Stage 12 - Thursday, July 14: Briancon - Digne-les-Bains, 187 km

Happy Bastille Day!


(espn)

What a day for the French! David Moncoutie won today's stage, Sandy Casar was second and Patrice Halgand was third. The only thing better, I think, would have been if a Frenchman was in the yellow jersey, such as last year. But, of course, that was not to be. Although last year on Bastille Day, Richard Virenque (who was visibly present at today's stage) won the stage and pretty much sealed up his KOM jersey. Not that anyone would have caught him.

It wasn't Moncoutie's first win, he won stage eleven last year.

"Last year's victory was so emotional for me, and today I wanted to feel the same emotions again. I was feeling very bad in the Alps, but I thought today could be my stage."

Well, there's really not a better way to duplicate those feelings than to win on Bastille Day. But, sadly, for much of the media, Moncoutie was not the top story (though he should have been) on the day. Instead it was the crash of one of Lance Armstrong's 'top' men. Manuel Beltran crashed and eventually had to abandon.



While it's sad and not good for Discovery, it seems to have overshadowed Moncoutie's win. But, in case you were wondering, Beltran did not actually want to abandon (but then again, who does?), but he was, according to procycling, forced to retire.

"Someone was apparently riding erratically in front of him and Triki clipped his wheel," Bruyneel said. "He rode on for 10 or 15 kilometres but he was obviously concussed. He suddenly had no strength left in his legs and he couldn't even remember the fall. The race doctor said that he had to abandon. He was taken to hospital in Gap for overnight observation and some scans."

It was pretty bad and I feel sorry for the guy. But, I suppose that maybe it's time Discovery lost a rider. They've gone so long without losing one. Of course, he'll probably still win the race, so really, it won't be too much of a loss in the long run. I do hope that Beltran is all right. I can't even begin to imagine how scared he must of felt. Okay, that's kind of a lie. I kind of can, but that was several years ago and I was sick and not riding a bike race, but still. Poor guy. I hope he's okay.

Today, it seems was a day of abandons. It seemed that every few kms there was a retirement. I know that wasn't the case, but it really felt like it. Here's the list from cyclingnews:

DNF Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel
DNF Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak Hearing Systems
DNF Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze
DNS Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step



Up until Beltran crashed, Boonen was probably the most unexpected (and yet expected) of the day. He crashed one too many times and just couldn't recover. And it was his abandoned that caused the strangest moves of the day. Thor and Stuey rode across a break to join, among others, Axel Merckx and David Moncoutie. At first the break was stuck at about a four minute gap, this was mostly because Robbie McEwen decided that he wanted his teammates to try and catch the break. His teammates, though, didn't like that idea. There were frequent shots of them talking to each other.

They didn't have any progress, though. It was a steady four minutes for several kms, and eventually they gave up or Robbie called them off. What made it really interesting was that previous Robbie had reported that he didn't care about the jersey anymore and here he was making his team work (for no real obvious outcome) really hard. He wore them out and probably hampered Axel's attempts to win the stage. Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that not one did he make his team work without a really strong result, but he had a teammate in the break! Not very smart, if you ask me.

Once Lotto dropped off the front, Discovery took up the pace (rather somberly it appeared) and, well, they didn't really care about the break. I believe the break eventually end up around 10+ minutes ahead of the peloton. It was fun to watch the break, they all wanted to win, but no more than the French boys. There were a few early attacks by the time the much smaller break reached 1km to the finish. But it was Moncoutie who finally won the day. And good for him! It was nice to see a French cyclist win the stage.



But the day wasn't just about the French. Because Boonen didn't start, the green jersey race turned into quite a battle. Not just from McEwen's end, but Thor and Stuey were battling it out long before the finish. I think that it hurt both of them, as they were not able to keep up with the final, smaller, winning break. And, in the end, it was Thor who proved to be the stronger rider, although Stuey gave it everything he had. It'd be nice to see another Australian in green, especially one that isn't McEwen. But I'm not complaining, as I'm a fan of Thor. Though I was sad to hear that Tom couldn't keep on racing, I don't blame him. We've seen it before, crashes sometimes are just too much. And he isn't the first green jersey to retire. Petacchi used to retire in green on many a mountain stage. But then again, he'd beat the rest of the pack earlier in the year at the Giro, so it was a miracle he made it as far as he did.



In the end, though, it was Thor who finished (and, technically started) the day in green.

Points classification
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 142 pts
2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 120
3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 107
4 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 81
5 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Francaise Des Jeux 69
6 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 66
7 Robert Foerster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 65
8 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 63
9 Baden Cooke (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux 59
10 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 58

It's nice to see Baden is at 60, but I am beginning to think '03 was just luck. Ah, well. There's always next year!

As for the rest of the jerseys. Nothing changed. Alejandro Valverde is still the young rider, Armstrong is still in yellow and, much to my joy, Rasmussen is still in the KOM jersey.

Stage 11 - Wednesday, July 13: Courchevel - Briancon, 173 km

(from espn)

Without a doubt, Alexandre Vinokourov is the story of Stage Eleven. Also worth noting, this was the first win for T-Mobile since 2003 -- when Vinokourov won stage nine that year.

What happened to Vinokourov between Tuesday and Wednesday? Probably not much. He refocused and felt much better than the first day after the rest day. All riders have their off days (even Discovery) and Vino was no exception. He got into a break, and at 6+ minutes down, he wasn't that much of a threat to Armstrong. Eventually the break turned into Vino verses two Phonak riders, Oscar Pereiro and Santiago Botero. What was interesting about both Phonak riders was their ability to fall back (even crash) and then catch up. At many points during the race, we all though that Pereiro had been lost and then Botero and then they were again. But, at the end, Pereiro couldn't keep up with Vino's pace and it was left to Botero to try and reel Vino in and steal the win.



I was very pleased that he wasn't able to.

I watched this race in three parts. I watched up until Vino was about halfway up the Col du Galibier, then I had to go to work. At about 10 pm (est) I watched until Vino was about seven kms from the summit and then finally finished the race this morning -- before and during the commercials of stage twelve. It was worth the wait just to see Vino cross the line. I can't even begin to explain how happy I am that he won. I was really unhappy last year when he fell. Not only that he couldn't race the tour, but that he fell so hard. I am glad that he both made the tour team this year and recovered from the fall.

