Tour of California - The Bikes!!

So, one of my favorite parts of going to a professional bike race is getting a chance to see all of the absolutely cool bikes and bike paraphernalia that is at the cutting edge of the sport.  The first bike to really catch my eye was the Pinarello Dogma ridden by Team Sky (above). I'm partial to Pinarello, being Italian, and they are extremely cool too.  This one was ridden by Stage 1 winner Ben Swift.

The Dogmas ridden by Team Sky are very different than the ones ridden by Bissel that I posted pictures of last year. Just looking at the fork and head tube of the Team Sky bikes you can tell that these bikes have something really funky going on.

Next on the absolutely sweet bike list is the Cervelo S3 of Thor Hushovd.  Personally, I don't care what bike you're riding, if you're rocking the world champion's rainbow stripes the bike just looks so much cooler.

I'm not a huge Trek fan, but the Radio Shack Madones look very cool. For pure aesthetics alone they are one of my favorite bikes in the pro peleton.  This is Jason McCartney's ride parked in front of the Shack bus. I dig the bear graphic on the bus, and it is also one the bikes, at the top of the seat tube.

One of the newest and sexiest bikes of the pro peleton is the Specialized Venge. HTC was rocking them for the first time in the U.S. They are done up in a matte black finish that looks super stealthy.

BMC is a company that doesn't really excite me as far as bike design is concerned, but like Radio Shack, BMC really does have a great look. From their kits, to their bikes to their team cars (above), I love the way they roll.

I could go on for a long time raving about all of the great bikes from this years Tour of California but I'll hold myself back.  However, one bike that has to make it in is the Focus Izalco of Team Jelly Belly. They might not be a Pro Tour team, but they sure do ride Pro Tour quality bikes. The paint job of course just seals the deal for me. I love it!

Team Leopard-Trek

Andy Schleck, Jens Voight, and several other riders from Team Leopard-Trek are here to contest the Tour of California. There is definitely a somber mood surrounding the riders, following the death of their teammate Wouter Weylandt in the Giro D'Italia. Andy Schleck (above) seems particularly distant from the fans and the media attention, compared to last year when he was all smiles and very accessible.

Jens Voigt was his usual, affable self though. He conducted several interviews before each stage and spent a lot of time posing for pictures with fans. No wonder why everyone loves Jens!

Still, the team is here to race, and they are carrying on as best they can. Linus Gerdemann (above) was in the mix for the sprint on Stage 1 in Sacramento.

The team has brought a number of young riders here to get experience in preparation for the Tour de France and other stage races to be held throughout the summer.  It is doubtful that a guy like Stefan Denifil (above) will make the Tour de France squad, but a good showing here might help his chances to get on for the Vuelta or the Tour of Switzerland.  He actually had a pretty good scare on Stage 5 when he crashed pretty dramatically. But, he survived it relatively unscathed and was able to finish the race. More on that here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/denifl-escapes-with-only-cuts-and-bruises-after-dramatic-crash-on-stage-five

Here is a picture from Cyclingnews of his Stage 5 crash. Whoa!! That is the Leopard-Trek team car nearly running him over!

Many of the teams are choosing to remember Wouter Weylandt in their own way. Team Radio Shack are all carrying stickers memorializing Wouter on their bikes (WW 108). This one is on Haimar Zubeldia's Trek Madone.

Team Leopard-Trek had some nice looking Madones of their own. The one on the outside belongs to Martin Pedersen. That is a really small frame with a really big crank!!

Here is Jakob Fugslang giving it everything on the climb up to the summit of Sierra Road on Stage 3. Andy Schleck had already passed by with Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner. Shortly after they passed us, Horner dropped them both to solo for the win and take a commanding lead on the GC.