"Live" Stage 18 stream of consciousness

Zabriskie just Igor Anton look silly as he blew by. That seemed to get Anton to try a little harder.
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There was a chance of rain at today's time trial. Looks like a beautiful day, right now.
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I'm enjoying trying to spot familiar buildings or landmarks on the TT course since I rode it just over a month ago.
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Menchov has bottle cage behind the saddle. I had always heard that is aerodynamically poor. Interesting.
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Tony Martin has some nice drool going as he climbs the Col de Bluffy.
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What the hell happened to Versus online coverage? The black screen of death.
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Ahhhh... the video is back
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How the heck did Cancellara go 20 seconds than the previous fastest time, Ignatiev, in only 8.5 km? That would have been coming down off of the Col de Bluffy. Reminiscent of his TT descent in Monaco when he made up a bunch of time.
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Evans is just wasted it seems. Another bad stage.
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Looks like the sky is clouding up a bit.
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45th for Menchov. Between he and Evans, I don't know which had a worse race.
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Phil and Paul keep mentioning that it is amazing that Annecy has closed one of the busiest routes around the lake. Guys, its essentially the ONLY way around the lake unless you go up or completely around the mountains.
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Theres the Chateau Menthon-St Bernard. We went there! Neat castle with nice views of the lake.
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Eighth for Evans. Not bad.
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When Christophe LeMevel become a GC man?
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Armstrong was supposed to ride a Damien Hirst designed TT bike. He's not on it, though. As much publicity as his special bikes have gotten this year, I have to say that I think most of them have been UGLY. The Damien Hirst bike is no exception.
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I'm going to be interested in Wiggins time today. Everyone talks about him being so good but I can't really recall him putting in a great performance in a long time trial. Maybe my memory fails me. Still, he seems to be on the form of his life so maybe he will do well. I doubt he will do poorly.
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Contador's skinsuit looks a little loose. Put some muscle on your legs Alberto :)
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Armstrong saddle position looks a little low.
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Well, Wiggins is cooking.
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Kloden is setting pretty good times but often looks slow. Slower cadence I guess.
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Sastre 59th best so far. Hope he doesn't want more attention as being a contender.
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A. Schleck 8th best at first time check? That's surprising.
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Contador with best time at first time check by 18 seconds? Good lord. That's insane.
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Armstrong is not liking life.
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Contador now 2nd best at second time check. Start too quick?
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Wiggins really faded. The climb must have sapped him.
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Armstrong only five seconds faster than Andy Schleck at third time check. Hmmm
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Contador flew up the mountain.
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Skinny midgets winning 40km TT's, even with a 3km climb, is crazy stuff.
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"Live" Stage 17 stream of consciousness

Riding through the town of Beaufort. I’ve been there. Nice little town right at the base of the Cormet de Roseland.
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Once again, Hushovd is schooling Cavendish on how to win the green jersey.
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Looks like an ugly day for a bike race. Hopefully it will clear up before the two final mountains.
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Nice to see Saxo on the front of the race and not letting Astana dictate the pace.
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I'm not digging Kloden's cheesy mustache
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The final part of the descent of the Col de Saises looks awesome. About eight hairpins in the span of a half mile..
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After giving Pellizotti kind words yesterday for wearing only polka dots on his jersey, he has donned the full-on clown outfit today.
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Holy crap, Hushovd just about went over the road barriers.
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This descent looks very slick. Hushovd is looking real sketchy through the turns.
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The chasers crash in the same spot. Must be really slick. The peloton is going to have to be very careful.
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Paul "...Linus Gerdemann, in the GREEN of Milram" You might want to call your eye doctor, Paul
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The race is approaching the town of Cluses. Back in '03 we rode through Cluses on the way to watch the race pass by near the town of Les Gets. It wasn't long after, that I began to bonk after a long day in the saddle. Tricky Dicky Virenque won the stage that day in Morzine.
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Evans is really struggling. No way he should be getting dropped on the Cote d'Araches. I wonder if he has been mentally defeated, knowing that his Tour aspirations are gone. Lose the mind and legs will follow.
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Two minutes after my last thought, Phil mentions that Evans' team manager thinks that Evans is mentally down.
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Maybe Kloden doesn't have a mustache after all. I think it was Zubeldia and it is just a shadow from his nose.
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Please, please, please start the attacking on the pentultimate climb and not wait for the final climb up the Colombiere
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Is the the Col de Romme going to be as tough as the they talk about?
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Sastre goes early!
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Saxo sets the tempo. Looks like they will try something in a little bit. Schleck is second wheel.
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Dangling 15ft in front of the pack is not achieving much Carlos
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The race has exploded.
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Andy Schleck is gone?
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Van den Broeck is having a darn good Tour
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I knew I should not have believed Phil when he said Andy Schleck was gone.
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Armstrong jumps on F. Schlecks attack nicely
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Andy attacks and leaves just four leaders.
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Frank tries to bridge up and Armstrong is on his wheel beautifully. Wiggins too.
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Andy takes it down to three riders again. Armstrong dropped again but is he just marking Wiggins? Armstrong looks okay.
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Frank and Andy are trying as best they can. Kloden looks really calm. Schlecks vs Contador and Kloden. Armstrong dancing on pedals. Almost looks like he wants to jump away from Wiggins and the others.
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Lance goes. You shouldn't be bringing Wiggins back to the leaders. He eases off. Well done.
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No rest between the two mountains. Down and right back up again. Up the Colombiere
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1:18 to Armstrong. I doubt he's coming back now.
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Trying to drop Contador on a mountain. Mission Impossible.
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Contador flies. Schleck fights back. Wow. Not sure Kloden can get back, though. That didn't work out very well
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Contador is bound to go again. Isn't he?
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Arrggghhhh... I have to leave the desk for a couple minutes and Armstrong finally attacks Wiggins.
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Contador keeps pushing Frank telling him that he will not come through for a pull. He better not contest the sprint.
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Armstrong and Nibali catch Kloden just before the final km.
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Nibali has ridden better than I expected. Kind of expected Kreuziger to be the better of the Liquigas youngsters.
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Kloden couldn't even hold Nibali/Armstrong's wheel in the final km. He must have been cooked.