Speaking of people recovering. It seems Jan Ullrich is doing a fine job keeping up. He managed to stay with the Armstrong group (no matter how fast they drove) to the finish. And boy did they drive fast. What was once a 3+ minute gap, was dropped down to 1.15 by the time they finally crossed the line. I couldn't believe it, nor was I really happy about it. I really want Vino to find a way to come back, and while I don't know if he could beat Lance (can anyone?), I want him to be able to be on that podium.

I suppose that my ideal podium goes something like this:

1. Vino
2. Rasmussen
3. Basso/Ullrich

I actually wouldn't mind any of those four riders winning. But I don't know what the chances are. Hell, I'd like to see Bobby Julich up there, too.



But, speaking of Rasmussen. I spent a lot of time being annoyed with Botero for going after all those mountains. Apparently I've found myself rooting hard for Rasmussen. But I am slightly bothered that he's only 38 seconds behind Armstrong. It really limits his ability to get more points -- not that he need that many more. But still, it's nice to have the cushion. It was also nice to see the peloton (or leaders, since there weren't that many riders left) letting him (so to speak) go off the front to collect more mountain points.

At least he had the stage win. And as a Richard Virenque (shush), I was pleased about that day.

I enjoyed the stage, even though it wasn't that exciting to start with. I was sad that Thor couldn't stay out until the sprint points, but that's the life of a sprinter. I'm glad it ended the way it did, though. Good for Vino and T-Mobile. Let's hope that they can at least keep it going for a few more stages. Maybe make something even better happen.

And, for a bit of a rotten note ...


Fassa Bortolo Tour de France rider Dario Frigo of Italy, right, his head partly covered with a cloth, as he is escorted to the Albertville courthouse, French Alps, Wednesday, July 13, 2005. Frigo was arrested Wednesday in Courchevel prior to the 11th stage of the Tour de France cycling race, after doping products were found in his wife's car at the toll station at Albertville, police said. Customs officials and local police arrested Frigo's wife Tuesday with about 10 doses of EPO.

Stage 10 - Tuesday, July 12: Brignoud - Courchevel, 181 km

I don't know what to think. I was more excited earlier, but then I had to go to work and so I missed the end of the stage. I stopped watching right when Jorg Jaksche was caught. I did tape it though and I just finished watching it. Well. Lance Armstrong is really amazing. I don't know what else to say (Oh, yay! OLN is interviewing Michael Rasmussen -- what a lovely accent. But, uh, stupid questions much? Oh well. I am just glad they are interviewing him.) about Armstrong. He did as, well, expected. The rest of the group is the real story. Up until he was caught, I was rooting for Jaksche. But by the end of the stage, I was rooting for Alejandro Valverde or Rasmussen.


(picture from espn)

I have to say that I am no longer impressed with T-Mobile. I don't know if they screwed up the plan or they are just too tired. All I can say is that I hope Vino can get his act back together and win a stage and get back some time. But, of course, he's now 6.32 back.


(picture from yahoo)

What happened? Lance Armstrong proved that he really is the best Tour de France cyclist (Eddy Merckx will always be the best cyclist ever). He said jump and to be cliche, everyone else said how high and then all but three of them failed. He pushed everyone to their limits and then broke everyone but Alejandro Valverde. It was crazy and I honestly didn't expect it at all. But, of course, tomorrow probably won't be nearly as exciting. Unless, of course, someone does something extraordinary or Armstrong suffers, etc.

I still can't believe what happened. Not just who stuck around with Lance (in addition to Rasmussen and Valverde was Francisco Mancebo), who broke so completely. Ullrich and Klodi somehow managed hang on to eighth (4.02) and ninth (4.6) respectively. But, I don't know. The top ten is so different than anyone expected. It's amazing to see just what the damage was today.

General classification after stage 10
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 37.11.04 (44.934 km/h)
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 0.38
3 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 2.40
4 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.42
5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 3.16
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 3.58
7 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.00
8 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.02
9 Andreas Kloden (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4.16
10 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems

Who would have expect Rasmussen in second place? Or Basso in third. 2.40 back. Or how about Ullrich and Kloden? And is Landis now the new leader of Phonak? What happened to Mayo and Vino and Bobby Julich? How about all those other cyclists we expected to be putting up a fight? They're all gone (for the most part) from the top of the GC. Granted, a few of them are in the top 20 -- but that puts them between five and eight minutes back. Five and eight minutes! It's only the first day of the Alps, what do we expect tomorrow? Will Armstrong mix it up again? Or will tomorrow be the chill-out (so to speak) day that today was expected to be? Somehow, though, I doubt that last one.



I don't know how Armstrong could mix it up again, though. It seems that with the exception of Mancebo, Valverde, and Rasmussen (if any of them are strong enough and, well, not burnt out), could stay with him. If they couldn't do it today, what makes tomorrow different? Although, I'm sort of inclined to think that maybe the rest day had something to do with this. They (Phil and Paul) mentioned that sometimes on the rest day, the body thinks that the race is over, even though the cyclist knows it isn't true. After working so hard, the cyclists have a day of not working hard, well, that is never good. Sometimes it helps, as clearly shown this year by Armstrong, et al. and sometimes all it does is hurt -- as illustrated by T-Mobile.

Tomorrow looks to be even tougher, so no relaxing day (not that there's such a thing in the tour). But will it be as relentless? We can only guess. No one could have predicted how the 'big names' would react. As I was writing my rest day post, I debated putting up final podium predictions, but then decided against it. Why? Because I wanted to wait for the results for today's stage. And now that I have them? I honestly don't have a clue. I assume Armstrong will win, barring any accident. But even so, he isn't a god or superman (no matter what that fan running alongside the four riders near the end of the stage might have though). He's human and they crack, even Lance. But the chances of that are pretty slim, so it's really the two remaining spots that I wonder about. Before, I was thinking maybe Vino and Basso. But now that Vino's slide back, I'm not so sure. It's not impossible for him to come back, but it's going to be hard. Ullrich and Kloden have a better chance at a podium finish.

Speaking of Ullrich, he was certainly impressive. After reading about how he probably bruised his ribs -- which feels like breathing with broken ribs -- to watch him push so hard and managed to stay in the top ten is nothing short of amazing. I know, Armstrong did a lot on the stage, but he's healthy. Ullrich is not, and, well, maybe this will be his year after all. At least, maybe he'll get back on that podium. Or maybe Rasmussen will manage to keep his second place. And don't count Basso out yet, either. He's only 2.40 out.

We're only through stage ten, anything can happen. And, well, it probably will.



