Stage 4: Montpellier - Montpellier (TTT) 39km

Let's get this out of the way first: I have not seen the whole stage. I missed most of the middle (was at the doctor's office), but I saw the beginning (GOD, CRASHES) and the very end. So, before I actually get to my (brief, worthless) commentary, have the complete results:

1 Astana 0:46:29
2 Garmin - Slipstream 0:00:18
3 Team Saxo Bank 0:00:40
4 Liquigas 0:00:58
5 Team Columbia-HTC 0:00:59
6 Team Katusha 0:01:23
7 Caisse d'Epargne 0:01:29
8 Cervelo Test Team 0:01:38
9 AG2R-La Mondiale 0:01:49
10 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:10
11 Rabobank 0:02:21
12 Quick Step 0:02:26
13 Silence - Lotto 0:02:36
14 Francaise Des Jeux 0:02:46
15 Team Milram 0:02:49
16 Cofidis Le Credit en Ligne 0:02:59
17 Lampre - N.G.C 0:03:25
18 Agritubel 0:04:18
19 BBox Bouygues Telecom 0:04:42
20 Skil-Shimano 0:05:23

Okay, so. WHAT THE HELL. Seriously, what the hell. It's like I said on twitter:

callmecayce Back from Doctor's in time to see that Astana has the good drugs and will probably (disgustingly) win the stage. about 8 hours ago.

Seriously. I don't even know. That team should be imploding. Contador's definitely not towing the party line, LL's spitting bullshit and they're being forced to work for Lance fucking Armstrong who hasn't raced a TDF since he quit. HE QUIT. Why in god's name is he still racing? All it does is piss me off. I know that I'm overreacting, since obviously he doesn't care what I (or anyone else) thinks. But it doesn't mean I think he should be out there or support him, because I definitely don't. Nor do I understand why Astana is, well, winning things. They are a top heavy team, they are just waiting to fall apart. I don't know why they thought this was a good idea, but as of stage four, it's working and that's just disgusting.

Obviously, I am also bitter about a) the course. IT WAS DANGEROUS. I mean, seriously, what the fuck. That many riders falling on a dry day on an TTT course is ridiculous. BBox did not, under any circumstances, deserve that. Randomly, for the first time in what feels like forever, FDJ wasn't last in the TTT. Poor Skil-Shimano. Okay, enough of my spewing forth. Even though I only saw them crossing the line, GARMIN. Garmin, Garmin, GARMIN. Seriously boys, if there's another team I could support, Garmin would be it. And just look at that. Second place, awesome, if not ideal. I don't know what kind of drugs Astana is on, but hell.

Columbia didn't have a good day, I don't know what happened and I don't know that I'm even going to go rewatch the stage (though I might) because it was painful enough the first time and I didn't even see it all. So, right. Like I'd want to put myself through that. Plus, this isn't even the real story. See how I did that? Right, I stuck it at the bottom. Because I almost turned off the TV in disgust. On my favorite sport (though not my favorite race, until Sylvain and/or Haussler win a stage or six). Why? Because of Lance fucking Armstrong. I don't want to see him in yellow. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever again. I honestly don't believe he deserves to wear that jersey, not with the way he's been talking shit about the past few years of the race. So, when I saw that Lance might be in yellow, I was about to lose it.

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but I was still pissed off. I don't know what I would have done, and said as much on Twitter. Because what do you do when the guy you dislike (for legitimate reasons, not because he's a winner, but because he's a jerk) is about to get what is possibly the biggest not-really-a-win this year? Yeah, I was not happy. But, by some miracle, that didn't happen. I'll be honest, I don't know how they picked Cancellara as the winner and hell, I don't even like SaxoBank, but I'm not complaining. Anyway, before I get even more bitter, have the GC after stage fail four.

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 10:38:07
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:19
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:23
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:31
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:00:38
7 Haimar Zubeldia Aguirre (Spa) Astana 0:00:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC 0:00:52
9 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Slipstream 0:01:06
10 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:01:07