Victory

It was so cool to watch Lance win his 7th Tour de France yesterday. The weather looked like it was going to be a problem as the riders came onto the Champs Elysees, but the sun was shining as they completed their eight laps. Still, the judges made the decision to take the time of the first crossing over the finish line in order to eliminate any treacherous racing, and even with that you had some guys fall.

Vino got the stage win and nearly displaced Leipheimer from his 5th place overall, Hushovd got the green, Rasmussen won the King of the Mountains, Popo got the young rider's jersey, and Lance won the yellow.

I think the best part of the final presentation podium was when Basso, Armstrong, and Ullrich were up there together. Three great athletes who are so talented, friends off the bike, and rivals during the Tour all standing there together. Can you imagine what it would be worth to have that picture with all three of those signatures?

Armstrong charged Basso and Ullrich to continue to make the Tour great - he told them it was in their hands now for next year. I think both of those guys have the potential to win. I'm kind of hoping Jan will do it because he's closer to retirement than Basso, but like life, nothing is certain. Next year will be different in the absence of Armstrong, but the guys that endure the pain of the Tour will give us a great show no matter what. I can't wait.

Until next July.

Race of Truth

That's what they call individual time trials. Phil Ligget interpreted the term by saying that a rider can't hide from the ITT, it'll find your weaknesses if you have them. Lance showed that at the end of his pro cycling career, he's still the man. He beat Ullrich by 23 seconds and won today's time trial. Tomorrow will simply be a leisurely ride into Paris as Lance gets his 7th Tour victory (barring crashes, the world ending, etc.). Like I posted previously, I wanted Ullrich to jump from 4th to 3rd and displace Rasmussen...but I didn't want such poor luck to hit the King of the Mountains. Watching Rasmussen's ride today was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He fell twice and had to replace his bike 4 times. He was obviously all nerves knowing that Ullrich was most likely going to take his spot in the overall general classification. Watching Lance was awesome. At the first time check, he was 7 seconds behind Basso. I think this says a lot about the way Lance rides. He conserves his energy at the beginning of the race. Although people tend to get excited about things and go full force at the beginning, that probably isn't going to serve well at the end - power has to be in control. Lance shows this by being calm, waiting for the right moment (if it presents itself), and overcoming in the end.

We'll see if Hushovd keeps the green jersey tomorrow. It looks like all the other jerseys have been taken. Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day - Lance's 7th Tour win, but his retirement day as well. I wonder who will take over as "el patron" next year...Basso, Ullrich, Popo, Leipheimer, Vino, Landis...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Thanks for reading.

Lance wouldn't let me join

OK, so Team Discovery Channel was leading the team competition yesterday after Savoldelli and Rubiera were involved in the breakaway and came in before the peloton (main field). However, today (because they screwed up yesterday), T-Mobile regained the lead by having Matthias Kessler in the breakaway. I talk to several people who wonder why the guys on Discovery don't win more stages (this is the first year in all six previous Tours that Lance's teammates have won individual stages). I guess the answer is that there is one goal in mind: to win the overall general classification competition or the yellow jersey. Everyone on the team knows that this is what you go to the Tour for if you're riding with Discovery. While other teams have more than one possible leader at the start of the tour and guys are looking to win stages, Discovery begins and ends with keeping Lance protected and getting him to Paris in yellow. Now, because the team is so strong this year(heck, Savoldelli has won the Giro de Italia twice!!), there have been some extras like the team time trial stage win, the two individual stage wins, and having the best young rider on the team. However, in the end, it's all about the yellow jersey. Keeping your eyes on that target doesn't let you get distracted, and that's why I wouldn't make the team - I'd probably want to win the team competition. But at what cost, possibly tiring the team out? Who knows.

Anyway, Lance is still in yellow, Rasmussen only has to finish the Tour to win the polka dotted jersey (there aren't enough points left in that competition for anyone to catch him, Hushovd is still in green (this competition will be decided in Paris on Sunday), and Popo still has the white jersey. It's all good, and I can't wait for the time trial on Saturday. I'm hoping Jan Ullrich will have an excellent time trial and get onto the podium.

Thanks for reading.

Looks like 7

Sunday's stage of the Tour was the best yet. There were six grueling mountains to climb in the Pyrenees. If you don't think cycling is a sport, you might want to take a look at the profile of stage fifteen. The contenders for the yellow jersey all stayed together - Basso, Ullrich, and Armstrong. There was a 14-man breakaway at the beginning of the stage. In that breakaway was George Hincapie, the only guy who has been Lance's domestique for each of his previous six Tour victories. And at the end of what has been called the hardest stage of this year's Tour, George got the win. This has got to be one of my all time favorite stages. Here's why...