"Live" thoughts from Stage 16

Two big mountains today with what is supposed to be a dicey descent off the Petit St. Bernard to finish the stage.
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Nice to see that they have started aggressively with Pelizotti, Karpets, Martinez among others launching early breaks.
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Astana keeps it nice and steady.
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The sprinters are falling off the pace after just 20 km. Only 139 km more to go.
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Stunning mountains today of Mont Blanc and the surrounding areas.
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Nice to see Pelizotti not wearing the polka dot shorts or helmet. Just a basic jersey. Chapeau, Franco
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Brutal way to start the day. Guys keep popping off, one after another.
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Gee, Gerdemann is falling off. *sarcasm* That guy is one of the most overrated riders. He went on an attack a few years ago and managed to hold on for a stage win and suddenly he gets talked about as a Tour contender. Never has been and likely never will be a contender.
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Did I just see a guy holding giant penis?
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The descent of the Grand Bernard looks smoking fast.
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There better be some attacking by the contenders on the final mountain. I would hate to see them wave the white flag and sit on Astana's wheels the whole way.
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Karpets is a big dude.
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I've been very close to this area before but never quite to the finish in Bourg St Maurice and the Petit St Bernard climb. I have been at the northern base of the the Col de Madeleine and also partway up the Cormet de Roseland. Each one about 30km from the finish.
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Phil has a hell of a time pronouncing the Col de Petit St Bernard
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Andy Schleck seems to have had to pull off for for flats quite a few times this year.
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Is Saxo going to drill the pace at the start of the final climb again? We will soon find out.
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I see Contador has his banana outfit on.
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Saxo moves to the front.... what next?
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At least the breakaway riders are showing some aggression.
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Menchov has been awful in this race
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Bbox with three guys in the breakaway??? Good for them. They've had a good race.
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Saxo is doing their best but...
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Astana still has the numbers
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Armstrong just has no jump to cover accelerations.
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Frank Schleck exploded the pack. Contador looks cool, though. Can the Schlecks double team Contador?
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Sastre didn't make the split. What the heck is he complaining about lack of respect for. He hasn't done anything.
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Wiggins is amazing this year.
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Contador just dancing while sitting on Andy's wheel. Looks like he could go whenever he wants.
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Pellizotti has the mask of pain.
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What the hell? Armstrong suddenly came alive and is trying to bridge back up to Schlecks, Kloden, Contador and left Evans and Sastre in his dust. Vandevelde is sticking to his wheel.
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I can't believe Armstrong bridged up. I thought for sure his 2nd place was gone.
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Ohhh! Nasty crash by Voigt on the descent. If he didnt break a collarbone it will be a miracle.
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First, Zabriskie still riding the top GC men? Second, he's doing an awesome job leading them down the descent.
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Excellent counterattack by Astarloza with a couple km's to go.
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Astarloza does it! Nicely won.

