With 20k to go, the 6-time Canadian National Road Champion, Dominique Rollin (Toyota United Pro) rol

Rubens Bertogliati (SUI) Raivis Belohvosciks (LTV) David Canada Gracia (ESP) Ermanno Capelli (ITA) Eros Capecchi (ITA) Iker Camano Ortuzar (ESP) Angel Gomez (ESP) Luciano Andr Pagliarini Mendonca (BRA)
Feburary 24th update: The bad weather appeared again at the end of the final stage; a stage that also, once again, saw an exciting successful break. George Hincapie raised his hands at the line after a slow motion sprint featuring five tired break riders. Tom Zirbel was the first into the Pasadena finishing circuits with 20 miles to go; however, despite what the Versus' announcers said, there was no doubt he would be caught by the four-man chase group just 30 seconds back. There was no sense in catching him too early so Zirbel continued to time-trial around the course much to the delight his domestic sponsor, Bissell. On the final lap, the Hincapie-led break easily caught Zirbel and from there it was cat-and-mouse among the five break riders (Zirbel was able to hang on). With 150 meters to go, Hincapie revved his big machine one more time and none of the wet, tired riders were able to respond. Levi Leipheimer easily rolled across for his second straight overall win.
The field sprint for 6th place was also very important. Dominique Rollin (Toyota-United) followed Juan Jose Haedo (CSC) across the line for 8th, ensuring that Haedo would not earn enough (relative) points to take the sprint/points competiton jersey from Rollin's shoulders on the final day. And hats off to Mario Cippolini for capturing another top 10 finish today. To come out of retirement after 3 years at the age of 41 and to contest every sprint stage and finish the Tour of California southwestern airline tickets is a great achievement. In fact, despite the cold and wet, the crashes and the spreading virus that claimed so many riders (only 77 of 132 riders finished the event), Rock Racing's handicapped team of five riders all finished the race.
This event has really grown in stature and quality this year despite the bad weather. The depth of the field led to lots of great finishes including three successful breaks by my count. It was great to see the riders' actions on the road making the headlines and not those who run the sport.
Feburary 17th update: I've been corresponding with the Amgen/Adobe Tour Tracker southwestern airline tickets developer over the winter providing some feedback. Expect some improvements this year to keep you more entertained, but most importantly, the quality and reliability of the video feed will be first and foremost. Expect VGA quality (640x480) video with multiple southwestern airline tickets camera channels. (update: The Tour Tracker has been working great). You can also view live coverage on cycling.tv. For same day coverage, also check out the Versus Tour of California TV Schedule . Similar to our other dashboards, we'll post links to results, photos and video and other links right here as they become available. Feel free to forward me any good links you come across. Steve
Feburary 23 update: In front of huge crowds on the Balcom Canyon climb and along the finishing circuit in Santa Clarita, a wild field sprint completed an entertaining day of racing. A long, six-man break was caught in the final 10 miles and then David Millar took a flyer with 3 miles to go taking two other riders with him. Millar's attempt to gain some time on Leipheimer almost worked, southwestern airline tickets but the chasing pack caught them at the 1k marker. Stage 4 winner Dominique Rollin then jumped first in the field sprint but there was still 300m to go and he ran out of gas. In the end, it was Mark Cavendish rocketing across southwestern airline tickets the line well ahead of the field; however, he was later penalized twenty seconds for drafting behind team cars after a crash in the finishing circuits that also took down four of the five Rock Racing members. Brazil's ace sprinter Luciano southwestern airline tickets Pagliarini (Saunier Duval-Scott) gets the delayed win. Do not expect changes to tomorrow's route due to anticipated inclement weather southwestern airline tickets as rumored, but check the official site for any updates . Steve
Feburary 22 update: Just like last year, Levi Leipheimer entered the Solvang TT stage with a tight lead and ends the day extending it by a healthy amount. He certainly had to be nervous this year with many of the world's best time-trialers just behind him in GC. The intermediate best times just kept dropping and dropping with David Millar and Christian Vande Velde beating the U.S. National Time-Trial Champion and their Slipstream teammate David Zabriskie. Like Zabriskie, the World TT Champ Fabian Cancellara posted a disappointing southwestern airline tickets time as well and both were more than one minute behind Levi's sub-31 minute time of 30.47. The twisty, rolling course seems to suit Levi more than anybody. The fine performances of Millar and Vande Velde move them up to 2nd and 3rd in GC and today's TT podium is now the GC podium too ( ), demonstrating once again how crucial a good TT performance is. Also, putting in great TT performances were domestic (continental) riders and teammates of the Bissell Pro Cyclng Team, Tom Zirbel and Ben Jacques-Maynes, who finished southwestern airline tickets 8th and 9th respectively; southwestern airline tickets the only domestic riders in the top 10. Levi is looking Golden, but Saturday will be a tough day and there is no ceremonial final stage on Sunday unlike other stage races and the two previous editions of the Tour of California. southwestern airline tickets Look for Slipstream to be very aggressive attempting to isolate Levi over the next two days. It's not likely to happen, but Slipstream southwestern airline tickets has three riders within 1.36 of Levi so it should make for good entertainment. Steve
Feburary 21st update: The route along the California coast from Monterey to San Luis Obispo is normally a beautiful ride, but today, the longest stage of the Tour was cold, wet and miserable. Many riders dropped out because of the spreading stomach bug or due to hypothermia. To make matters worse, the entire route was into a highwind/crossswind. The average speed for the day was only 18 mph and the riders were on the road for seven wet hours.