(picture from espn)
Jean-Michel Le Metayer, right, President of the French Farmers Unions, holding a lamb, makes a speech as Tour de France General Director Jean-Marie Leblanc, center, cuddles the lamb's head, and five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault of France, left, looks on, as farmers holding banners, unseen, demonstrate on the Tour de France route in Brignoud, outside Grenoble, French Alps, to protest wolf attacks on their sheep and cows in the Alps.

Rest Day #1

Last year I did my top ten for the week (5 best and 5 worst, so to speak) and I'll do that again here. No picture, though. They were mostly of Lance and not as cool as the ones of Voeckler last year. Anyway, here they are.

1. Dave Zabriskie
Kind of obvious, of course. Who'd have expected this kid (I say that affectionately, as he's really just a year younger than I am) to win the first stage of the tour and then go on to wear the yellow jersey for three more stages? I didn't, but then again, I wasn't surprised. Zabriskie is good and it showed in '04 and in the Giro this year. I enjoyed watching his interviews on OLN as well as watching him race. I imagine he'll be back next year. Maybe he'll be in the yellow jersey for even longer.

2. Rabobank
Three different cyclists in the KOM jersey and two stage wins in a row. Who knew? Rasmussen declared he would win the KOM jersey and it looks like he will (so far, at least). And then he won the stage -- the day after his teammate, the young Pieter Weening, won his stage. Weening's break was awesome (really, there's no other word for it). He was almost caught by the peloton and eventually by Andreas Kloden. The win came down to the line, 2 mm and less than a second of time difference and Pieter won. Quite amazing.

3. Tom Boonen
Not one stage but two and a very slim lead on the green jersey. Sure, he might not keep it and he might not make it through the mountains (though I think he will, even if it's just within the time limit), but he's proven that he is probably the strongest sprinter (without Petacchi in the bunch) in the tour this year. As long as he starts correctly (and not too early, as when Robbie beat him), he can and will beat anyone. I think that unless Thor or Stuey can get points on the mountain stages, Tom'll be in green come the final stage.

4. Stage Eight
So very exciting. I hope that the rest of the 'real' mountain stages are just as exciting. In addition to the fine riding of both Pieter Weening and Andreas Kloden, it was nice to see T-Mobile working together. But, really, what made that stage to so fun and exciting to watch were the attacks on the yellow jersey. Over and over, totally relentless. I want more of those, please.

5. T-Mobile
For the first time since I've been watching (and someone tell me if they've ever done this), it seemed that T-Mobile was actually functioning as a team and not riders out for their own. I don't know if they can keep it up, but it'd be nice to see them try. As a friend of mine said, wouldn't it be wonderful if the three top riders (Vino, Klodi, and Ullrich) were to attack Lance all at once (and/or Voigt, since he has the jersey now). Although with Ullrich being hurt, who knows? I give them the benefit of the doubt though.

---

6. Dave Zabriskie
I know, he was up in the 'good' section, too. But, really, he needs to be in both. First he's the 'next lance armstrong' and then suddenly it's as if he never wore the jersey. All he had to do was fall and he's back to (mostly) being no one. I am extremely sad that he fell and that he didn't make it through the tour. But I have faith that he'll be back.

7. Crashes
Last year seemed to have more, but these have seemed to be worse and involve (in some cases) fewer riders. Hopefully the peloton will avoid them on the mountains this year. After all, cracking on the climb is bad enough.

8. Robbie McEwen
I don't really have much to say here, as I said it all in my stage five post. I wish he'd grow up and start acting like a real bike rider and not a petulant child. Then maybe I'd think he was worth rooting for -- because he is really good on the bike. If only it was echoed in his behavior.

9. OLN
The 'only lance network' is at it again. Every American is the 'next Lance Armstrong' and everything seems to revolve around someone else 'borrowing' Lance's jersey -- as if he owns it. I know that they've started, a bit, to talk about other cyclists, but only if they win stages/a jersey or are a rival of Lance. Otherwise the only information we get (without looking things up online) is from Paul and Phil, and as much as I enjoy their commentary, they aren't really that knowledgeable sometimes. Also, when they start talking about what the cyclists are thinking, it just makes me roll my eyes. I think that they should talk about the history of cycling if they run out of things to talk about. That is more interesting than guessing what the cyclists are thinking as they race.

10. The crowds
Normally this would be a good thing. But it seems that the fans are really getting in the way of the cyclists. Not so much on stage ten (which I'm watching right now), but earlier stages -- stage nine especially. They need to get out of the way and stop touching the riders. Not only do they (the cyclists themselves) get in trouble if a fan pushes them (which I don't really agree with) but there is the danger that they could fall off (a la Eddy Merckx) and be attacked or whatever by the fans. It's dangerous and, well, maybe there need to be more police on certain areas of the climbs (or barriers -- or both). And those noise sticks? They are long and could easily (though they have not yet) hit a cyclist.

Over it's been a fun few days of cycling to watch. I had to struggle to find some things to 'complain' or feel sad about. There were a few crashes that just broke my heart and stage nine really brought a lot of sadness out (among other emotions). It's too bad when people are forced to retire for the race. In other news, though, Specialized just had an absolutely hilarious commercial with Levi Leipheimer. Anyway, hope the rest day was good for everyone!

Stage 9 - Sunday, July 10: Garardmer - Mulhouse, 171 km

(all pictures from espn)

There is so much to talk about today and this is the first time I've really ever had any time at the computer, which is okay. I've thought a lot about what I wanted to say about this stage. It comes down to a few things. It was definitely not as exciting as stage eight, but then again I doubt much will compare to that stage. Nor was it as depressing as stages four and five. So, what was it? Completely satisfying and at the same time, quite sad.

I'll start with the sad. There were quite a few DNFs today, most of them resulting from crashes. A few in particular were horrible to watch. The Spanish boy, Jose Angel Gomez Marchante, of Saunier Duval-Prodir crashed horribly. From cyclingnews' live report "14:26 CEST 88km/83km to go: There's a crash in the feed zone, it looks like a Saunier Duval rider has broken his collarbone - Gomez Marchante." It was just miserable to watch. He fell apart (of course) and could barely move. The same with Igor Bonzalez de Galdeano. Again, from cyclingnews: "12:25 CEST 6.5km/164.5km to go: Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano has to abandon, in all probability. He looks to have damaged his lower back in that crash." Try as he might, he just couldn't get back on the bike. It was suggested he broke his pelvis, but I honestly have no idea.

