USAPC look back and look forward

So, yeah... the PC ended a while ago, and I never got around to a wrap up.  This will be a very short look back, some thoughts on the future, and that whole other gigantic race that's happening now (featuring an American!)

2013 USAPC
Judging by the shots they showed on TV, attendance at this year's race wasn't a let down.  The course this year was designed to draw in more people, and the riders put on a show.

• Peter Sagan kept on proving that he came here to win, by taking the finishes in Steamboat, Ft Collins and the finale in Denver.  He was never really tested.  No other teams brought a top-tier sprinter to this race.
• Tejay finally came through, after a 2nd and a 3rd in previous years, and added the PC to his TdCali earlier this year.  After a somewhat disappointing TdF, he showed that he is still the man to beat in the US.
• Andrew Talansky held the course record on the Vail TT... for about an hour, until Tejay came through and beat him by 4 seconds.  It was heart-wrenching.  The kid really went all out, and I was rooting for him to claim that stage.

The pain on that face...

I said quick, so there it was.  All in all, I very much enjoyed this year's edition, and watched most of the 32 hours of coverage (however spotty it was) over the course of the week.  But, there are still improvements to be made, for the sake of this race and the sport of cycling in the US...

Looking Ahead

The race NEEDS Boulder.  Well, not Boulder really, but Flagstaff.  And not so much Flagstaff as any uphill finish on the Front Range.  Saturday of the race must come back to the Front Range, it's where the fans are and the money is.  And I'm actually pretty down with the idea of the sprinter showcase, essentially meaningless to the GC, circuits around Denver to finish it off on Sunday.  But the GC needs to be in contention up until the finale, and the best way is throw down a big climb to end the penultimate day.  Flagstaff was perfect.  I could see Lookout working, there's some room up there and it's close to Denver.  I'm sure there are other I'm not aware of.  But DO IT!

And Tejay, as good as he is, needs competition.  Either that or a personality.  Dude doesn't have a twitter account.  And yes, I'm ashamed to call for one, but to connect with the youth and the fanbase as a whole, and make cycling accessible and fun, you need to go there.  Besides, there's a fake Tejay account and confuses the crap out of people.  Plan B is for another American who *does* reach out to go stride for stride with him.  Yes, Talansky beat him at TdF, but he needs to bring it at home, where he's seen (and primetime coverage in the US...).  Also, Talansky has over 20k followers, fwiw.

Look, Tejay's having fun!  Share with the world, Tejay!

Vuelta
Oh yeah, and the 3rd and final Grand Tour of the year is happening.  I would be remiss to skip over it, but a) I don't get TV coverage and 2) it's just not as glamorous as the Giro or TdF.  But they do know how to dish out the pain.  11 of the 21 stages are uphill finishes.  One of the stages last week had the Mirador de Ezaro, which included a section of 30% (!!) grade, that some pros walked up.  And, up until today's TT, won by one of faves Fabian Cancellara (266k followers on twitter... just sayin), American Chris Horner had the leader's Red Jersey.

Miradorrrrr!  *shakes fist*

Parting Thought: According to some random site that I can't verify the validity of (besides, of course, that the number they do list seem accurate), the top-followed pro cyclists are: Alberto Contador (673k), Mark Cavendish (639k), and Andy Schleck (258k).  Fabian is next on that list.  And Justin Bieber has 44 million.  *sad face*