It’s July and therefore it’s Tour de France time. I’ve been slow posting about the TdF this year in part because my favorite Lanterne Rouge, Wim Vansevenant, has retired with the TdF record of having been last in three consecutive Tours de France. Beh oui! This year, I’m not following the Lanterne Rouge. I’m dying to see if Lance Armstrong, back from retirement, will finish in the top 10 or even win the Tour. But first, he has to get the support of his team, Astana. Problem is Alberto Contador, the other prima donna on the team, believes that HE is the leader and should get the team’s support. In yesterday’s state (which ended in Andorra), Contador broke away from his team even though apparently, that was not what they had all agreed upon. In an earlier stage, Armstrong found himself in the main group upfront, while his team was behind and he did not wait for them as they had expected.
Who’s doing well this year? Andy Schleck, Levi Leipheimer, Cadel Evans, Fabian Cancellara (early on, but he has lost the maillot jaune), Bradley Wiggins, Tony Martin and Christian Vandevelde. But it’s only the 8th stage. More to come tomorrow in the Pyrenees including a climb up to the Col de Tourmalet. This year, the second to last stage before going into Paris ends at Mont Ventoux! The winner of the Tour could be decided there.
I am watching the Tour from San Francisco this year, not from Amsterdam and that means getting up very early (6:00 am) to watch the race. In Amsterdam, I would have settled into my couch in the afternoon sipping a glass of wine. In SF, I’m bleary eyed and stumbling around for coffee.
