Thoughts on Le Tour, Week 1

July is every cyclist's holy month; we often sacrifice riding for watching versus. Work work work is my current modus operandi, but how can I not blog at least once about the Tour?

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It seems that to be as egotistical a bike racer as possible, you need to have a blog - I'm a perfect example thankyouverymuch. Well there's one cyclist that is anything but egotistical, and manages to keep a blog while racing Le Tour. His name is Chris Horner, and you have to read his race reports.

If they weren't about the Tour de France, his posts would fit right into the coulda shoulda woulda of GamJams' local bloggers' race reports. I've had a cycling man crush on Horner and his style of racing for a long time. To see a guy in the tour that is so purely excited just to be there is more motivating than any over-publicized "comeback."

Horner's come back many times from the life of domestic pro to domestique. He gets my respect for that, and for sharing the stories of his daily suffering as if he were just another bike racer.

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If Contador doesn't name his first born Daniel it would be offensive to the entire Astana team. Daniel Navarro from Astana is an animal, a selfless workhorse, and incredibly gifted athlete*. For the past two mountain stages it's been his wrath - not Alberto's - that has wreaked havoc on the tour. Sure, he's had the help of Vino and other Astana guns, but it was his painful, seemingly endless snearing at the pointy end of the peloton that shreaded the rear as the road went up. His faces of pain, though amusing at times, make my legs hurt. I feel like he's dropping me while I sit on the couch.

*God I hope he's not doping.

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Jens Voigt takes the second step on the podium for teammate-of-the-week. The rouleur of rouleurs made the breakaway on a five-mountain stage, probably just so he could help his leader, Andy Schleck, as the break dissolved on the slopes of the Col de la Madeileine. He paced Andy as much as he could, but he deserves accolades for his

What caught my attention most was the way he desperately sprinted after Schleck and Contador just minutes from the top of the climb, then dropped his head and shook it in disappointment when he could no longer help, as if he had not done enough. If there is any professional cyclist I would never doubt, it would be Jens. He really must have knocked himself out for the count.

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The tour has pedaled into the alps, but the fight for the green jersey will continue eventually. Thor knows how to win the points, though Cav knows how to win the sprints. If anything, I am glad Petacchi spiced up the flatter stages. Though I've never been a fan of Salbutamol abusers, he demonstrated his expertise in the violent run-ups to the finish line. That's how you do it. Twice. He had help from teammates, but to my knowledge he's still the only sprinter that has bested the HTC-Columbia train when it has been lined up full-force in 2009 or 2010.

Garmin, on the other hand, always seems to miscalculate the lead-out without correcting their mistakes. To me, their gone-too-early trend was most evident during the final stage of the 2009 Tour, when George Hincapie of HTC-Columbia let the Garmin train overtake them with just over a kilometer to go. What happened next was exemplary patience and experience from Big George (he pulled off in the direction of the other team's sprinter), and a hell of a kick through the corner from Mark Renshaw.

If you watch the first ten seconds of this video (can't embed it), you'll see what I'm talking about. It's happened to Garmin at least twice at this year's tour, too.

If you can't overpower another team, you can at least put your sprinter in good positioning, right? Wrong - not against HTC-Columbia when Cav is on his game. At the Tour, the only person I've seen beat Cav in a straight-up, flat sprint is Petacchi. He did so by bolting early, not by sitting in the jet-stream of the manx-missile. That seat, of course, seems to have been reserved for Tyler Farrar. I like the guy and understand he was injured last week, but how many times do you have to get stung until you move away from the bee hive? Sorry Tyler, but you can't come around Cav once he's started his sprint. Try something new.

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As cool as it would have been to see Armstrong contend, is anyone else glad that all of the Lance brouhaha was smashed into one stage. Instead of hoping to the last stage that he'd have a chance, inevitability struck early for the over-aged boss and fairweather contenders. Now, the real Tour begins.

Journalists have to attract readers by focusing on big names and inconsequential rivalries. I understand that. What I don't understand is the clueless vibe of surprise that, just one week into the tour, it's a two-man shootout. (Yeah, there's a long way to go, blah blah...)

Schleck versus Contador: If you didn't see this coming or if you were not excited for the show-down, you obviously did not pay attention to the 2009 Tour de France. The skinny pair clearly consisted of the best climbers (re: Ventoux, etc.) and both manorexics figured out how to pedal their aero rigs when necessary. Understand, then, why I am annoyed by the first paragraph of this article.

VeloNews does an excellent job of reporting on cycling, no doubt. Like many other publications, though, they must bring in the ringers for Le Tour. Check out last year's podium. It was not an open tour, and Schleck should not be a surprise candidate. If anyone should have surprised us with speed, it would have been Lance. Even blaming the three crashes two days ago for his sub-par performance, why couldn't he even keep up with Levi and Menchov on the Madelleine?

Oh, did someone say dark horse? I've been waiting to hear Menchov's name mentioned once, by anyone. One point awarded back to you, VeloNews.

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Vino attacked on a stage that finishes after a major descent. The sun also rises. It didn't work today (or even come close), but it has in the past.

Vino attacked on the final climb of Stage 9 in the 2003 Tour de France and took the infamous stage that saw the true end of Beloki's career as a GC contender, and the beginning of Armstrong's career as a cyclocross racer. In 2005, Vino pulled an identical stunt, this time dragging Santiago Botero (then on Phonak) with him to the sprint, and beating him senselessly for the win.

I think the last time I remember him pulling the stunt was days after his "tragic bonk" in 2007, which was obviously planned. Vino strategically lost more time, and attacked berserk to win Stage 15 - again a stage ending with a descent. This, though, would be the end of his reign - he tested positive for EPO in a Time Trial four days prior.

Still, even after a failed attempt today, I enjoyed seeing the tactics of sending Vino - another dark horse - up the road to make the other teams burn matches. The doper-in-denial has always been one of my unfortunate favorite racers to watch.

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Kudos to Sandy Casar (bow wow!) for owning the small-group sprint for Stage 8, but who the hell put the finish line in the middle of a turn? That's just dumb stuff right there.

And, I think my final thought must be this: the yellow jersey must be made of Lead this year. It is no surprised that Cancellara and Chavanel felt the weight of the Maillot Jaune, but what happened to you, Cadel?

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Thanks for reading. I'll post pics from my last ride in California and my recent trip to the Lost River Barn later, but it's Tour time. This was more important, and more interesting.