Work Week Recap (In Case You Missed It)

So due to work and life, I am a little behind... so here's a recap of what's happened in the last few stages:

Stage 5: Cholet > Chateauroux
Mark Cavendish dominated the sprint, after the peloton hunted down the breakaway... Mark Cavendish, at only 23, is quite a force to be reckoned with.

Stage 6: Aigurande > Super-Besse
Young Ricardo Ricco won the stage today, and has officially been pegged as a big contender in the future. His first stage win in the Tour (he's won 3 stages in the Giro) - was a major one on top of Super-Besse.

Stage 7: Brioude > Aurillac
Today was a day where the peloton greatly misjudged their assault on the breakaway, and the breakaway had a winner - something they always try to achieve. Luis-Leon Sanchez won the day, and it was a good win for Caisse D'Epargne - mostly because Alejandro Valverde isn't quite performing the way he should if he really expects to win the Tour.

Stage 8: Figeac > Toulouse
Mark Cavendish hauled himself up the big mountains of the day to get another stage victory, matching his 2 stage wins in the Giro. Great job Mark! Where are all the other sprinters?

Stage 9: Toulouse > Bagnères-de-Bigorre
And it's another one for Ricardo Ricco! On a breakaway, Ricco managed to stay in front and gained 1:17 on many of the big GC men... There were some shake ups in the overall classification, but more to come in Stage 10.

Damiano Cunego Rant

I need to have a bit of a rant about professional cyclists. Yes, you may be physically fit, have great bodies (generally), and are very famous in your home countries/Europe... but I'm not sure how big your ego can seriously be. You are rolling around in too tight pants that highlight your junk in all the wrong ways... not unlike swimmers. Some cyclists find more fame than others (Tom Boonen - so much so he thought he could do cocaine and get away with it) - but for the most part, they're just hometown heroes.

That takes us to Damiano Cunego. Now - this guy won the Giro d'Italia a few years back when he was the tender age of 22 - which is great... but let's face it - he hasn't really done much since - let alone cowboy up and win the Tour de France like everyone thought he could. But this guy thinks he's AWESOME.

First - let's look at his hair. It's bleached blond. Let's take a look at where he's from - ITALY. Bleached blond hair is just absurd. Maybe brownish blond - but bleached?! Come on. You don't live in California... or anywhere else where this would be acceptable. It's just a ploy to get you to stand out more.


Let's look now at his website home page. If this doesn't say cocky son of a bitch - what does? "Look into my eyes! I am good looking!"


Now for his "Identity Card."

Let's break this down one by one. Height: 169 cm. That seems like he's pretty tall right... well convert that and he's only 5'5"... I think he's compensating for something. Okay, next - hair color - blond. We discussed this already. Eye color: CLEAR BLUE?! WHAT?! Just say blue, asshole.

And for the big one: "Distinguishing features: A WINNER!!!!" With 4 exclamation marks. Wow. This guy is a major douche bag.

And I thought he could win this Tour, or at least go top 5... what was I thinking.

And finally - yeah, good job - you won the stage. Don't rub it in. He's aware he lost. I love you Frank Schleck.

Stage 4: Cholet > Cholet

Ahh. The individual time trial - The Race of Truth. This is the race where it's just you, your bike and the open road. The big favorite for the day was Fabian Cancellara, who is the current (and 2-time) world champion of the ITT. However, he had a bit of a disappointing ride, and finished in 5th - which isn't bad, except that he lost by 33 seconds, which is quite a bit. So the big winner was Stefan Schumacher - who blew everyone away with his 12 second victory over 2nd place, who was none other than Kim Kirchen who is having a bang up Tour.

Alejandro Valverde was a hug disappointment. No one ever accused him of being good at time trialling, but he was simply horrible. As a man who is favored for the overall win, you must be disciplined at all types of stages, especially the ITT (which will make or break an overall win, seeing as how the last stage is one). He now sits in 17th, with a LOT to prove.

This also happened

Stage 3 saw some protest action (as the Tour does usually for various reasons - and it's a huge platform to get some TV time for protesters) - but this guy took it a little far, and 5-time Tour champ Bernard Hinault had to take matters into his own hands:

Stage 3: Saint-Malo > Nantes

What a day this was. The race started off not unlike any other flat stage. There was a breakaway that gained the advantage of huge time gaps, and the peloton began to reel them back in. However, the teams of the sprinters severely misjudged the time gaps, and didn't catch up - leaving it up to the 4 man breakaway to determine the race leader. I was rooting for Will Frishkorn because he's on an American team, and the others were French (they don't need my cheering)... But Samuel Dumoulin won, giving Romain Feillu the Yellow Jersey - wrenching it from the hands of Alejandro Valverde. Will Frishkorn was reasonable disappointed by his lack of a win, but his team is doing great for their first time in the Tour.

Stage 2: Auray > Saint-Brieuc

Stage 2 was a fantastic day of racing. Because this happened already, I'm not going to go into it, but there was a breakaway that was caught in the very last kilometers, and numerous people started attacking - none of them sprinters. You know, the sprinters whose teams hunted down the breakaway for a chance at a stage win.