The saddest in many ways was, of course, the abandonment of Dave Zabriskie. "My body's not working well enough to be able to compete at this level. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing you can do about it," said Zabriskie (daily peloton). On cyclingnews, it's mentioned that he abandoned due to stomach problems, but I'm sure it was more than that. When asked by OLN why, he didn't really have an answer. He just looked miserable. He mentioned how horrible it was, especially having all the cameras around. Poor boy. But he was able to laugh (a bit) and joked that he'd be at the Vuelta. Then, of course, said he was joking but that he seriously hoped to contend at the World Championships. And can I just say that it would be awesome if he won it.

Okay, enough of the depressing. Other things did happen on the stage (yes, I know, Jan Ullrich fell, but he seemed to be fine, so there's no need to go into it). In fact, it was one hell of a fast stage (at least to me), though I think it might have started earlier than normal. My coverage started at about a quarter to seven this morning (I was quite awake) and was finished by about 10:30 am (all times est). The post-show ended at 11 am. The coverage was pretty good and we were able to follow the progress of Michael Rasmussen and Dario Cioni, as well as that of the chase group.

For all but two of the climbs, Rasmussen and Cioni battled on, though not really with each other. Rasmussen had made it clear that he wanted the KOM jersey and he was going to take it. Cioni was on, maybe for the stage win. Except that the last two climbs did him in. Previous, Rasmussen had waited, knowing he needed Cioni's help. But on the Col de Bussang, enough was enough and Rasmussen left Cioni on. Eventually he was caught and passed by part of the break they had originally been a part of. Rasmussen was never caught. At one point, his lead on the peloton was 10+ minutes (or nearly that) and it was tossed out that maybe he would be in yellow come the finish. Of course, though, it wasn't that easy.

Chasing Cioni and Rasmussen were several cyclists, including two very experienced riders, Jens Voigt and Christophe Moreau. They rode with their break until the Ballon d'Alsace, when they attacked. But they didn't come close to catching Rasmussen and at one point, Rasmussen put even more time between Voigt and Moreau and himself.



It then became a battle for who would wear the yellow jersey. Would Rasmussen have enough time on the Armstrong's group? Would Voigt? Would Voigt and Moreau get caught? The answers to those questions go a little something like this: no, yes and no. Rasmussen was gone, never to be seen until the end of the race. Voigt and Moreau did end up losing time to the yellow jersey group, but it wasn't close to enough. He needed a minute and the peloton finally crossed the line about three minutes after Moreau and Voigt (six minutes behind Rasmussen).

It seemed that Moreau and Voigt had a talk about who would cross the line first. I like to think that since Voigt was pretty certain he was going to be in yellow (perhaps, in a way, to make up for Dave's DNF), he agreed to let Moreau get second -- and something out of the stage. Both men, though, appeared to be quite pleased with the results.



Possibly the coolest part of the stage was watching Rasmussen fight all the way to the end. It was almost like watching Richard Virenque (without all the history that Virenque has) as Rasmussen climbed the mountains. He almost flew over them and he did it so well. I liked how Cioni tried so hard to keep up, but in the end Rasmussen's grace on the bike was just too much. He made it look easy until near the very end of the stage. And then when he crossed the line? So amazing. He was so emotional and it was quite clear to see how much this meant to him. As much as I wanted Fabian Wegmann in the KOM jersey, I think that I wouldn't mind seeing Rasmussen wear it all the way to Paris. Let's just hope he can get those legs going again after the rest day tomorrow.



And, of course, the most important (in some ways) event of the day. Jens Voigt in the yellow jersey. Before the start of the stage, Armstrong told OLN that he wouldn't complain if he wasn't wearing yellow by the end of the stage. Why? Because he knew that if CSC (or whoever) got the jersey, they'd have to work hard to protect it. And, well, who better than CSC, really? On the day that their yellow jersey cyclist abandoned due to poor health, they managed to pull back on that yellow jersey. I do wonder, though, if Bob Roll was right. He's gone on and on about how he thinks that CSC screwed up and, well, essentially caused Zabriskie to abandon. He thinks that had they let another rider stay with Dave when he fell, he'd still be in the tour. I don't know, it's possible (and maybe I'll write about it later), but really, who knows? I like to think CSC is better than that. But anyway, Voigt is in yellow and he's never looked happier.



Just as a side note, the top three men on today's stage are over thirty. The winner of stage eight? Twenty four. How's that for age differences? Those "old men" certainly can ride well.

Stage 8 - Saturday, July 9: Pforzheim - Gerardmer, 231.5 km

There were, essentially, two parts to this stage: the attacks on the mountain and the win. Of course several things happened outside of those two events, but that's basically it. And so, what does a stage made of those two things turn out to be? Probably the most exciting stage of the tour so far. Since this stage is just the beginning, the next mountain stages promise to be even more exciting. I truly hope that the are.


(photos from yahoo)

There was a break, which was how Pieter Weening ended up out in front. It did what breaks do and sped along with the peloton chasing. Michael Rasmussen was in one of the first attacks (before the finally successful break) and managed to grab all the points on the first set of climbs. That gave him enough points to take the jersey from Fabian Wegmann, who had a rotten day (along with much of the rest of the bunch). Thor Hushovd attacked on the second sprint, earning a few more points. He now trails Tom Boonen by only five points. And, unlike Tom, Thor seems to have the legs to gather a few more sprint points and perhaps surpass Boonen for the green jersey.

Points classification
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step 133 pts
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 128
3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 96
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 91
5 Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 75

But the real action didn't begin until the break started to fall apart on the slopes of the Col de la Schlucht. Pieter Weening took it upon himself to attack, leaving his breakaway companions split into two groups of three. They would never see Pieter again until the finish. The first set of three fought for a bit, then sat up. The second set (Flecha, Commesso and Sorensen) lasted a bit longer, but as soon as the peloton hit the slopes, they were doomed. Weening kept riding, barely every looking back. But behind him, the excitement was just beginning.

Almost immediately the peloton began to split apart (even more than before, with riders falling off the back at an alarming rate). At first it was a rather large group containing most of Discovery, a few T-Mobile riders, some Liquigas, Illes Balears, CSC and a few others. And that's when the attacks started. The first to move is Alexandre Vinokourov, he attacks and he attacks hard. The group follows, losing more riders. Christophe Moreau attacks and Vino is right there on his back wheel. There are other challenges, almost all of them chased down by Vino, and then the rest of the group. By this time, Lance has lost most, if not all, of his team. Paolo Savoldelli was the last Discovery rider with Lance, but he, too, was dropped. But then Andreas Kloden attacked.

