Rund um den Henninger-Turm

May 1st, traditionally known as May Day, I went to see Rund um den Henninger-Turm.
It was my third time to be there. I was there in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

I drove directly to the feed zone (ravitaillement)  in the morning. I was there
around 3:00 in the morning! I took a brief nap and then started painting around
4:00 in the morning.


The bike of the winner in the morning. Tony had just checked out his bike.



At the brief team presentation, Karsten Kroon is being interviewed. The man
asked him what his tactics for the race would be that day. Karsten answered in
German (I did not get the exact words as my German is poor) that he would
try to finish in front of others at the finish. The audience laughed but who
had the last laugh? Karsten Kroon himself as he did it!!!



Andy's bike had the SRM transmitter. You could watch his output on TV
thanks to this equipment. You saw that "A. Schleck  400W" or something
on the screen, didn't you?



Karsten, Matthew and Andy preparing for the race.



For Karsten Kroon. The winner of the race. I hope he saw his name.



For Matthew Goss. My camera responds so slowly that I did not notice
at the time when I took this picture that a car was running over his
name. Maybe I need a better camera.



For Andy Schleck. Notice the "Ma" above? It is part of Ma-tthew.



For Andre Steensen.


For Lasse Bochman


For Lars Bak.



And the CSC logo.





to be continued......

Tour de Romandie 2008 Part I

I will start updating my blog this week. It has been an up-hill
battle since March 24th when I went to 24th Rund um Köln. Since
this Monday I have been to so many races on weekends.

Now I have some time to organize this blog and sort out the
pictures I took.

Come back in a week; sometime late May and you will see the results.
To begin with, I upload two photos I took at TdR.

I picked up two musettes from Team CSC at the Ravitaillement. Who
discareded those musettes? I know from the pictures below that
Volodymir Gustov and Kasper Klostergaard passed by me with the bags.
This fact eliminates these two riders since I found the bags about 200
meters before the point where I was. And the picture of Jens Voigt without
the bag may suggest that he dropped one of them.


Jens Voigt without the bag.


Two Team CSC riders with the bags.

Calendar and results 2008

Autograph collection after Critérium International (30. 03. 08)
and after Paris-Roubaix (13. 04. 08)

1. Stuart O'Grady
   
2. Karsten Kroon
   
3. Allan Johansen
   
4. Kurt-Asle Arvesen
   
5. Matthew Goss
   
6. Anders Lund
   
7. Matti Breschel
   
8. Marcus Ljungqvist
   
9. Lasse Bøchman
   
10. André Steensen
    
11. Jens Voigt
    
12. Andy Schleck
    
13. Nicki Sorensen
    
14. Michael Bludzun
    
15. Alexndr Kolobnev
    
16. Kaper Klostergaard
    
17. Bobby Julich
    
18. Gustav Erik Larsson
    
19. Fränk Schleck
    

I could ask Fabian Cancellara to give his autograph after the finish at Roubaix but
decided that I should wait until sometime later this season. He did not show it but 
he was deeply downhearted. It was not the right moment. I missed Lars Bak, too.
I will get him soon.

The next schedule: Amstel Gold race and Liège - Bastogne - Liège

I will have Jurgen Van Goolen and Carlos Sastre autograph my jersey!


At the first ravitaillement (Paris-Roubaix 2008). Tom Boonen is there!

Paris-Roubaix 2008 Part II

The cobblestones.


The three leading riders are passing over those special stones.



In 2005, Tom Boonen won. 



In 2006, Fabian Cancellara won. 


In 2007, Stuart O'Grady won. Look, the sand around the stone is relatively new and
no grass!

Ronde van Vlaanderen 2008 Part I

I will put up some more pictures later.

The world champion (women) Martha Bastianelli. 200 meters after the start.


Tom Boonen passing the top of Koppenberg before anybody else.

Paris-Roubaix 2008 Part I

I will put up more pictures later.

Tony M.'s bike at Roubaix, who came in the second.

Actually, it is Fabian's bike. An article on cyclngnews.com says
it is from Tony Montana in the movie Scarface.


Obviously, Fabian likes the Tony Montana's 'The world is yours' so much
he's got this on the top tube.


Kurt-Asle Arvesen at about 200 meters after the neutralized start. He
spotted me and greeted me. This says it all. He is genuinely a nice guy, I can 
tell you.


This is Fabian Cancellara doing the same to me. He is great, too.


This is 10 meters before the last turn (before entering the velodrome).
Fabian is about to discard his bidon. And I got this bidon!! I also got his
musette at the second ravitaillement. Lucky me!


And this is the very bidon that Fabian Cancellara threw away. As you
can see, the bidon is well scratched (or abraded) due to the dirt
on the bottlecage and the vibration while riding on the cobblestones. 
It landed on the grass before being picked up by me so it does not
have scratches from rolling on the surface of the road.

Critérium International 2008 Part I

The 2008 edition of Critérium International was held on 29th-30th
March. I visited the last two stages on Sunday.


This young man of Skil-Shimno recently gained a lot of attention
when he made his mark on the climb of Paris-Nice. Clément Lhôtellerie
is his name. Here he was being interviewed.



The interviewer is a friendly guy. I met him in 2007 at Paris-Nice (Paris),
Critérium International, Dauphiné Libéré and possibly at other race events.



Laurens Ten Dam. He was wearing the yellow leader jersey. I think his
bar tape was freshly taped for this occasion courtesy of Rabobank mechanic.
Unfortunately he had to give the jersey up to Jens Voigt.



A Française des Jeux rider and a bunch of Cofidis riders heading to the start.



Another Française des Jeux rider.



What is the significance of the photo? Can you tell me? The answer is
shown all the way down this entry. I give you possible answers that you
can choose from.

1. The woman walking ahead of me is Naomi Campbell.
   
2. You can see a mysterious creature on the lake, like "Nessie".
   
3.  Bouygues Telecom rider is making the final preparation before the race.
   

The start. You can see Ten Dam.



I think the man sticking upper torso from the official car is Christian Prudhomme.
I saw him later at the finish.



There he is! The winner-to-be, Jens Voigt.



Immediately after the finish, Jens Voigt congratulated Gerrans.



Gerrans happy and being congratulated by the team staff.


The Anwer: 3

A rider was called by the nature and had to go before the start.