Vuelta a España: Two sprint finishes in the first two stages, and lots of crashes in both, including one that ended the race and probably the season for Discovery’s Tom Danielsen. First stage: Daniele Bennati (an Italian from Lampre) won the sprint ahead of Óscar Freire (Spain/Rabobank). Second stage: Bennati crashed near the end, and Freire won, with Italian Paolo Bettini (QuickStep) second.
Fantasy Vuelta: Is the game functional or not? The Velogames site says it suffered a server crash on Saturday that blocked last-minute entries. After two stages, though, the site still shows no results. I’m impatient because two of the riders on my team, Freire and Bettini, have scored lots of points the first two days and I want to see where my managerial brilliance and pro-racing savvy (yes, that’s a joke) have landed my squad. [Update: The first results are up. My team, the Berkeley Bombers is ranked 58th. Context, however, is everything: There are about 660 teams entered, so 58th doesn’t look so bad. It must be noted, though, that just one rider, Oscar Freire, is responsible for about 70 percent of the points I’ve scored so far.]
David Zabriskie, sometimes described as a San Francisco Bay Area rider, successfully defended his U.S. pro time trial title yesterday, winning by a second over future Slipstream teammate Danny Pate. Slipstream is the official Team Clean of the future of cycling.
Floyd Landis Watch: If you’re interested in any aspect of the Floyd Landis affair — where he’s riding this weekend, his latest interview pronouncements, what bloggers and the media are saying about our great Tour non-champion — check out Trust But Verify. A great resource on the entire case to date.
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