Stage 13 Not-so-live comments

Looking forward to a stage today where the main contenders actually do some racing today. The questionable weather only adds to the possibility of some action. Or, the riders may choose not to take any risks and race like a bunch lambs yet again in this Tour.
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Wonder if Armstrong's radio is not working? He is dropping back to the car for a chat.
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The Polka dot contenders are hotting up the action on the Schlucht Pass.
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Nice sprint for the mountain points between Martinez and Pelizotti. Even bumping shoulders as they crossed the line.
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I would not like having to descend the mountains on these wet roads.
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Gerdemann is looking like he is wondering why he decided to try and bridge a 6 minute gap.
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On to the Col de Platzerwasel for the leaders
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Kern attacks from the pack. He's been aggressive most of the race trying to get mountain points. Unlike his teammate Moncoutie.
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That looks like one of my futile attacks as the pack slowly pulls him back.
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Haussler is riding a nice and steady up the climb. Doing better than I expected.
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Arent the Euskaltel supposed to be good climbers? Perez gets popped out of the break.
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Kern is still out there gasping with his effort but the pack finally rolls right on past him. I say "nice effort" but, well, it wasn't that good really.
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Thank goodness they only showed the arm of Antler Guy running in front of the pack. The less publicity for him, the better.
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Either Phil or Paul seem to have a squeaky chair.
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Saxo goes to the front. Finally, some action.
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Lots of destruction!
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Tom Steels won Paris-Roubaix this year? Paul is catching Phil-itis.
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Haussler is having a hell of a day. Naturally, people are speculating the PED use already. *sigh*
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The pack is going to let Haussler win today it seems.
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Lotto giving it a second effort on the last climb. Problem is, whats the motivation to chase Wegelius?
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Smooth bike change by Andy Schleck doing a little cyclocross dismount.
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Amets Txurruka is a cool name.
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I was hoping for a little more fireworks today. C'est la vie. Good job by Haussler.
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Speaking of fireworks. Chavanel's blow up left a mushroom cloud over France.

Semi-live comments while watching Stage 12

I wonder who the Brit chap is (Matthew Cain?) that does Versus online coverage before Phil and Paul take over for the actual broadcast. He does an alright job. Particularly since he is working alone.
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David Moncoutie announced that he was going for the Polka Dot jersey this year. He has been mostly anonymous and needs to get to work. The only time I have seen him was on the Tourmalet and that was only something like 7th place over the summit.
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The final climb today hits 20% at one point???? I haven't read that anywhere before.
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HUGE roundabout with about 85km to go
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Ag2r is not shirking their duties as leaders of the race. Good to see.
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Djamalodine Abdoujaparov gets a mention!
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Nice bunnyhop over some road furniture by Nicki Sorensen... or was it Fothen?
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Ha, the race doctor car darn near wrecked its patient, Jerome Pineau
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Popo is carrying approximately 92 water bottles in his jersey.
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Paul just described Agritubel as "the great Agritubel squad" Can you say hyperbole?
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The Livestrong Chalkbot is a clever idea but the messages they print are completely unreadable. The writing is far too small.
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47 km with approximately 4:00 lead. Time for the peloton to start whittling into the lead.
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Vaughters said Wiggins does 570 watts for 4 minutes on the track? Good lord.
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The short, steep Cote de Bourmont looked a little tough but these guys make things look pretty easy. Here comes the peloton.
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Someone, please shoot Antler Guy.
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No problems getting over the climb. Looks like a bunch sprint if the seven breakaways can be reeled back in.
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Has Bjarne Riis lost some weight.
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The breakaway may survive. No urgency in the pack. Maybe they are saving themselves for tomorrow's hilly stage.
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Kudos to Sorensen and Calzati for showing some balls and attacking the breakaway group while still far from the finish.
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Finally some action. The two breakaways are showing some grit and the chasers are really having to fight
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Sorensen goes and blows Calzati away. Can he hold off 6 chasers alone, for 5km?
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Down to five chasers. Pauriol gone.
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From 7 seconds up to over 20 second gap. Impressive.
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Over 30 seconds! I think he did it.
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2km and Sorensen looks strong.
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A deserving win for Sorensen. Classy win.
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He is a happy man.

Stage 10 "live" coverage

Don't expect lots of info about what is going in the race. Instead, lots of snarky comments and observations as I watch the online coverage.

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Prepare for armageddon. Race radios won't be allowed in the Tour today. Oh, no!

