So, now that Vlad Karpets has locked down his second stage race win of the year at the Tour de Suisse, the blogosphere breathes a sigh of relief. No more posturing, no more shadowboxing – just the Tour. Sure, there’s the Eindhoven TTT and some fancy jersey giveaways, but for the contenders, the hay is in the barn. And for the contenders’ teams, the back-up plans are drawn up and ready. Have you noticed that Astana and Caisse d’Epargne, two squads whose leaders each might very well be Puerto’d before the start, have serious contenders waiting in the wings?
I won’t even hazard a guess at who’ll end up in yellow on the Champs Elysees, at least not until all the racers have signed the waiver. If you’re really looking for predictions, a good person to ask might be CSC’s Frank Schleck, who was dead on in tagging teammate Fabian Cancellara for the final TT at the Tour de Suisse. Maybe after all the teams submit some final start lists, or after the abnormal results waters have cleared, I’ll come forward with a prediction or two. Only thing I’m willing to say now is that the winner won’t be this guy.