You know what’s ironic? That I was finally able to watch both Stage 7 and Stage 8 this weekend, but not to find the time I needed to post on either of them. There was a lot of that going around this weekend – not quite irony always, but something close. For example, Slate rejected…
Tour de France '07 – Boonen Wins, Dopers Lose
You know why cycling has a doping problem? Because the French fans can’t make up their minds. Go fast, you’re a doper. Turn in something other than an inhuman performance, you’re a slacker. Such passive-aggressiveness. No wonder they get into (and then lose) so many wars. At least the rest of the world seems has…
Tour de France '07 – Chablis Stage Bad for Vino'
Another new day, another unique finish, and another unquantifiable sensation that this is shaping up to be one heck of a Tour. Stage 5 (which stared in Chablis) wrapped up with an uphill kick coming off a Cat 3 descent, that still managed a staggering 49mph burst at the line. Even in 53×11, that’s 130rpm,…
Tour de France '07 – Hushovd Takes First "Normal" Stage
Finally! A normal sprint stage, won by a sprinter, animated by a decent break, carried out at a reasonable pace, and taking place entirely on French soil. It’s like were in the first week of the Tour de France, or something. Still looking forward to getting a peep at this one, just so I can…
Tour de France '07 – Cancellara and a Clean-Looking Race
I may never have been madder to be stuck at work than I was today – and lets keep in mind I had to try and piece together the 2003 race while listening to the old streaming OLN voice feed. I mean, yes, the yellow jersey occasionally wins flat stages, and short-effort TT guys do…
Tour de France '07 – Quick.Step, Crash, Rule Stage 2
So, show of hands – who here remembers KBK? Whether Steegmans got greedy, Boonen felt generous, or Quick.Step simply muffed the leadout, I can’t say. I haven’t even seen the finish yet (probably won’t for another eight hours), and Boonen’s post race comments seem to go both ways. What I can say for certain is…
Tour de France '07 – Stage to McEwen, Dots to Millar
You all know that I’m a pretty solid fan of Robbie McEwen. But I’ve gotta say, today’s win – not that amazing. Yes, getting McEwen back to the field after a crash 20km to go was an impressive team effort by Predictor-Lotto, but speaking objectively, this is what the other eight guys on the team…
Tour de France '07 – Cancellara Takes the Prologue
Know why I’m not psyched about Cyclingnews getting bought up? See the lead headline on ProCycling? As excited as I am about bikeradar.com, I think readers might be a little more into this thing they do each July called the Tour de France? And no whining about the time change – Future Publishing is UK…
On the Eve of the '07 Tour
The Tour de France starts tomorrow – who’s sick of reading story/interviews with middling GC contenders? Can you imagine these guys sitting down at a press conference, or a hotel lobby, or wherever the heck interviews take place, and pretending to care while journos fire off questions like “how do you feel?”, “how do you…
Tour '07 – Two Days to Go; Slow But Interesting
Two sunrises to go ’til the prologue start, and it’s kind of a slow newsday. It’s not really the calm before the storm – more like the indecisive riding of a Cat 3/4 field coming into the final kilometer. That late break has been reeled in (the Petacchi exclusion), the riders looking to contest the…