Of all the objections to the ban that have been raised, the one that gnaws at my gut is "What if a GC rider has a mechanical?"

He waits for his team vehicle. That's what he does. Just like riders did for the 90+ years before race radios.
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I'm liking the small, quiet roads of today's stage. Seems to be a good area for riding.
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No, Mr Snail, don't cross the road!!!!! You are going to get squished!!!!
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Whew, Mr Snail survived.
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Ignatiev is playing the three Frenchies for chumps by letting them do all the work on Bastille Day and they seem only to happy do so. If this break should stay away, which I doubt, he ought to win.
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Please, no more polka dot shorts. You look like a clown. Why not complete the outfit with a foam nose and big, floppy shoes?
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How did Arvesen crash? Damn it! Take a work break and something actually happens in the race. A little investigation shows that it was apparently just a typical crash in the pack. Must be the lack of race radios.
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Phil and Paul discussing the difficulties of confining snails on a snail rearing farm. Good stuff.
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Phil with one of his cycling flashbacks. Wanting to call Cedric Vasseur by his father's name, Alain. Some things never change.
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Lots of chit-chat going on in peloton.
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I must say the Versus online coverage is nice without any commercials and adverstisements flashing across the screen. Just Phil and Paul chattering away nonstop. Quite enjoyable.
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Discussing Brian Vandborg's low heartrate of 128 bpm as the race enters the town of La Chatre Phil says "you couldn't light a candle with that." What does that mean?
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Uh oh, an Ag2r rider had a flat. Wow, he managed to change that flat without a race radio. Miracles do happen.
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This is obviously going to come down to a sprint. QuickStep is working at the front. Let's see if Boonen can do absolutely nothing again.
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Arvesen looks like he is going to have trouble finishing with the pack.
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20 clicks to go!
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Dumoulin is a midget.
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Mavic's yellow shoes are ugly.
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Those clouds don't look good. Rainy finish? That would be cool.
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Milram should have some udders in the stomach area on their jersey.
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10 clicks to go - 30 second gap
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Columbia assembles a train
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5 clicks - 21 seconds
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"The horrible straight road before we get into the curly bits" - Phil. Sounds like a Freudian reference.
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Valiant, but futile, last ditch effort by Hupond.
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Too fast around that turn guys. Ouch!
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1 click to go
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Columbia is just a machine in the sprints.
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Guess what? Boonen did nothing again.

Rest Day thoughts:

Cervelo got the publicity for changing jerseys but nobody mentioned before the Tour that Ag2r was going to unveil some new kit. I think design deserves a grade of B. It's simple, not over-the-top and they get bonus points for the black shorts. A solid effort.

With the lack of summit finishes, ASO is banking on keeping the race tight until the end of the race. Ideally, all the way to Mt Ventoux. I hope their plan works because the virtual elimination of Pyrenees, by placing the finishes so far from the last climb, has produced some very boring racing. I have never been so bored by mountain stages before. At least the breakaways stayed away from the chasing peloton. If not, these stages would have been devoid of entertainment and intrigue.

Good to see the French teams get some glory this year. BBox has matched their typical season-long victory total with two stage wins and Ag2r is getting a good long stay in yellow. Good to see.

The cheerleading and adoration of Armstrong by both media and general public becomes tedious. It is understandable, however. The media does because his name sells. The general public does it because, the only cycling news they (and much of the media) ever follow is during July. Armstrong has dominated July for much of the past decade so naturally they think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. That's okay. Maybe they will dig a little deeper and discover that there is more to the sport than just Armstrong and the Tour de France.


More tedious than cheerleaders are the haters of Armstrong. Good Lord, they are insufferable. In their world, Armstrong is a scheming, vengeful, hateful, egomaniacal cheater. Every single move by the man is criticized. When I read their comments, I am reminded of a piece written by Lloyd Shearer several years ago entitled A Guide to a Happy Life. Two of his "guides" would apply to these people.

- Avoid angry, abrasive persons. They are generally vengeful.

- Avoid zealots. They are generally humorless.

The funny thing is that 99.9% of these critics have never once met the man. Armstrong may well have all of those traits to some degree. I dare say, that we all have some of those traits. Armstrong is a cyclist. Let it be. Sit back and enjoy the show. Nothing about his life affects you in any way except, perhaps, for the money he has raised as part of his Livestrong campaign.

The subject of the Tour de France came up on a KTRS sports talk show Monday night. Mike Claiborne was the host. Claiborne is basically a fair host. He will freely admit he doesn’t “get” the sport but he respects the cyclists abilities.

