Each day was a pretty good race but I found the GC boring. It just came down to two short TTs so there was no strategy, which is often my favorite part of a stage race.
Mancebo taking the jersey with 1+ minute lead.
Levi, actually attacking (crazy), the next day on a climb to get 1+ minute back and the jersey back.
2 TT’s that could’ve been won by a lot of guys.
Levi being isolated by himself on Palomar on the last day with several guys >1 minute down.
Seeing Lance play super-domestique.
I think there was lots of good stuff going on in this race and I really enjoyed it. Lots of attacks and even breaks making it to the finish. Good racing isn’t always about the GC. It’s the day-to-day that is exciting. There are a lot of races that really come down to the TT’s and one or two important days.
Without TV coverage in Canada I think I missed all the drama.
What tajsss said! The race was great. Lots of subtle stuff, like Hincapie not covering and the rest of the break not being willing to pull him to the front.
I found the coverage a bit boring. But, I’m grateful to Versus for covering it in the first place. I’m hoping they cover the Giro daily this year.
I don’t pay for cable TV so I didn’t have coverage either but just following along with the live reports on cyclingnews.com and watching the coverage when I could on the web was good enough for me. The coverage on the web played just like TV and with practically no commercials so it was great I thought.
I got to see part of it live, so YEA!
clm
Yes. Anytime there is cycling on TV, I am happy.
The best parts – actually seeing Levi attack and the pics of Armstrong pushing the guy into the snowbank.
Astana, and Levi especially, were primed and ready for this race.
…cycling.tv is available in Canada 
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Mancebo taking the jersey with 1+ minute lead.
Levi, actually attacking (crazy), the next day on a climb to get 1+ minute back and the jersey back.
2 TT’s that could’ve been won by a lot of guys.
Levi being isolated by himself on Palomar on the last day with several guys >1 minute down.
Seeing Lance play super-domestique.
I think there was lots of good stuff going on in this race and I really enjoyed it. Lots of attacks and even breaks making it to the finish. Good racing isn’t always about the GC. It’s the day-to-day that is exciting. There are a lot of races that really come down to the TT’s and one or two important days.
+1 for sure!!
I can not imagine anyone thinking this race was boring if they are a fan of cycling. It had a little bit of everything and was really enjoyable. The only negative was the goon like behavior of some of the fans on the climbs of the last day but you can get that kind of thing anywhere so not a major issue.
Even though it was not a long time, it was fun to see Levi isolated but respond and stick with the leaders on the Palomar climb and then see Lance and the boys catch back up (they rode Palomar very well and paced it great) and then protect Levi the rest of the way. It was a chance to really see Levi “earn” the overall win by hanging tough and see Lance/Astana really step up and finish strong.
The TTs were great and plenty of guys had a chance to win it but Levi stepped up when it counted the most. Also some good Sprints and Mark C is a freaking animal within the last 200 meters. If he is in the right position at 200m there is nobody in the world who can beat him!
Overall great event, enjoyable coverage, and hopefully Versus will be doing more race coverage this year than in the past. I am assuming if Lance races they will probably cover it so lets enjoy it while we can because once he is gone then it will basically be back to just seeing the Tour and that is it.
Agreed, this race was fantastic! I can’t wait for it next year.
Actually, there was more GC drama than I expected. Before the race I figured the GC would be a one person show. Levi is one of the best GC riders in the world and he is probably the only top GC guy who was specifically targeting this race. Everyone else has bigger plans for later in the year. So, combining those factors with the fact that Levi is on one of the two really deep teams, and racing in his home state, it could have been no contest. But, there was some legitimate drama both earlier in the race, on TT and on Palomar. It was not at all obvious that the Lance group was going to catch up. When Cadel Evans was repeatedly isolated in the TdF, how often did his domestiques catch back up? (Remember, his old domestiques are some of the same folks Levi is now using).
Sure I thought it was great fun and I spent 6 hours standing out in the rain in Santa Rosa. I don’t see how anyone can really complain when we get a world class field like that in our backyard. Sure it would be great if they could move it to spring and venture up some bigger Sierra Nevada mountains but if they move it would they really get the high class of riders to come with competition from spring classics in Europe?
I did enjoy it - better than nothing! I didn’t like how it got cut off almost everyday (Versus or my DVR?) Did VS ever go over the alotted time?
Otherwise, it’s cool to get some bike racing in!
What is so cool are stages like yesterday’s where so many of us in San Diego have ridden all or most of the stage and know how we felt on it. THAN to see them FLY by uphill after x miles puts it in such a different perspective! That is the cool part of it all. Hence cycling is so great! Where else besides perhaps golf can you do the SAME course/park/field as the Pros! As far as TV goes…it comes down to the guy doing the video feeds and the person who cuts to HOCKEY or not!
I absolutly loved the race. Saw 3 stages in person. Weather was bad which hampered plans for long rides during the race, but added an extra element of excitement.
I am predicting that this will be the peak for the ToC in terms of quality of the field and spectators. I can’t help but feel that more racers will decide to skip it next year. I hope that I’m wrong…
i enjoyed it. thought the VS coverage was good. levi’s attack on day 2 was great. also enjoyed the Columbia rider (rogers, maybe?) taking a swing at the fan who nearly caused an accident. being a MLB and specifically a cubs fan i really wish moises alou could have done that to bartman back in 2003, but i digress.
enjoyed the TOC.
having to get updates only through the web was a bit of a downer, why no national coverage? I’m one of the cheapasses w/out all of the cool channels.
NOTHING on the nightly news and a rugby 7’s tournament airing Sun. afternoon? Nothing against rugby, I played lots of 7’s 10’s and 15’s and it was cool to watch, but you would have thought there would at least be some coverage of the TOC. I guess I have to pony up some $ for a few extra channels or deal with the web updates (which were excellent).
Absolutely. I watched the coverage intently all week and saw the finish in person yesterday…it was fantastic. I caught some of the recorded coverage later on last night and they said it was the largest crowd ever at any road race in the US.
A great event and a great boon for US cycling and its fans. I sincerely hope they build on it next year …maybe even add a day.
I did enjoy it indeed. We watched a lot of the live feed with our friend Frankie Andreu doing the commentary and I enjoyed that. It was also fun bench racing here on ST about the stages, the racers and the equipment. It’s a great way for the season to start and gets people thinking about the sport.
2009 Tour of Cal is the infancy of a GREAT event. I rushed home to watch when I could.
Coverage gets a b+. I missed Friday stage and could not find a recap other than results.
I would enjoy a time line showing riders / teams positions all across the tour.
How competitve Are garmin And Dave Z going to be in Italy and France ?