Tour Favorite goes out with a bang
I just logged on to The Sports Sauna and discovered a link to Mom's the Word, a maternity clothing store, on the google ad bar above my last Notent Notables post. There are no words.
A few thoughts from the Tour as I sit down to watch today's TiVo'ed stage.
First off, Michael Rasmussen was cut from the Danish cycling team for being two days late in turning in his June diary that all cyclists now need to keep to account for their whereabouts at all times. This is ridiculous. We know its ridiculous because even the Tour de France says its an overreaction by the Danish cycling authority. It is not going to affect the current yellow jersey holder's status in the tour, but as it stands right now we won't see Rasmussen in the Beijing Olympics.
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Yesterday's stage was fascinating. You can usually predict the way flat stages are going to play out: an early breakaway gets reeled in just in time for the sprinters to battle it out over the final kilometers. The top contenders and their teams are usually content to let the sprinters and their teams control the race. But yesterday I saw something I've never seen: Team Astana put the hammer down in the middle of the race, whipping up the pace for their Tour contender, poor old Alexandre Vinokourov. Vino crashed a week ago. He's got stitches in his knees and one of them might be septic. I'm not a doctor, but I don't like to hear the word "septic" to describe any part of the body.
But there was Vino, rolling along in the 10th fastest stage in the history of the event (measured in average speed), with his boys leading the way. The strategy, it seems, was to let the high winds of the day slice up the field. Normally of course, the peloton protects everyone from the wind. If the winds are heavy and hitting the the peloton from the side, you've got to make sure you stay in the peloton. When Astana whipped up the pace, gaps formed in the peloton and quickly stretched wide open. The one significant casualty of the move was the French rider, Christophe Moreau. He never caught back up to the front and dropped out of 6th place overall.
Most amazingly, with a few kilometers to go and the sprinters lining up for the finish, Vinokourov tried one last ditch effort and, his heavily wrapped knees pumping furiously, broke away from the pack. For a moment, it seemed like he might win the stage and get the small time bonus that comes with a victory. But just as quickly the peloton pulled him back and he was done. Alexandre Vinokourov will not win the Tour de France, but as Neil Young says, its better to burn out than to fade away.
A few thoughts from the Tour as I sit down to watch today's TiVo'ed stage.
First off, Michael Rasmussen was cut from the Danish cycling team for being two days late in turning in his June diary that all cyclists now need to keep to account for their whereabouts at all times. This is ridiculous. We know its ridiculous because even the Tour de France says its an overreaction by the Danish cycling authority. It is not going to affect the current yellow jersey holder's status in the tour, but as it stands right now we won't see Rasmussen in the Beijing Olympics.
---
Yesterday's stage was fascinating. You can usually predict the way flat stages are going to play out: an early breakaway gets reeled in just in time for the sprinters to battle it out over the final kilometers. The top contenders and their teams are usually content to let the sprinters and their teams control the race. But yesterday I saw something I've never seen: Team Astana put the hammer down in the middle of the race, whipping up the pace for their Tour contender, poor old Alexandre Vinokourov. Vino crashed a week ago. He's got stitches in his knees and one of them might be septic. I'm not a doctor, but I don't like to hear the word "septic" to describe any part of the body.
But there was Vino, rolling along in the 10th fastest stage in the history of the event (measured in average speed), with his boys leading the way. The strategy, it seems, was to let the high winds of the day slice up the field. Normally of course, the peloton protects everyone from the wind. If the winds are heavy and hitting the the peloton from the side, you've got to make sure you stay in the peloton. When Astana whipped up the pace, gaps formed in the peloton and quickly stretched wide open. The one significant casualty of the move was the French rider, Christophe Moreau. He never caught back up to the front and dropped out of 6th place overall.
Most amazingly, with a few kilometers to go and the sprinters lining up for the finish, Vinokourov tried one last ditch effort and, his heavily wrapped knees pumping furiously, broke away from the pack. For a moment, it seemed like he might win the stage and get the small time bonus that comes with a victory. But just as quickly the peloton pulled him back and he was done. Alexandre Vinokourov will not win the Tour de France, but as Neil Young says, its better to burn out than to fade away.
Labels: Alexandre Vinokourov, Michael Rasmussen, Tour de France
posted by Prof. A at 10:30 AM
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