So Fabian Cancellara attacked, and he's quick, but he started too early. Then some others began attacking, and finally (from the aerial view) - Thor Hushovd snuck up the line of riders, began to pass, and powered through to the finish with the stage win. But it wasn't enough to get the sprinter's jersey -- none other than Kim Kirchen won that - which is a big surprise. But overall - great day of racing.

The Schleck's...

I've been sick, so today there will be an update so far of Stages 2, 3, and 4.

But here's a complaint... On Versus, the commentators keep making a huge deal about where Andy Schleck is in the overall classification - but what about Frank? He's older, faster, and a more proven winner (aka winning on L'Alpe-d'Huez). Andy is only 23, give Frank his due!

Pretty Cool...

This is pretty darn neat.

Tour De France 2008: The Route

Okay, so again, let's pretend this was posted earlier and not after the Tour was underway... Here's a breakdown for all you people who get this on Google Reader... You know who you are.

1 Brest > Plumelec (flat, Already over)
2 Auray > Saint-Brieuc (flat, big day for sprinters, will be new Yellow Jersey)
3 Saint-Malo > Nantes (flat, Yellow Jersey will switch hands again)
4 Cholet > Cholet (time trial - Cancellara should win, he has something to prove here)
5 Cholet > Chateauroux (flat, new Yellow Jersey)
6 Aigurande > Super-Besse (start of the mountains, the eventual KOM will flex his legs)
7 Brioude > Aurillac (some more mountains - should be a level playing field, sprinter will win)
8 Figeac > Toulouse (last flat day for a few days - a break away will win)
9 Toulouse > Bagneres-de-Bigorre (Pyrenees, baby - here come the big guns)
10 Pau > Hautacam (big mountain finish - this will be good)
11 Lannemezan > Foix (smaller mountains - right off a rest day, could go any way)
12 Lavelanet > Narbonne (flat - sprinters are back)
13 Narbonne > Nimes (flat - breakaway will win, just before being caught by Yellow's team)
14 Nimes > Digne-les-Bains (flat - must protect the Yellow Jersey before the mountains)
15 Ebrun > Prato Nevoso (welcome to the Alps - the KOM race is on)
16 Cuneo > Jausiers (rest day yesterday - GC men will fight hard)
17 Embrun > L'Alpe-d'Huez (biggest day of the Tour... Yellow will assert himself)
18 Bourg-d'Oisans > Saint-Etienne (medium mountains - KOM race to finish)
19 Roanne > Montlucon (flat - sprinters are fighting for Green Jersey points)
20 Cerilly > Saint-Amand-Montrond (time trial - Cancellara wins, race winner is determined)
21 Etampes > Paris, Champs-Elysees (lazy ride to Paris, champange toasts and a wicked sprint to the finish for bragging rights)

Stage 1: Brest > Plumelec

Alright - so who knows cycling... Alejandro Valverde had a huge win today in the first stage of the Tour de France. Today was an actual road race rather than the usual prologue (usually time trial format). Generally the first stage is short and is set up to create a pretty acurate line up for the first real stage the following day. Making it a time trial really weeds out the really good cyclists in top form. Today, because it was an actual road race left the field wide open. A stage like today would normally be suited for the sprinters because they have few chances to slip on a Yellow Jersey. Sprinters are quick and can usually beat the climbers and the all arounders because they have no reason to preserve energy --- it's just win, win, win (stages that is - they have no hope of winning the Tour).

But because this Tour started without a winner from the previous year (they generally have special priviledges at the start of the next year's Tour) -- the stakes were high to have someone step out and assert dominance. That man was Alejandro Valverde - a man who is widely believed to be a major contender for the podium in Paris - if not someone who could finish in Yellow as number one. Valverde had a huge finish, out in front all by himself without a slew of sprinters crashing down on him... Good on ya Valverde...

Let's Pretend

That I posted this yesterday... I now present my sisters' and I's top picks for the Tour... Obviously we have some similarities - that's because we know what's going down.

My picks:
General Classification
1. Alejandro Valverde
2. Damiano Cunego
3. Cadel Evans
4. Carlos Sastre
5. Fabian Cancellara

Green Jersey (Sprinter)
1. Gert Steegmans
2. Robbie McEwen
3. Hushovd

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains)
1. Mauricio Soler
2. Frank Schleck
3. Jens Voigt

Lanterne Rouge (Last Place Overall)
Thor Husovd

Amanda's Picks
General Classification
1. Fabian Cancellara
2. Andy Schleck
3. Alejandro Valverde
4. Cadel Evans
5. Stijn Devolder

Green Jersey
1. Thor Husovd
2. Robbie McEwen
3. Erik Zabel

Polka Dot Jersey
1. Frank Schleck
2. Denis Menchov
3. Mauricio Soler

Lanterne Rouge
Steven De Jongh

Sarah's Picks:
General Classification
1. Denis Menchov
2. Fabian Cancellara
3. Cadel Evans
4. George Hincapie
5. Alejandro Valverde

Green Jersey
1. Robbie McEwen
2. Thor Hushovd
3. Robbie Hunter

Polka Dot Jersey
1. Mauricio Soler
2. Yaroslav Popovych
3. Laurent Lefevre

Lanterne Rouge
Tadej Valjavec

Get ready...

Countdown: 2 days until the Tour gets underway in Brest, France.

Tomorrow I will have all the picks up for the Tour - the projected winners/contenders for all the jerseys...

Yeah!