoco, who added that both he and his husband went out to buy helmets together before the system launched on Sunday (May 27.)
Having tested bike share in other cities, including London, England, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, he said, “I’ve been waiting for it to come to New York,” he said.
Ferzoco doesn’t have space for a bicycle in his apartment, which makes the system very convenient. An added bonus? In three days he said he feels already like he’s in better shape.
But best of all he said the bikes “feel safer” because of their weight and their deliberate turning, so much so he even considered going out in the rain on Tuesday with his husband. When the reporter asked him if he felt safer because a motorist would be less likely to hit him because it would dent his car, he agreed: “It would be like hitting a deer.”
The arrival of the system is not without its hucksters, jokesters, misanthropes, and misunderstandings though.
Sitting on top of the resplendent line of gleaming blue bikes was a local worker, smoking cigarettes and passing out his opinion–more in the jokester category.
Bloomberg owns these bikes, said the man sitting on the row, and taking a smoking break. (c) Benepe
“These are Bloomberg’s bikes,” he said. “See the symbol right there?” he asked, poking his finger at the CitiBank logo. “That’s his bank, he owns everything! He owns 95 percent of New York City. So if you mess with the bikes, you are messing with Bloomberg,” he said enthusiastically. “And you don’t mess with a billionaire!”
He even saw Bloomberg riding one of the bikes on Sunday, the day of the launch: “Didn’t you see that on TV?” he asked, incredulous that I hadn’t.
The reporter wanted to know, did he think Mayor Michael Bloomberg paid for his ride on the Citibike? “Are you kidding me? He rode it for free, he ain’t paying nothing!” came the reply.
Needless to say, we saw a number of Citibike users who were disobeying the law as well. One took a handy left turn at 16th St., crossed with the pedestrians, and hopped up onto the sidewalk so he wouldn’t have to ride against traffic.
But there were just as many who stopped at lights, waiting patiently for the red light to change before going off on their gleaming blue way.
Van Garderen Wins Amgen Tour, and Peter Sagan, the Lean Green Machine, Wins Stage 8
Santa Rosa, CA., May 19, 2013. By Jen Benepe
The boy from Colorado, Tejay van Garderen sealed his first major stage race win at the Amgen Tour of California, which ended today in Santa Rosa, CA after traveling over 750 across the state.
It was a triumph for the young 24-year-old who became a phenom in last year’s Tour de France when he came away with the best young rider award.
“It’s a big relief. It’s a weight off my shoulders. I got the monkey off my back and hopefully this gets the ball rolling, and I can start racking up a bit more [wins],” he told journalists.
But the win was also a triumph for American cycling, and pro cycling in general since the Lance Armstrong debacle that has left the sport crippled in so many ways, among them morally, and in terms of public respect for cycling, a fact that many pros may be taking to heart when they are out there pounding on the pedals.
With his five-week-old daughter Rylan there today to share his victory van Garderern said, “Maybe becoming a daddy was the difference [in taking the overall win].”
Another phenom that has shot his way onto the pro cycling scene in the past year, Cannondale Pro Cycling’s Peter Sagan outsprinted the field to win the race’s final stage.
It was a 80.7-mile course that took cyclists from San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge for the only the second time in race history, to the overall finish in Santa Rosa.
It was also Sagan’s 10th career Amgen Tour of California stage win, now a record. “I’m very happy for the win today and I thank all my teammates because we did work hard from the start,” said Sagan who also dedicated his victory to Alex Shephard, an 11-year-old fan fighting brain cancer.
A sea of fans turned out for the BMC Racing Team’s homecoming, which included overall team honors in this year’s race. Team leader van Garderen was named the Best Young Rider in the 2011 Amgen Tour of California and placed fourth overall last year.
In the final five miles, where the racers completed two circuits in downtown Santa Rosa at speeds of up to 40 mph, teams jockeyed for position to lead out their sprinters for a dash to the finish line.
