Californication

Washington Representing
I was originally a bit curious why Tyler Farrar left Cofidis to ride for Slipsteam-Chipotle. I was under the impression that they were more of a up-and-coming team that would eventually fill the void left by USPS/Disco. They packed their line-up with very solid and seasoned riders to make their play.
The early season is paying in spades and Farrar’s move looks be solid. The 23 year-old Washington native is looking svelte standing next to the Govenator in the Golden Jersey as the leader of the Tour of California. Not a too shabby way to start the season.
Maybe Nick Nuyens, Cofidis classics badass, summed it up best in this VeloNews interview: “Tyler was great on the team last year. He was always there to help me and he really wanted to learn. We’ll miss him this year, for sure. He’s a strong rider with a big future. We wanted to keep him at Cofidis. Everyone knows he can win classics in the next few years.”

Lion To Roar Again?

What can be said? In what seemed like just another publicity move by Michael Ball of Rock Racing, he signed the 41 year-old Mario Cipollini. Both are known attenton whores so it wasn't a huge surprise.

The Surprise is on us: That old bastard scored a 3rd place in the field sprint in stage 2; And he is still raking in more hotties than any of us have even seen in our lifetime. Time will tell if he will last the season, but here's to hoping he can squeak out one more legit V in the name of the good old days....

A Single Tear

First Vino, now Basso. Don’t forget the many others before them. The tears are flowing from Ivana Basso about how he has been alienated and is alone since he was suspended from Operation Door (http://velonews.com/article/72085 ). News flash, Ivana: That is why they call it a suspension. A month ago Basso was spouting off how the suspension was good for him http://velonews.com/article/71311. Now he is pissing and moaning to anybody that will listen.
Out of all the riders who have been suspended only one has essentially said, “Yeah, I did it,” instead of taking the “guilty” party line of “Who me? Never! I have been wronged.” Here’s to David Millar for standing up and accepting responsibility for his actions.

Speaking of being wronged, it looks like Boulder’s favorite son, Tyler Hamilton, was prevented from starting the Tour of CA due to the re-opening of Operación Puerto. Rock Racing lost 3 of 8 riders due to AEG following UCI rules regarding riders under investigation. Like it or not rules are rules (although UCI rules seem to be under some subjective interpretation) and that leaves the aforementioned Hamilton, as well as Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla on the outside looking in. More on Rock Racing, Michael Ball, and the Tour of CA later…