He jumped off the front and no one launched a chase. There were more attacks, but no one dared go after Klodi. And so Klodi rode across the break to Weening, who was only several seconds in front of the yellow jersey group. He caught Weening on the summit, passing over and taking the 20 points, much to Weening's dismay. Eventually they started working together and managed to open up a bit of a lead on the peloton. They would not be caught again. Back in the yellow jersey group, the attacks slowed a bit, but all the contenders were there. Ullrich, Basso, Vino, Julich and Landis, among others.



By this, though, both Klodi and Weening knew that one of them was going to make it to the finish. They both worked, but eventually Klodi did the work while Weening, who had been out since about 2 km, sat on the back wheel, resting. Turned out to be a good thing, because the pair rounded the bend and there was the finish. Pieter made his move and they were, well, neck and neck. In the end it was Weening who threw his wheel over the line for the win. He won by two millimeters.



The following is from cyclingnews.

The 24 year-old sophomore pro from Harkema, Netherlands, explained post-stage, "Today, my legs were not so good at the beginning of the stage. The first hour was really hard, but I decided to give it a try. Then I felt really strong in the break and when I got on the final climb, I went full gas to try for the win."

Earlier this season, Weening was caught in the final meters of a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country when he was alone in the lead. "When Kloden caught me at the top of the last climb, I said 'It's not possible today'. I was close before, but this time I made it!"

That race to the finish was probably the most exciting finish I've seen in a long time (akin to some of Paolo's exploits at the Giro this year). I tried hard to be irritated at Klodi for stealing the points for the KOM jersey, but I just couldn't. I like him. And, well, I like Pieter too. So I was pleased when it won. And it was nice of OLN to interview Klodi after the stage, and he answered the question that everyone had been asking (though I had figured this was what happened). All the T-Mobile attacks, Klodi said, had been planned. In a way, it's sad he couldn't win, but I'm quite pleased for Weening, a second year pro. Good for him!

I hope tomorrow is just as exciting. And we get two extra hours of coverage here. Thanks, OLN. You might annoy me, but I don't mind waking up at 6:30 for live cycling (and that is definitely not sarcasm). And I'll leave you with this picture of Pieter. I've never seen someone so excited about winning.

Stage 7 - Friday, July 8: Luneville - Karlsruhe, 228.5 km

Today's stage was for the German's. Almost. Robbie McEwen and Fabian Wegmann attacked, but McEwen soon realized that he probably shouldn't stick around as Fabian was showing no signs of getting caught and sat up. At one point, Wegmann was eight minutes or so ahead of the peloton. But, as luck would have it, the Germans would got yet another year without winning a stage in their home country.

Today, perhaps to make up for the crashes yesterday, the peloton was on fire. Though they miss the train of Fassa (really, who do you work for when Petacchi is not in the tour?), Lotto and Quickstep try to sort things out. But with so many teams (it's not just limited to those two, there are more: Liquigas, FDJ, and CA among others) trying to get their sprinters in position for the win, the peloton waits for no one. And quite a few riders discovered that. While Wegmann was out gathering points of the KOM jersey (which he won for the day), the peloton was riding as fast as it could (or that's how it seemed).

And the, before we noticed, Wegmann's lead had been cut in half. And it just kept on dropping. He tried -- he did managed to make it into Germany first. But he just couldn't hold them back. I don't even know how much of a chance he had. But then things got a little messy. There were a few crashes, tight quarters and all, but nothing that stopped the peloton as with yesterday. Fabian was captured (he sat up and blew a kiss at the camera, always with a sense of humor) and then the sprint began. It was a hard race to the line, so hard that a few riders (Allan Davis, Isaac Galvez and Angelo Furlan) fell hard. But that didn't stop the race. It was tight to the line, but it was Robbie McEwen who won the stage. And though he's counted himself out of the points for the green jersey, he's slowly reeling them (Thor and Tom) back in.



Points classification
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick.Step 133 pts
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 122
3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 96
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 91
5 Robert Forster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 75
6 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 73
7 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) FDJ 69
8 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 60
9 Baden Cooke (Aus) FDJ 59
10 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 58

Again, Lance remains in yellow. Tom still has the green, but only just. Tomorrow should be a test, as it's the mountains and we never know what will happen. Probably a testing of the waters and to see how the peloton will handle the first of the 'real' climbs. I hope it's more exicting than a few of the stages. I also wonder how fast it will be, probably not as fast since there are mountains at the beginning and the end.

Well, the best part of today was, of course, the Gerolsteiner rider, Fabian Wegmann, winning the KOM jersey in his home country. Way to go, boy. And good luck on stage eight.

Stage 6 - Thursday, July 7: Troyes - Nancy, 199 km

(photos from yahoo)

Today's stage was exciting. Not just because of the crashes, but because the break was filled with riders who could win the stage, if they could just hold on. Sadly, that was not to be. And the story of the race, aside from Lance holding onto the jersey, was that the sprinters did not, in fact, have their day. In fact, the overall classification changed a bit because of the crash, but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

The weather changed the look of the stage, tugging people along and stringing the peloton out. The pace was high and the break was caught, one rider at a time. But what I really noticed is the lack of organization. It seemed that since Petacchi isn't racing, teams are fighting to take control and therefore they mix it up a bit too much and everything sort of slips out of control. I know that once the race reaches the mountains T-Mobile, CSC, and Discovery will take charge, but for now, it's a dangerous place to be.



The almost-hero of the stage was the Frenchman of FDJ, Christophe Mengin. The race had passed through his hometown a few kms earlier and he'd been on attack. It looked almost as if he was going to hold out for the win -- I thought he might actually do it. But that was not to be. The following is from cyclingnews' stage six coverage:

Mengin then explained the tumultuous finale, saying, "With 2km to go, I looked back and saw Vino coming across, so I knew that my break was finished. I didn't take any risks because I knew that the finish in Nancy would be dangerous. As I went through the last turn, my front wheel slipped out and I hit the handlebars with my knee and went down. But after everything today, it's OK. The Tour is going through the Vosges Mountains; that's where I was born so maybe I'll try to attack again."

Unfortunately, he crashed. And then, almost immediately after he did (as they were right on his heels) it was if the whole peloton, sprinters and all, came crashing down.

Instead of a day for the sprinters, it was a disaster. Most of the big name sprinters fell, including Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen. Jaan Kirsipuu was the first to go. He'd been in the break and therefore still up at the front. He slide and fell, slamming into Mengin. Then everyone else came tumbling after. It was so wet that there was nothing they could do to stop it. Robbie McEwen said, later, that he'd been riding slow, just to be careful, and still couldn't avoid falling.

The roads were wet and thus slick to begin with, but since the finish was just inside the city, the roads are covered in paint (from crosswalks, street markings, etc) and even more dangerous. And once the front wheel slips, there isn't much one can do. And if you try to break? Off the bike you go. And that's what happened. But the result wasn't all bad, at least for a few riders.



Dutch cyclist Karsten Kroon managed to stick out the break to hang grab the KOM jersey from his compatriot and teammate, Erik Dekker. Kroon was in the early break and took just enough points (though I doubt he'll have it come the weekend mountains) to keep the jersey for Rabobank.



Another good result was by Alexandre Vinokourov. Before Mengin had crashed, Vino attacked and was en route to catching Mengin, and possibly taking the win. Mengin crashed and by some miracle, Vino managed to skid around him and not fall. I totally thought he was going down. But somehow he didn't. Unfortunately , the skidding slowed him down just enough so he didn't win the stage. But he did do two important things. The first was that he never stopped fighting and came in second. This awarded him a much needed time bonus. And because he didn't fall in the crash, he gained time on Lance. How much time did he get? A total of 19 precious seconds. Good for Vino, not good for Lance. Armstrong even expressed annoyance that he wasn't able to limit his losses. I suppose, though, he should be grateful that Vino only came in second, and didn't win the stage.

General classification after stage 6
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 17.58.11
2 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.55
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 1.02
4 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04
5 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.07
6 Jose Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.14
7 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel 1.16
8 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 1.26
9 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC
10 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1.32

Vino's moved himself into third, only a minute and two seconds behind Armstrong. It's a tough bunch and I can't wait for the mountains.

But the highlight of the stage? The amazing win by the previously unknown Lonrenzo Bernucci. The Italian who rides for Fassa Bortolo, managed to be on the right side of the street to avoid crashing into Vino or Mengin. He didn't look back, just started riding and before we knew it, he'd won the stage! He usually spends his time as a workhorse for Fassa, delivering water and food from the team cars. He's been pro for four years and this was his first win. What a way to do it. It looked like he'd have won the stage, even if the rest of the sprinters hadn't crashed. It was Bernucci who had attacked along side Vino. Probably figured he had the legs and why not give it a go. And he did.

It was interesting to watch the replay of the crash, because Bernucci's teammate, Fabian Cancellara, did something quite interesting. He, of course, couldn't avoid crashing. But as soon as he picked himself up (but not his bike) he started yelling into his radio. What'd he say? He was telling his DS to tell Bernucci to sprint out hard because he could win it. And win Bernucci did.



Though no one quite knew who he was, even after he'd won the stage. Phil and Paul (sadly, the source of most of my during-race information) kept shouting all these Fassa and non-Fassa cyclists, none of whom were right. Good for Bernucci, though. Very impressive.

The stage was exciting. Boonen, though he did fall, managed to stay in green. Lance remained in yellow, and his teammate, Yaroslav Popovych is still the young rider.

Stage 5 - Wednesday, July 6: Chambord - Montargis, 183 km

I've spent a lot of time not thinking about this stage. My first, and very persistent, reaction, was that of irritation. I am, if nothing else, annoyed that Robbie won the stage. Yes, I know he's an amazing bike handler. I know he's very skilled and quite strong. But I do not want him to win -- sure, as a bike rider he's proven that he can and deserves to win stages. But after his behavior on stage three, it seems he is consistently a man of poor sportsmanship.


(photos from getty)

He has proven, time and again, that he is able to win or place highly without being reduced to disruptive antics. And yet he persists on behaving as if he owns the road and should be able to do whatever he wants, damn the consequences, in order to win.

I acknowledge that he is not built like Tom Boonen and nor does he have the team support of Alessandro Petacchi. But he does have some support, unlike Erik Zabel and there is not inter-team rivalry, such as that between Baden Cooke and Bernhard Eisel. In other words, there is absolutely no excuse for Robbie's actions. Sure, it might be written off because he is an Australian and they have a reputation of sorts. But look at the peloton, perhaps the only Aussie (that I've know about) to be accused of such behavior (aside, of course, from Robbie) was Baden Cooke. And (correct me if I'm wrong) it was Robbie who accused him.

I'm not saying Robbie shouldn't have won the stage (no matter how much I wish he hadn't), just that maybe he should stop behaving like an inexperienced cyclist.



As for the rest of the stage? It was, aside from the occasional crash, uneventful. Unlike previous breaks, no one of any real consequence overall was present. Although that wasn't too surprising, considering that it was an early stage. Another factor was that the break was just that, nothing extraordinary. Two days ago the break contained Erik Dekker and it was easy to cheer him on, even though he didn't win. And on stage two, the 2004 TdF French darling, Thomas Voeckler, was in the break. Today there were four cyclists, including Juan Antonio Flecha who is often in breaks. And though I randomly choose to cheer for the Liquigas rider (Kjell Carlstrom), I never really felt as if they had much of a chance. And then the stage ended in a mildly exciting, if disappointing sprint.



I had this whole section written up about Lance choosing not to wear the yellow jersey until he was forced to, but I'm not going to type it up. It's not that I really feel like he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but I think that perhaps he was trying to make a statement. And, well, I like Dave Zabriskie, so I won't diminish what he's done by filling this post with my angst about Lance.

Lance was in yellow, stayed in yellow and managed to keep out of trouble. Tom Boonen is still in the green jersey, but Thor is creeping closer and Robbie, though he seems to be out of the running, is never far behind. Perhaps one of these days we'll have a sprint that doesn't involve Robbie or Tom. I'm glad the stage is over, may tomorrow's stage prove to be more exciting (though I'll be watching it on tape Friday afternoon).

Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 5: Tours - Blois TTT, 67.5 km

I suppose I should start by talking about the amazing job that the Discovery channel did, beating CSC and T-Mobile to the line. But I'm not sure I agree. I do think that both T-Mobile and Discovery (along with several other teams) rode extremely well, but I think CSC could have (and should have) won. Except for one small error. A rookie mistake, as it were.

So, instead of talking about how amazing the stage was, I'll talk about Dave Zabriskie.