After challenges from Team Garmin-Sharp, Optum Pro Cycling presented by Kelly Benefit Strategies and ORICA GreenEDGE, Cannondale regained control with .7 miles left in the race.
Earlier in today’s stage, a three-man breakaway escaped from the peloton around mile four and held their advantage until 10 miles to the finish, when Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team’s Thomas De Gendt (BEL), the third-place finisher in last year’s Giro d’Italia, fell back into the pack.
The remaining two riders, Bontrager Cycling Team’s Antoine Duchesne (Petaluma, Calif.) and Santa Rosa-based Bissell Pro Cycling’s Jason McCartney (Coralville, Iowa) kept their lead until just before the finishing circuits.
By Jim Freibert – May 16, 2013–California. Edited by Jen Benepe
Tyler Farrar clinched the finish at the fourth stage of the big California race yesterday.
The stage was once again nearly dominated by the internationals, until the finish, when Americans placed one and two to the line
The next fifteen places were all foreign, not domestic, pros.
But who will remember anyone other than Tyler Farrar, unless they remember he was just ahead of second place rider Ken Hanson, number 125 of Optum who earned a 6-second time bonus, or the third place Belgian, Gianni Meersman, of Omega Pharma Quickstep.
Behind Kris Boeckmans, was fifth place Peter Sagan who congratulated Farrar for winning (in stage 3 Farrar was third, Sagan was first, and today’s 6th place, Mick Matthews, was between them).
At the end of the day, all the race category leaders kept their jerseys, and it looks like 115 riders will start Thursday’s stage from Santa Barbara to Avila Beach. More familiar roads for ATOC veterans, but the sprinters and tired climbers will not like climbing San Marcos Pass to leave Santa Barbara!
From the standpoint of long-time tour of California, today’s stage was about as close as you get to a “classic” for the Amgen Tour of California
The race has traveled between Santa Barbara and Santa Clarita three times before, almost a reverse of today’s route in 2007 and ’08, and part of this course was used in 2006.
And this was the first time Santa Barbara has been visited in May, a particularly great time for riders and spectators to visit one of the most fragrant areas of America.
Substantial quantities of America’s orchids, roses, and other flowers are grown in and around the Santa Barbara and Carpenteria areas where Jens Voigt upped the pace before the finish – also a spot where you’re no doubt, inhaling more citrus scents, than at a perfume counter! Maybe he was inspired, remembering his sweetheart, Stephanie, the mother of their six children!
Earlier, closer to the Santa Clarita start, the riders skirted some of the more infamous short climbs used in the Amgen Tour’s first few years, and there’s little doubt that the veterans breathed a sigh of relief that the killer climbs east of Ventura were not included this year.
For you professional wannabes, with a sense of humor, or aspiring, wannabe professional racers, a new addition to this years race is a GRID, with competitors numbers… imagine you’re in 23rd place overall,… you really want to mark the riders in 22nd, 21st, and 20th place, and if you can – pass and gain time on those rivals in particular you improve your, and your teams standings.
The grid allows riders to cut out names and numbers, tape the small pieces to their bars or stems (easier than writing on your arm, the old fashioned way of the pros), and look to beat these guys at the line!
You didn’t think it was coincidental that so many stage racers finish in the same clusters day after day, did you?
If you’re not watching the race, and you want to see why San Marcos pass is so memorable – come back tomorrow, because a picture is worth a thousand words, and Cyclists International should have some exclusive photos.
It’s nothing like Manhattan, Greenwich, Providence, Boston, or Philly! This pass, and these exact roads that criss-cross it, are part of the reason several world class teams return to Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley behind it, to train – why they’ve left the names of rivals, teams, and Tour champions painted on these side roads for nearly 30 years!
With his Cannondale team timing their sprint train to perfection, Slovakia’s Peter Sagan delivered his first win at the big California
Peter Sagan wins stage 3, Amgen Tour of California
race in stage 3 Tuesday.
He was just ahead of Mick Matthews (Orica Greenedge) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda) who was third.
