Tour de France 2006

[Kaiser]

Ahhh... .McEwen again. My 5 year old has a pretty good acceleration over 50 meters too. Seriously, I must be one of the few who cheers for the breakaways and can't wait for the mountain stages, when the hammer is DROPPED on the glam fast boys. I'm up and screaming more when watching Lance or Pantani or Jan or Heras pull away on some steep slope than I am at the end of a 45 mph sprint finish. When Lance had his famous fall on Luz Ardiden and then just decided he was going to pull away from everyone and make them hurt, that was a thing of beauty. No tactics, no teamwork, just rider skill and ability versus other riders' best. Riding stripped down to when you used to race against other kids down the street on your banana seat Schwinns.

(PS: My attitude is very funny consdering I have more in common with the sprinters than I do with anyone who can climb).

[ODB]

Like I've heard said... "Sprinters win by seconds, Climbers win by minutes!" The final 100 meters of the sprints are great but give me a day of hell in the mountains anytime!

[Mark57]

I don't really cheer for any particular sprinter (although it would have been cool to see Zabel win on his birthday today), I just love to watch a sprint finish. I love it when a team comes to the front 2k out and starts driving a pace that is blowing the peloton apart, then see a perfect lead out by the last two helpers. I also like to watch the chase, and I like when a break has been off the front for hours and then see the power of the peloton and the coordination and timing as they narrow the gap and swallow the break just before the line.

I like the mountain stages too, and watching a great climber like Lance open a gap on L'Alpe d'Huez or Tourmalet. I also really like watching a TTT and seeing an almost perfect machine like Disco last year, 35+ mph average for 42 miles.

I guess then I like all of it and get just as excited about every stage. I even like rest days so I can watch the recap of the past week. The only stage I don't like is the last one, because it's all over. But even then seeing the peloton thundering down the last straight on the Champs-Élysées is an amazing spectacle.

[kuri]

Why are the others even bothering anymore, seriously

Gonna be a whole 'nother story tomorrow though. Can't wait!

[Mark57]

I saw the post race interview with McEwen yesterday, he said Stegman just screwed up on the lead out. He saw the 500m marker but the 5 was partially obscurred and he thought it was the 200m, so he went. When Stegman pulled off Robbie realized how far out he still was, he tried to grab another wheel but it was too late. I guess Stegman made up for it today, though.

[Mark57]

Just watched the prime-time coverage, all I can say is wow. Where the @$%^#$% did McEwen come from?

Holy shit, What a lead out.

[emartin10]

Floyd baby!!! Animal.

Georgie, Levi, and DZ were a little off today, eh? And poor poor Bobby Julich. I can't believe that crash. Ouch!

E

[ODB]

I think Levi was more than a little out of it, he may be totally out of it. George and DZ are still in it of course. Floyd is getting scary fast. The mountains are going to be awesome dude!

[kuri]

Gonna be a real battle between Floyd and Hincapie in the Mts this year - gonna be fun!

I'm sure T-Mobile and Kloden will have something to say about that but nevertheless it may be a real wild series of mountain stages with attacks all over the place.

[emartin10]

I think Floyd has this pretty much in the bag. His Phonak boys were leading the group today just to show everyone what they've got. He put himself in a GREAT position. And as much as I think George is Disco's leader, they've said from the beginning that they'd see how things were come the mountains. Well, George finished pretty badly yesterday for him, and isn't even the highest person on his team in the GC. I hope Disco lets him lead, he's earned it. We shall see!

E

[emartin10]

Great break away today. And I thought the post race interview with DZ was pretty good. "It was my turn to chase, so I went." How run down is that team, Basso out and Julich hurt. Ugh. Does anyone else thing Zabriske gives the weirdest interviews? He just seems awkward.

E

[Mark57]

Originally Posted by emartin10

I think Floyd has this pretty much in the bag.

I think it's about 10 stages too soon to make that kind of pronouncement, but you could be right.

Whole lotta mountains between here and Paris, though. Lots of things can happen, and probably will.

[Kaiser]

Seriously. Anything could happen including (God forbid) a Joseba Beloki-type crash on a high speed descent. It's still wide open.

[ODB]

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Tour Withdrawal! One more stage and then some hills

[emartin10]

I agree it might be too early to call it Floyd's race, but just watch him climb. He was Lance's lead out guy in the mtns for a while - he's going to kick some ass. If he can get through that hip pain, which I'm starting to think he'll be able to (I don't know, TT looked pretty awesome to me) he'll cruise. I just hope something bad doesn't happen, but he's learned from the best at avoiding some of the serious stuff.

E

[ODB]

Ahh....tomorrow's course, take a look at those hills!!

[Mark57]

I'd still like to see Boonen get a stage, but I have to go with the Mighty Midget for today. The profile for tomorrow's stage looks a little different, doesn't it?

[Mark57]

Looks like tomorrow is just a warmup for Thursday though. An HC followed by four Cat 1s should be a fun day.