The main break started around southwestern airline tickets the 20k point. The mix of riders changed a little along the way with the eight main characters including: Ted King (Bissell), Roman Kilun (Health Net p/b Maxxis), Bryce Mead (Jelly Belly), Dominique Rollin (Toyota - United ), Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), George Hincapie (High Road) and Iker Camano Ortuzar (Saunier Duval-Scott) whose lead hovered at around two minutes. The announcers were speculating how the sprint finish would unfold with riders having southwestern airline tickets to negotiate a downhill, 90 degree corner just 190 meters from the finish line; however, there would be no sprint finish today.
With 20k to go, the 6-time Canadian National Road Champion, southwestern airline tickets Dominique Rollin (Toyota United Pro) rolled off the front of the break. Only ProTour riders George Hincapie (Team High Road) and Iker Camano Ortuzar (Saunier Duval-Scott) responded, but even though they worked together they couldn't bring back the Pro Continental rider. I've never seen a podium photo that speaks like this one ( ). Rollin also won the maximum number of sprint points and now leads the points competition. He was also the only guy not wearing a rainjacket! ( ). A great victory today for Toyota southwestern airline tickets United and Canadian cycling on what Phil Liggett calls "an epic day at the Tour of California" on the longest day in Tour of California (short) history.
There are only two Canadian riders at the Tour of California and the Canadian based team, Symmetrics , a worthy candidate, was not invited so Rollin's victory is especially sweet for many. The Tour of California is Medalist Sports (the organizers) and AEG's party so they can invite whomever they wish, but at the pre-race press conference last Saturday, I asked Jim Birrell of Medalist to officially explain why Symmetrics wasn't invited. southwestern airline tickets His explanation is both acceptable and disappointing. Click the video to the left for his explanation. Click here for more pre-race press conference video clips . Steve
Feburary 20th update: A terrific stage. Anyone who lives in the area knew this would be a great one. In a war of attrition, only two men remained on the final Sierra Grade steps Robert Gesink and Levi Leipheimer then worked southwestern airline tickets very well together holding off a formidable chase group over the last 20 miles to win by 19 seconds. The agreement was Gesink gets the win in return southwestern airline tickets for Levi establishing the overall lead on the dangerous GC riders (Fabian Cancellara, David Millar and David Zabriskie) in the chase group. southwestern airline tickets Levi said afterwards southwestern airline tickets he was very surprised to here Cancellara southwestern airline tickets was so close at the end of a mountaineous stage. Earlier, George Hincapie escaped southwestern airline tickets on the long descent of Mt Hamilton (earning him the most aggressive rider of the day) before he was caught on the early slopes of Sierra-Grade. He would end up finishing more than seven minutes back. José Luis Rubiera was impressive driving the pace up the steep side of Mt. Hamilton, an effort greatly appreciated afterwards by his Astana team leader, Levi Leipheimer. The weather was much better than expected, southwestern airline tickets but Mt. Hamilton is treacherous even when the roads are dry. Eight riders failed to cross the finish line within the qualifying time and were eliminated from the race. Steve
Feburary 20th update: Count me among those who consider tomorrow to be the Queen Stage of this year's Tour. I know these roads well. I've raced and/or recreationally cycled all the climbs tomorrow southwestern airline tickets and they are tough. In fact, my coverage of bike racing started with the regional Mt Hamilton Classic Road Race (my 2005 and 2006 photo/video reports and Patterson Pass 2005 ). The Tour of California will climb Mt. Hamilton in the opposite direction which is shorter, but steeper. It's safe to say Tyler Farrar's time in the Golden Jersey will be very brief. Steve
Feburary 19th update: BMC Racing's Scott Nydam ( who is he? ) soloed over Trinity Grade and continued to slog on solo for 95 miles (4 hours) to earn today's most aggressive rider award. But, the real action was on the soggy finishing circuits in Sacram