Sagan broke three-time Champion Levi Leipheimer’s Amgen Tour of California stage win record of seven last year when he took five stage wins. His stage wins at America’s largest cycling race now total nine, including today’s dramatic victory.
“The last three kilometers were crazy with all the sprinters who wanted to win,” said Sagan of today’s finish. “When I won I knew it was a good stage for me.”
After two days of baking and broiling on the bikes, 119 riders were treated to a more hospitable Tour of California when temperatures fell to the 80’s. Tuesday’s stage also offered a break, dropping to 110 miles, 14 less than on Monday’s broiling mountain climb.
Support crews too got a break: instead of preparing 200 bottles and innumerable ice bags as they did over the previous two stages, the average dropped to 150 full bottles per eight riders.
One hundred racers finished as a massive pack, with the last fifteen all coming across the line in the following several minutes – no one passing out from heatstroke, no one 18 to 36 minutes behind as they were in the previous two stages.
Tuesday’s stage saw a big move from breakaway specialist Jens Voigt who attacked from the gun.
Stage 3 map ATOC 2013
Voigt’s break formed and reformed with a gruppo of other break riders, a virtual Who’s Who of pros, including Leopard teammate, Andy Schleck, Didier and Jungles; Sylvain Chavanel (Omega PQ); four BMC riders, Tejay van Garderen, Brent Bookwalter, Mathias Frank, and Michael Schar, and a host of others including Sagan and a Cannondale teammate, Baden Cooke and two younger Orica Greenedge charges, Cameron Meyer and his brother Travis Meyer.
Later Voigt was joined by Mick Rogers and Saxo-Tinkoff teammate, Chris Baldwin, Carter Jones of Bissell, Alex Cadelario of Optum, and two more breakaway aces, Juan Antonia Flecha of Valconsoleil-DCM, and Francisco Mancebo of 5-Hour energy. You might ask who was left in the field! Buhler? Anyone?
Of course this escape group stayed out over the first Nissan King of the Mountain, and Carter Jones solidified his hold on that jersey, but for all the other teams left in the field – their directors were screaming, their race would be over if the escape stayed away, so the concerted effort of a hundred-rider peloton reeled in the 23-rider break just after that KOM, at least for a moment.
Peter Sagan podium ATOC 2013
Andy Schleck, stage 1 winner Lieuwe Westra, Chad Beyer, and the young Bontrager team’s Gavin Mannion began building a lead they had hold for most of the day.
In fact with 55 kilometers, 34 miles to go, they were still three minutes ahead of the peloton, at a steady 25-26 mile-per-hour pace.
With 18 kilometers to go, Chad Beyer of Champion Systems made a solo jump off the front, but couldn’t gain more than ten second.
With 13K to go, it was a solid mass with lots of blue shoulders (Garmin, UHS, Omega Pharma) and a half dozen lime green Cannondale pros all across the two lane road, gutter to gutter.
As they got closer to the Santa Clarita finish, just inside 10K or six miles, using the wider streets the red BMC jerseys became more evident, with the mixed colors of younger pro continental teams hiding behind the big pro tour engines.
Leopard Trek’s Spaniard, Markal Irizar jumped with 5K to go but like Beyer, and others earlier he couldn’t get more than a few seconds ahead, so at 4K, and 3K to go, there was one big, fast, forty mile-per-hour field!
Then bam! Bontrager’s Ryan Eastman hit the deck with just 2.5K to go. Ouch!
Two kilometers, 1.7, 1.4, then one mile to go, and no single team could take control: there were sprint trains of Cannondale, Garmin, Orica Greenedge, UHC, and BMC all trying to take it single file, but they couldn’t pull away!
And thousands of people were treated to the best view of a Santa Clarita finish in years, a long, long straightaway we could all witness, with Peter Sagan finally throwing his arms in the air, for a second then bending his elbows for his version of the “Harlem Shake” over the line.
Unlike the last two days, long delays in insufferable heat, fans had shade, big screens, big trees, perfect for bike racing and spectators, and a podium presentation with the same players but much bigger smiles than Monday!
