Heinrich, Alberto, & Brad Wiggins
Winter in Brisbane … can’t beat it.
- Getting up before dawn for a bike ride.
- Staying up to watch le Tour.
- And trying to keep it all in balance with the rest of your life & work.
The heroes of the last week, from my p.o.v.
Heinrich Haussler. What a ride from Aussie HH to win on a cold & rainy day near the German border. As many have pointed out, he took advantage of weather conditions similar to a Belgian spring day to firstly get in the breakaway, and secondly demolish his breakaway companions with a show of strength and daring rarely seen on any stage of the Tour. The most impressive ride of any breakaway in this year’s event.
Alberto Contador. All along I have been saying that he is the top favourite for the Tour. Last night was the decisive stage, and he smashed them. Game over. He is now the undisputed leader of the undisputed strongest team in the race. The only interest now is what shape Astana will take for 2010, and which team Alberto will ride for in the future. Because there’s no earthly reason why he shouldn’t win at least the next three or four Tours. He is that good.
Bradley Wiggins. Now that is a transformation, from pursuiter to Grand Tour contender. Put it this way, the two best pursuiters of all time, Chris Boardman and Bradley McGee, were never able to make the transition into becoming top riders in the mountains. Wiggins seems at the moment to have done it with about six months work. Astounding. If he can keep it up, he looms as Contador’s only real rival, which is a sentence I did not think I would ever write.
All this, and mountain biking on a Sunday afternoon in Karawatha Forest. Life is good.