Today's stage was just another part of a really crappy day. I don't really know what to say about it. It should've been fun to watch. I like weather mussed stages, especially in the rain. Cyclists I like tend to do well/attack in these stages. But I neglected to realize, yesterday, that Sylvain's far too close to the yellow jersey to be able to attack safely, and therefore he didn't. I was kind of right about the breakaway, which put a lot of effort into their attack. But, sadly, didn't work out. I was kind of hoping that Movistar would get a stage win, but that'll just have to wait. Instead, we got what most people think was a fantastic finish. And, I suppose, if I was in a better mood and more forgiving, I'd agree. But I'm not.
I'd hoped, during the stage, that Gilbert would win. Obviously Sylvain wasn't going to win, but my hopes were resting high on Gilbert and I was sorely disappointed. Granted, it wasn't really his fault that he didn't win. Nor do I think that it was an issue with his team. While they're obviously not the strongest, they do their best. Sadly, today seemed to destined to give me disappointment. Which I suppose I should be familiar with, after all I am constantly disappointed by the Tour de France. I wonder why (rhetorically speaking) the biggest race in pro cycling is the one that always pisses me off the most. Anyway, back to stage four.
Prior to today's stage, I really thought I'd be okay with Cadel Evans as a winner, but it turns out that I'm not. I suppose it helps that I'm consistent. But, honestly, I have no idea what I want as a GT winner. I used to like them, but mostly they just tick me off. I remember rooting for Hamilton, for Armstrong (ugh), for Ullrich at least once. Hell, I cheered for Vino and Landis. But now, I don't know. There's nothing at all appealing about any of the GC folks (save CVV and he probably won't win, ever) to me. They all come off far too brash or their fans put me off before they even get started. I know, it's totally judgmental of me, but I never said I was fair. I'm an emotional fan and a poor loser who holds grudges. It's part for the course, as they say.
My mom said she didn't care who won, as long as it wasn't Contador. I'm tempted to agree, if only to save us from his stupid finger guns celebration. But I don't know, I wanted Gilbert to win and that pretty much colored the result of the race for me. Maybe I need to change the way I watch and cheer for the Tour, but I don't want to. I don't want to like these guys who think they're better than everyone else. Maybe it makes me a bad fan, but whatever. It's not fun when the same people are always winning or in contention. That's what made the first two stages of this year's tour so good. It wasn't predictable. It was different, it was fun, it was the way the Tour's meant to be. And then we had today's stage it was everything you'd expect and that was a disappointment.
Maybe the rest of this tour'll be different, but I don't think so. Call me cynical, call me negative, but I don't care. I just call it like I see and how I see it isn't fun. That's why there are far more interesting things going on, like the intermediate sprints (no crashes!) that seem to be strange (PhilGil attacking, but no Cav), but not drama-filled as I thought. Maybe that'll change, but we'l have to see. Or looking forward to the KOM. I'm hoping we'll have some superb breakaways that'll rack up KOM points. And, of course, the young rider competition is the only one that hasn't disappointed me yet (but there's still time ;).
The good thing about today's stage was that the leaderboard didn't change. Otherwise, I'm just looking forward to tomorrow's stage. Maybe it'll give me something fun, at least I'm hoping for something better than today.
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