(photos from yahoo)

My heart goes out to him. It looks bad in that picture, but it was much, much worse to watch in real time. One second Dave was powering along and the next he was on the pavement. I have to admit to being slightly scared that he was going to be more seriously hurt. According to Reuters, Dave doesn't have any broken bones, but "[he] hit the ground in the final two kms, hurt his knee and needed stitches in a cut to his right arm." It's really not fair, but probably his fault.

It appears that he touched wheels with the teammate in front of him and crashed. At first we thought he'd run into the barrier, but after the replay it was clear that's not what happened. I thought he'd run over something (bottles and papers tend to end up on the course), but even Lance said it was probably just a mistake. Even so, it was a costly one and it just breaks my heart.



Onto the rest of the race. There were some good times turned in, the third best by T-Mobile. Very impressive, actually. It was nice to finally see T-Mobile working as a team, though Tobias Steinhauser didn't quite make it to the finish with the team. It seemed that almost all the teams (aside from Disocvery, of course) lost at least one rider along the route. It was long and the turns at the end were vicious. I am surprised that Zabriskie was the only rider who fell.

It looks like everyone finished the stage, though. Which is really nice, especially since the full peloton has lost at least a few riders by now. This year, though? All 189 riders are still going, hopefully strong.



The strongest team, it seems, is again Lance's team, just with a different name. While the green jersey and kom both stayed the same (Boonen and Dekker respectively), the youngest rider jersey changed hands, along with the yellow. Both, of course, to Discovery riders. Yaroslav Popovych, heralded as the next big thing (as well as a possible successor to Armstrong), finished with the best young rider time, 40 seconds ahead of Luis Leen Sanchez of Liberty Seguros.

Of course, now the yellow jersey is in the hands of Lance Armstrong. He looked comfortable putting the jersey on, and who can blame him? It suits him, though I'm not really sure I want him to win any more. Discovery beat CSC by two seconds. If Dave hadn't crashed, perhaps they would have been tied for first. Or, as Bjarne Riis said on cyclingnews, he thought they were probably racing for the win, not second. And I happen to agree with him. But, sadly, it was the crash that made all the difference.

I hope that Dave is all right, I don't want him to abandon his first tour (although that wouldn't be a first for cycling). But I'm proud of his team for riding as hard as they did, trying to salvage the win. It's too bad they couldn't. But, as I said on my cycling blog, there's always tomorrow. Or next year.



I suppose there was more I could have written about today's stage, but mostly it disappointed me. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as unfortunate.

Stage 3 - Monday, July 4: La Châtaigneraie - Tours, 212.5 km

(photos from yahoo)

Another stage, another break. This one, unlike the one in stage two, was almost successful. The always hard-working Erik Dekker attempted to repeat his Paris-Tours win. But, sadly, it was not to be. Instead, he and the AG2r rider, Nicolas Portal, were caught just in sight of the finish. Starting at about 32 km, Portal and Dekker, joined by Rubens Bertogliati, began their long break. On the course, Bertogliati was the virtual tour leader and Dekker managed to win both sets of mountain points to take the jersey from Voeckler.



My mother and Paul and Phil were hoping that Dekker could pull out the win. And, eventually, so was I. (For some reason I was annoyed that he'd taken the jersey from Voeckler, but when I saw how happy it made Dekker, all was forgiven.) I believe he is retiring after this season (it's either this or next, I'm not quite sure) and if he'd been able to win, it would have been quite amazing. But, sadly, the sprinters had to have their day. And, well, what a finish it was.

The first thing I noticed (and it was mentioned by both Paul and Phil) was that it took the peloton much longer to pull in the break. The first attempt was tried by Voeckler's team, but it didn't last. The next (and eventually complete) attempts were all made by teams with sprinters going for the green jersey. Not even Quickstep was able to keep the pace that high. The lack of Petacchi in the peloton meant that there wasn't the silver Fassa train and the chase was quite chaotic. Eventually Quickstep, FDJ, and Credit Agricole managed to get things sorted, at least for a bit. But then, of course, things got hairy. It seemed like Thor had the best lead-out, but Robbie McEwen (of course) was right there and, again from the middle of the pack, Tom Boonen swept in to take the win. And he did it by another significant margin.



He is now temporarily secure in the green jersey. Behind him, the rest of the sprinters were mixing it up in spectacular fashion. Gerolsteiner had two riders, Peter Wrolich and Robert Forster, who came in in the top ten. There were three Aussies, Robbie McEwen, Stuart O'Grady and Allan Davis (more on that later), contending as well as Maggie Backstedt, Bernhard Eisel for FDJ (a strange change from Baden Cooke), Anthony Geslin (a nice surprise), Thor (of course) and a Domina Vacanze rider, Angelo Furlan (perhaps attempting to fill the empty spot of Cipo). It was a very tight sprint, and Tom, of course, pulled himself ahead. But what made it really interesting were the antics of McEwen. Robbie is, of course, known for doing rash things on the bike. He did a few things last year, and at this year's Giro (though that went unpunished), and he wasn't above it this year.



For some reason, still unknown to me, Robbie decided it would be fun to butt his head against Stuart. Probably, Stuart would have gotten third (maybe second?) but in the end it was Robbie who finished third. Of course, why he thought he could get away with this at the tour (where it was certainly caught from every angle possible) is beyond me. And, well, caught he was. "The race jury has decided to relegate McEwen, who was deemed to have deliberately put his head into O'Grady's shoulder in the final 100 metres." (cyclingnews live coverage)

According to the velonews article, Robbie claims that it was Stuart who elbowed him first and started it. Though I don't recall seeing any evidence of that, it doesn't excuse Robbie's behavior. From the article: "O'Grady's move from off the barriers on the right and in to the left to get on Boonen's wheel brought him into contact with McEwen, who responded by leaning right and digging his head into O'Grady's shoulder. Then came a spectacular double whammy of head-butts from McEwen whose antics at high speed swiftly earned the wrath of the race commissaires." In my opinion, Robbie burned himself by keeping up his very odd behavior. He can claim that he was in the right and O'Grady was in the wrong, but that doesn't change what he did. He lost third place himself, and he should take responsibility. As I recall from last year when he used Nick Gates to swing himself forward, he attempted to blame everyone else as well (please, correct me if I'm remembering it wrong). I am not amused by Robbie, nor am I impressed with his behavior. But, then again, I suppose there's always one in the peloton. And it's been Robbie who has blamed both Baden Cooke and Rene Haselbacher, among others, for crashes in previous tours.

