Well, without jinxing things, hopefully that nasty storm we had last weekend was it and we are moving on to warmer weather and NO snowblowers or shovels in the near future...sheesh. Still a bit cool out there this week but at least the sun is shining and the snow is melting...time to shake off the rust and say goodbye to cabin fever.
Did anyone catch the excitement from the Oceanside 70.3 race recently? Simply great racing, no doubt about it. Stacked pro fields (and wicked amateurs as well of course), and VERY close finishing times for both the ladies and the gents. Carfrae had a tremendous run and pulled back a ton of time to take 1st. Big shout out to Canada's Magali Tisseyre for a hard fought third place on the podium. Andy Potts was first across the line followed shortly after by Rasmus Henning. The amazing Jordan Rapp raced to an amazing fifth place..gotta love that guy. Anyway, enough of my rambling, check out this wicked recap video for the highlights:
There's more great racing planned for this coming weekend with IM South Africa and the Texas 70.3 events...check out the 411 over at ironman.com.
(Slightly) closer to home, the Tour of the Battenkill takes place in upstate NY. This road race has become a HUGE event over the past few years, with great racing and over 2000 riders taking place on roads, dirt and more. Hell, pro cycling whipping boy Floyd Landis even raced it last year, but thankfully did NOT finish first. Rumor has it we have a few NB roadies heading down to race so best of luck to all.
And who can forget of course, "The Hell of the North"! That's right kids, one of the ultimate Spring Classics, Paris Roubaix is on tap for April 10. Yours truly plans to follow on line with updates, real time chat, and of course, a live stream of the event over at pavepavepave.com. Tom Boonen, the Belgian poster boy, 3 time winner, has, well..let's not sugar coat it, had his butt handed to him by Spartacus (Cancellara) last year who took off with 50km to go and left Tomeke napping at the back of the pack. Should be a fantastic race again this time around. The weather forecast is NOT calling for rain which totally sucks but who knows, weather is fickle, and the rain gods might bless us on Sunday.
Photo above courtesy of steephill.tv - check them out for detailed coverage, team lists, route maps, pics and videos of all the Classics. A rumor circulating out there right now is that a certain Tri NB ED is pulling for Hincapie to take the win (as are legions of other GH fans...yes, they exist). To me, that's like saying the Leafs will make the playoffs...no chance in hell!! The man has heart but the excuses and "bad luck" is starting to wear thin..still, he did take 6th place last weekend in Flanders! Go George go?
And finally, if road racing in Europe does not do it for ya, turn on CBC this weekend for the 2011 Dextro ITU race from Australia. The Canadian women will be out in full force, and Alistair Brownlee is racing as well in this season opener..bring it on!
Wednesday, April 6 2011 - CBC To Broadcast Opening World Championship Event
CBC To Broadcast Opening World Championship Series Event on Saturday
CBC will broadcast the opening race of 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series and all of the world's best have come out to play.
The top-10 men in the world from 2010, including World Champion Javier Gomez (ESP), 2009 World Champion Alistair Brownlee (GBR) and 2008 Olympic champion Jan Frodeno (GER), are in Australia for the season opener.
In the women's field, nine out of the top-10 women from 2010, are ready to strut their stuff in Sydney. The women’s field will include Canadians: Paula Findlay, Lauren Groves, Kirsten Sweetland and Kathy Tremblay.
Defending champions Barbara Riveros Diaz (CHI) and Bevan Docherty (NZL) are also in the mix in what is set to be a thrilling opening race-day. As 2011 is an Olympic qualifying season in which every race has qualifying points on offer, the competition will be fast and furious from the start. Click here for full race preview
CBC Broadcast Schedule
Sat. Apr. 9 @ 21:20-00:00 ET LIVE
ITU TRIATHLON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES ON CBC: Women's Triathlon- Sydney
Sat. Apr. 9 @ 00:00-02:25 ET LIVE
Should be a busy weekend all around, regardless. Hell, maybe you might even want to turn off the laptop or TV and actually get outside as well (heaven forbid). Peace.
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