The real treat on these shows is when the yahoos start calling in. I was only able to listen to a few callers before getting a phone call of my own, but twice I heard the ever-popular putdown of the sport that the caller rode bikes as a kid. So, what’s the big deal about cycling? Everybody rides a bike as kid. But, only men can play REAL sports.

This argument always makes me start talking back at the radio. The mental geniuses never seem to realize that they probably played baseball as a kid too. But, somehow, during a young man’s adolescent years baseball or football or basketball get exponentially harder and require greater skill. Yet, cycling remains a childhood diversion with playing cards stuck in the rear spokes.

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On a completely different subject, I turned on the Versus network a little early before their evening coverage of the Tour. They were airing one of their looks back at the career of Lance Armstrong. This particular show was a recap of the 2001 stage in which Ullrich famously rode off the side of the Col de Peyresourde.

The racing aside, I was struck by what I was watching. In 2001, helmets were not yet a requirement. Helmet Nazis be damned I enjoyed watching cycling more when the riders could go helmetless.

A certain personality was lost when the helmets became mandatory. There were no more big ears and bald head of Pantani. No more long hair of Gert-Jan Theunisse, etc. With so many camera angles being from behind on a motorcycle or from above, often all you see is the helmet you lose a the head and/or hair as a means of identification and you are left to decipher a riders identity by their size or riding style. An improvement in safety? Yes. An improvement for the sport and its connection with its fans? No.

Stage 3

Why can’t the Tour talk to Mother Nature and have crosswinds for all the flat stages. Days like Stage 3 happen once every few years and make the typical insomnia-curing stages interesting to watch.

The mere fact that Armstrong made the split and Contador missed out, of course, got the conspiracy theorists on both sides working overtime.

1) Hincapie tipped Armstrong off.
2) Bruyneel wasn’t having Astana work to chase the break because he wants Armstrong to win
3) Contador was perfectly happy to let the break go because now Astana has better tactical advantage with Armstrong more of a threat.
4) Etc, etc, etc

Let’s face it. Sometimes you simply screw the pooch in a race. Contador blew it. Either he was in the wrong place or not attentive or too lackadaisical or something along those lines.

Whatever the case, it made for a rare, exciting flat stage. Let’s hope Christian Prudhomme, the Tour’s director, doesn’t lose Mother Nature’s phone number.

A couple thoughts about Stage 2

I'm not much of a fan of riders wearing the all yellow race kit or bikes when they take the lead of the race. I give Cancellara some credit for wearing the normal Saxo Bank shorts today.

What was disturbing was the bike Cancellara rode. You would think Specialized would have painted the bike a proper yellow. Do it right if you are going to do it.
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Phil and Paul Quote of the Day: When talking about Bernard Hinault riding headlong into a worker's demonstration back in his racing days, Phil (I think it was Phil) said "He was a bit of a nutter"

Excellent!

My Tour picks

In the lead up to the Tour I had a few people ask me what my picks for the race were going to be. Typically, I leave the picks to the single day races and just sit back and watch the Grand Tours. But, since it was requested here are my picks. I will give two lists. The first will be my straight forward, who is going to win picks. The second will be the usual limitation I put on myself of choosing people that have not finished in the top 10 in the past five years.

I made these choices prior to the race starting but it has taken me a while to get around to posting my thoughts.

Without further adieu.

1) Contador - very good time trialist and can climb like the wind. Even if he is behind a little when the Ventoux stage rolls around on Stage 20, I would hate to be the guy that is ahead of Contador. It will be relentless attack after relentless attack.
2) Armstrong - yes, I think this is a little crazy but for some reason I have an odd feeling he can pull something out of the hat. Besides, I'm a sucker for a good comeback story
3) Evans - Solid all around rider. No real weaknesses. Just lacking a little for the win.

I want to pick Andy Schleck but think he will fall just short of the podium because of his time trials.

Now for my previously non-top 10 picks in no particular order

Robert Gesink - Very good climber. Even though Menchov won the Giro in dominating fashion, he never seems to put it together in July. That leaves Gesink in prime position to take over leadership unless he wants to, as Rasmussen put it, "drag Menchov's ass around the mountains"
Roman Kreuziger - Good young climber. He's won the Tour de Suisse last year. He will keep getting better.
Linus Gerdemann - I really don't know why I am picking this guy. I hate his guts and think, in general, that he is highly overrated.

Since I don't like Gerdemann I have decided to to pick a fourth rider and choose Luis Leon Sanchez in the hopes that he kicks Linus' arse.