George has been a professional since 1995. He's been supporting Lance for a majority of those years. George is a great Spring classics rider. In fact, this year he was the first American to make the podium at Paris-Roubaix which is nicknamed the "Hell of the North." He came in second after Tom Boonen. George has had more than a few offers to go to other teams and be a team leader, but he has stuck by Lance's side and has chosen to support him every July. I would really like to ask George why he chose to stay and not take more money and possibly more fame. Since I don't know the answer to that, I simply have to assume that he likes supporting Lance in his quest for the ultimate win in cycling each year at the Tour. Anyway, this is a great guy who has given everything for Lance the past six years. He had never won a stage in the Tour until Sunday. If you watched him cross the finish line, you could see that he was just as shocked as everyone else that he had won. This definitely wasn't planned - George had gone with the breakaway to support Lance when he caught up with it. However, that never happened.

The stage win by Hincapie showed that sometimes people who spend their lives in support of others get the win. George got his day in the spotlight, and I think anyone who has ever supported anyone through anything just because can appreciate how much he deserved it.

Today's, stage was eventful in that Vinokourov kept attacking and Ullrich attacked several times as well. However, they could never break Lance. So, Pereiro won the stage, Lance is in yellow, Hushovd is in green, Rasmussen is in the polka dots, and Popovych is in white. I really hope that Jan can jump onto the podium in the time trial. He should be able to since Rasmussen, currently in 3rd overall, is not a great time trialist. But we will see.

Thanks for reading.

Tour Tidbits

I'm a Tour fanatic. I admit it. My mornings usually go like this - I roll out of bed, make my way to the couch, turn on OLN, and watch the Tour stage. I got up at five a.m. on Sunday so that I could shower before the coverage started at 5:30. I started watching the Tour in 2001. I watched Lance give Jan "the look." That was awesome! I saw Beloki fall in 2003 as well as Lance fall that same year. The Tour is just great to watch, and I'm glad a lot more people are into it.

Here are some thoughts from what has happened so far:

Boonen is the man. Seriously, this guy is a great sprinter. I think he's going to pull off getting the green jersey. Winning stages two and three like he did was magnificent. I think McEwen will be a contender even though he still has some points to make up after that little shuffle with O'Grady on stage three. The green jersey competition is looking to be a good one.

Rasmussen is currently leading the King of the Mountains competition. He rode a solid stage today and kept up with the lead group until the very end. He got so many points yesterday in this competition that it's up to other riders now to catch up to him.

Although Valverde got the stage win today and is now leading the young rider's competition, I'm really hoping Popovych can contend for this.

Lance is in yellow after letting Jens and CSC have it for a day. Lance seems to be doing everything right. The team was great this morning. Everyone did everything they had to do to set Lance up for his show of strength. We will see if he reaches Benard Hinault's record of 77 yellow jerseys. I believe he's at 72 with today's jersey.

Tomorrow is another grueling day in the Alps. I will be up at 5:30 a.m. to watch live coverage for five hours. It takes something special to get me up that early in the morning. There so many things I like about the Tour - the tactics, the endurance, the metaphor to life...but that's for another blog.

Thanks for reading.

Friends

I am richly blessed! Did you hear that? Can you hear me shouting that? Do you know what emotions run through me as I think of the weekend that I experienced with some of the best people in the world. Thank you, God, for surrounding me with such wonderful people - people that love you and revere you and serve you in ways that astound me.

I smiled until my cheeks hurt. I was in awe of their parenting skills. I couldn't believe how beautiful all the kids were. I was anxious to be around them at times (you know, that feeling you get when you're around someone you truly admire). I was scared to mess up on the skis. I was proud to be in the company of these people. I was touched by their generosity. And I was extremely sad that the weekend had to end.

Words are funny. I try to write what I want to express and there's really no way that you can know. Being with my friends is a snapshot of what heaven will be like. No matter how I am (issues and all), at the end of the day, I heard "I love you" and "Can't wait to see you soon."

Alright, I'm crying again. I love the people that were there, and I love the people that weren't. I don't know what I've done to deserve them in my life, but like the song says, I must've done something right.

Thanks for reading.