But enough of that. The stage was exciting and interesting as usual. There were no changes in the overall leadership of the peloton, Dave Zabriskie is still leading. Tomorrow should be even better, as it's the team time trial. I know Disocvery wants to win the stage, but I think that both Gerolsteiner (who won the pro tour ttt) and CSC have really strong chances. I can't wait!

Two photos before I end this post.

Stage 2 - Sunday, July 3: Challans - Les Essarts, 181.5 km

(all photos from yahoo)

As with many stages of the tour, past and present, today's involved a break. It was almost a significant break overall, but in the end it was caught. What made this break so special for the French (as well as fans from last year) was the very impressive tactical racing by Thomas Voeckler (remember him?). The former French road race champ did a good job keeping with his four breakaway companions. And, as the catch was about to happen, the three (they'd lost one along the way) attempted to sprint for the first king of the mountain points. It looked like Spain's David Canada would ride away with the first prize and the polka dot jersey, but that was not the case. Instead, Thomas Voeckler (as if hearing the words that either Phil or Paul uttered) caught up with Canada, rode into his slip stream and rested for a few seconds, then roared past him. He all but flew up the small hill/thing and captured the first KOM jersey. It was spectacular, especially since his team is from the Vendee area.



But that was not the only excitement for the second day. Once again Phil picked the correct winner of the stage. Though for much of the final few kms after the catch of the break, it looked like Baden Cooke might have a good go of things. Phil Gilbert and Sandy Casar spent a lot of good riding on the front. There were a few attacks, but I felt confident that FDJ could weather them. Well, I was wrong. With Petacchi, there is an absence of the silver train, but several other teams have taken over that role. A few include Quick Step, FDJ and Liquigas. In the end, though, it was Robbie McEwen's tactics that caused Tom Boonen to have the perfect lead out. Robbie, as always, emerged from no where and attacked. But Boonen was hot on his heels and there was no stopping him, even though Thor was a very close second (and, actually, I found his move to be the most impressive. Had he moved a bit sooner, he might have overtaken both Robbie and Tom).



In the end, though, it was Tom's 12 win on the season. It was exciting to watch and, thankfully, there weren't any overly serious crashes near the finish. Most of the stage was break and chasing, no big moves on the GC. Although Ullrich lost more time to Armstrong and others. But things are looking good for Zabriskie, who managed to stay in the yellow jersey for yet another day.



No drastic changes were made in the overall GC. Lance is still two seconds down from Dave. Fabian Cancellara remained the best young rider and, of course, Boonen took over the green jersey. And, well, due to lack of sleep and lack of much to say about the stage, here are a few pictures.





Tomorrow is another sprinter's day. I'm sure that I'll enjoy it, as I love an exciting finish. Maybe Baden'll be able to win a stage this year. Perhaps tomorrow is his day.

Stage 1 - Saturday, July 2: Fromentine - Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile ITT, 19 km

Well, it's started and that boy proved that he isn't just a fluke. The only person (besides the casual cycling fan) who should have been surprised by his win today was David Zabriskie himself. Earlier this year, he won the Stage 8 time trial of the Giro d'Italia (in addition, after recovering from broken leg, in 2004, he won a stage of the Vuelta and became the US national TT champ). But it seemed that everyone from cyclingnews to OLN was surprised at Dave's win (except for Phil, I believe, who picked Dave to win the stage).

OLN's coverage was definitely lacking, it didn't start until 11:30 EST and while the "big names" didn't start until after noon eastern time, we missed a lot of riders I would have liked to see. And, honestly, as much as I like to learn about cyclists, everything seemed to be a repeat of last year as well as all of the Cyclism Sunday tour profiles. I would have enjoyed at least a few more views of the opening time trial.

And what a time trial it was, and not just because Zabriskie chalked up another win for the states (I will confess I was rooting for the boy), but because it was along the Atlantic coast. Because there was a slight descent up onto the bridge. Because the view was beautiful and well, it was the tour. But also because instead of a prologue, we were treated to 20+ minutes (give or take a few minutes) per rider of amazing cycling. There were several amazing catches. And some great riding, like that of Alexandre Vinokourov, who finished third over all.



But, of course, the one thing every one will be talking about will be the amazing catch by Lance Armstrong. At first, we really couldn't believe it. Was Lance really going to go all out? After all, hadn't he just slipped out of his pedal (insert your clever Speed Play/Floyd Landis jokes here -- my mother even made one) and lost a few seconds? Wasn't this just the opening time trial, just a test of the waters? And yet there Lance was, six-time Tour de France winner (how else would he be known, really?), riding as hard -- or what seemed to be as hard -- as he good. And suddenly the camera flipped to Jan Ullrich and slowly pulled back and that's when we all saw (and perhaps held our collective breath) how close Lance was to catching Ullrich.



Of course he was going to catch Ullrich. After all, this is Lance Armstrong we're talking about. And yet no one else, not any of the national time trial champions (Thor, Sylvain and Michael for example) or the World Time Trial Champion Mick Rogers, clocked times even close to that of Zabriskie, how could Lance, how could Jan? But as we watched, the camera slide back to Lance and again we saw how close it was. Then, suddenly, Lance rode by Ullrich and the same thought crossed everyone's mind. Was this it?



Would it end the day it began? Would Lance be able to catch Zabriskie? Was Jan Ullrich just another man to fall by the wayside? The answer to all of those questions is not simple. Lance did not, if by choice or because he couldn't, catch Dave. He did pass Ullrich and put time between him, and many of his riders (though Vino ended up third). But it isn't the end, it's only the first stage. And, well, time is relative on the tour because everything changes in the mountains.

Here are the top 15 for stage one:

1 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 20.51 (54.67 km/h)
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 0.02
3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 0.53
4 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel 0.57
5 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 0.59
6 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.02
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Fassa Bortolo
8 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 1.04
9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1.05
10 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 1.06
11 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.07
12 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.08
13 Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.12
14 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 1.13
15 Michael Rich (Ger) Gerolsteiner

Not bad, really. Nice to see Hincapie up there. Even nicer to see Floyd. And, of course, Brad McGee wasn't far behind in 18th. I don't know what will happen. Part of me hopes Lance will win his seventh and part of me wants an all T-Mobile podium. I'm torn, but then again, Lance is retiring, the rest (most likely) aren't. It was exciting today and tomorrow promises to bring out the sprinters in full force.

Well, here we are. Way to go Dave. I can't wait to see what the rest of the tour has in store for us.


(all photos from yahoo)