Friday, July 10, 2009

Tour de France Update


For those of you who don’t pay attention but surely must know the most famous name in cycling, Lance Armstrong is indeed back this year. Back and ready to take the Tour by storm. After 6 stages, he’s in second place by less than a quarter of a second. Pretty damn good for an old guy, as he calls himself.

If you haven’t been watching you’ve missed some incredible scenery. The first stage took place in the streets of Monaco. Stage two took them from Monaco to Brignoles. Stage three, from Marseille to La Grande-Motte. I particularly enjoyed the scenic shots that day because that’s the region where the Middle Child had her big adventure. So cool to see some of the places she explored.

Stage four was the team time trial and wound around Montpellier. This was the day that closed the 40 second gap between Cancellara, the race leader, the one who is currently wearing the infamous yellow jersey and Armstrong. The strength his team combined is amazing but then it should be. He’s not the only former Tour winner on it, nor the only one with a chance of winning this year. Alberto Contador is also on the same team. He’s in third place at the moment by a whopping 19 seconds. Can you imagine? They’ve already pedaled hundreds of miles and they’re separated by seconds.

Stage five skirted the coast. For some reason seeing the palm trees surprised me. Yes, I do know they’re there. I just don’t associate palms with France. Hot beyond belief and, being so near the shoreline, tremendous crosswinds to contend with.

Stage six saw a day of torrential rains. The wet roads had bikes slipping out from under riders right and left. No one was immune as some of the big names from years past went down along side Tour rookies. This one ended in Barcelona which, upon leaving there, will now send them up into the Pyrenees Mountains.

Ready to watch with me yet? Sigh. One of these years you will be and then you’ll be addicted to. Have a good weekend.

No comments: