Stéphane Poulhiès (Saur-Sojasun) won the sprint into ales, finishing ahead of Justin Jules (Véranda Rideau U) and Bobbie Traksel (Landbouwkrediet).  more wintery conditions forced the race officials to cut the stage short, removing the Col de la Baraque, opting for the lower part of the climb instead, making for an 82km race.

20km into the day, a break formed between Renaud Dion (Bretagne Schuller), Frédéric Amorison (Landbouwkrediet) and Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) – the peloton kept a close eye over the trio, making sure they never gained more than a minute over the main group.  Hivert accelerated away from his breakaway companions on the shortened Col de la Baraque – he had 44 seconds over the peloton with 10km left to race.  unfortunately, he was eventually caught, opening up an opportunity for a “bunch” sprint.  or what’s left of the bunch.  what was a 135+ peloton has now been whittled down to 78.  Pierre Rolland (Europcar) continues to lead in the gc ahead of Franck Vermeulen (Veranda Rideau U) by 6 seconds.

Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) won the individual time trial, later in the day, rounding the 9.7km course in 14:25 – Pierre Rolland finished 48 seconds down from Coppel and surrendered his overall victory for the race.  Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) finished 2nd, 26 seconds down and Maxime Bouet (AG2R-La Mondiale) was in 3rd, 32 seconds down in the individual time trial.

photos from steephill.

Coppel took the overall win, Vermeulen in 2nd, and Taaramae in 3rd.

the face you make when you ride the bike above:

it’s definitely 2012.

photos from ciclismo espresso.

justin came up to the city for a nice, easy stroll around paradise loop.  we left the bridge at 7am and the roads couldn’t have been any more clear.  there was no one out in their cars, running/jogging, riding their bikes.  no one anywhere.  well, besides that one token random drafter guy on the bridge who refused to pass both of us.  justin ended up telling him to just pass us but the random drafter guy responded with, “oh no, it’s okay.”  no really, guy, pass us.  he eventually did ride ahead of us in his capris, red windbreaker, and single nylon band toe straps.  neither of us understood why he was catching a free ride anyway, we were both going fairly slow.

everything else following that hilarious incident was fairly normal.  my knee was feeling superb after the restful week, and the weather was stellar.  as we came back around, bigger group rides started heading out, and there were a lot more cyclists out on the road.  enjoying the better-than-summer weather spell we’re having, I suppose.  summertime in san francisco is foggy everyday from june to august – this weather is far better.  and we’ve been really lucky with the rain holding off.

it also appears that my powertap magically started working again about 15 minutes into the ride.  but then shut off completely, again, near the end of the ride.  powertap, you’re hilarious.

marianne vos on her way to winning another world championship.

and some proof that it’s all in the legs:

first photo from podium insight, second from ciclismo espresso.

grey 6700.  you win.

originally on flickr, tipped from sffixed.

freewheel hayes has 6 low track bikes in stock.  each are flawless in person.  and still handmade in san francisco.

originally from freewheel hayes.

they’ve already got some wins under their name this season, and it’s only february.  expect more details soon.  probably something along the lines of lightweight, minimal cycling shoes featuring boa s1-m incremental zonal closure, and a stiff hi-mod carbon sole for dampening, power transfer, etc.

top photo from ciclismo espresso, bottom photo from bike rumor.

marco marcato (vacansoleil-dcm) took victory on the slight uphill finish at bagnols-sur-cèze, winning ahead of nicko eckhout (an post-sean kelly) and julien el fares (team type 1-sanofi).  more winter conditions forced race organizers to shorten the 150km stage to 66km – 3 laps around the finishing circuit in bagnols-sur-cèze.  the first rider to attack was bobbie traksel (landbouwkrediet) – he held a lead of a minute coming into the final lap.  europcar protected the interests of pierre rolland, leading the chase along with vancansoleil-dcm.  traksel was eventually caught with 4km left to go.  marcel kittel (project 1t4i) finished 11 minutes back from marcato and was eliminated from the race due to the time cut.

pierre rolland still leads in the gc – frank vermeulen (veranda rideau u) is 6 seconds back, with marco marcato 8 seconds back.

photo from steephill.

it’s not too often you see a carbon dolan track bike for the track.  go team ireland.

originally on velospace.

immaculate.  and only $2100USD on ebay…ouch.

originally on fyxomatosis.