Lance and the Tour

I just wanted to jot this down before tomorrow's stage.

I don't for one minute believe that Lance is finished and Alberto Contador's only way of missing a victory is a mechanical or crash. That's right. And yes, I listened to everything Lance said after yesterday's stage. But I'm not buying it yet.

I am also not calling Lance a liar, or discounting all the things that the experts- of which I am most assuredly not- have said about Contador.

Here's what I've seen. Contador has gotten his entire advantage basically on two stages in which he made viscous accelerations up short climbs. And he only put Lance in apparent difficult in the second case. The first time, Lance didn't ride him down because that would not have been the behaviour of a teammate. It is true that he appeared to be incapable of staying with Contador yesterday.

To make a believer out of me, the same thing is going to have to happen on a much longer climb where Contador doesn't have the advantage of sitting on his teammates for most of the stage before launching a late attack. And maybe that's what's coming- an Alberto strike early in the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard climb.

But I don't think he's the rider most likely able to do it. I'm not 100% sure it's Lance either, but I know which one I'd pick if I had to...

Saxo Bank Announces Tour Team

Saxo Bank announces Tour team
By AFP

Fabian Cancellara will look to win the Tour's first yellow jersey for Saxo Bank (AFP/Getty Images)
The Saxo Bank team run by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis will centre its hopes for victory on next month's race on Schleck brothers Andy and Frank, and powerful Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara.

And Riis believes Saxo Bank, who won the Tour last year with Spaniard Carlos Sastre under their former name of CSC, can dominate from start to finish.

Cancellara, who won the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday, is among the riders who could take the yellow jersey as of the first stage time trial in Monaco on July 4.

Andy Schleck, the winner of the Tour's white jersey - for the best placed rider aged 25 and under - will then spearhead the quality-packed Danish team's bid for the coveted yellow jersey.

The three riders were among the nine-man team announced by Riis on Monday.

"Just like the past couple of years, it has been a very difficult decision because there have been several excellent riders in our consideration for the nine spots for the Tour," said team owner Riis. "... now we have picked nine riders which together form an extremely strong lineup which could help dominating the course from the beginning to the end.

"With Fabian in peak shape it is clear that we have a perfect chance of taking the yellow jersey from the start and there is absolutely no doubt that this is what we are here for. At the same time, we have a homogeneous and powerful team for the team time trial and it should form the foundation for our efforts in the overall standings.

"In Frank and Andy Schleck, we have two super-powerful cards to play and the rest of the guys will be able to give them the right support. We believe in a fantastic Tour de France for Team Saxo Bank."

Seven of the team's nine riders competed at last year's Tour. The two new arrivals are Dane Chris Anker Sorensen and Swede Gustav Larsson, who won Olympic time trial silver, behind Cancellara, in Beijing last year.

Sastre has since moved on to the Cervelo team, as did Volodymyr Gustov.

Team:

Andy Schleck (Lux), Frank Schleck (Lux), Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Jens Voigt (Ger), Nicki Sorensen (Den), Chris Anker Sorensen (Den), Gustav Larsson (Swe), Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor).

CSC Shows Their Stripes

I thought CSC showed their hand appropriately today. With a rest stage on offer tomorrow, CSC finally attacked. The analysts were starting to ask questions. Given CSCs top-notch performance in the team standings, there was a question of whether they needed to go on the offensive with individual riders, as well as the eternal question- can CSC be more than a great team and put riders on the podium.

Of course, in true CSC fashion, the brass ring remained so slightly out of reach. Two Saunier Duval riders stole Frank Schlenk's glory for the stage win, and simple random chance left Schleck 1 second out of yellow. One second out of yellow going into a rest day.

Of course, neither Schleck is the CG threat, but CSC-Saxo in yellow is the only thing that could have improved today's stage.

The Tour

Well, I've added the Tour widget to my blog, which is free advertising for Versus, but that's OK. They need the help.

Personally, I think that this year's Tour is pretty damn exciting. I sort of feel the way I did when I first started watching the Tour. New teams, new riders. Don't get me wrong. I'm not going to be happy to see CSC get out, but hopefully my favourite team will stay together with their new sponsors. Some people I've talked to have said they think it's just not exciting anymore.

I think some people just can't get up for the Tour now that Lance is gone, and others have bought into the idea that cycling is somehow tainted in a way that other sports aren't- I was reading former football player Mike Golic talking about how the Tour is off-the-radar because of its lack of credibility. Interesting. Football has a pretty good drug testing program, but let's face it, drink driving is getting more players suspended these days than failed drug tests and the league just isn't getting it done regarding HGH.

American sports writers are especially quick to bash the sport. I think despite the Lance Armstrong era american sports writers see cycling in general as European and the Tour as even worse, French. It's hard to believe how despised the country that was vital to the securing of our independence, a country that gave us the Statue of Liberty, is these days. But really, it's more than that, it's just that the sport is based in Europe, in my opinion, that makes sports writers seem to love to bash it.

Am I underplaying the doping problem cycling has had, and may still have ? Not really. Bad is bad and the problem was bad. But let's compare. Floyd Landis wins the Tour, but tests positive for testosterone. Result ? Banned for two years, victory stripped, team he rode for disbands.

Then there's America's Pasttime. Barry Bonds is approaching the sacred cow of baseball records- a sport that is defined by its statistics- and what does the MLB do ? Turns a blind eye. Yes, Bonds never failed a drug test, but that's because baseball had no effective testing and no effective punishment. Remember when a failed drug test was a 15 day suspension ? And how many have there been. Obviously baseball felt something was wrong with Bond's actions because they refused to honour the moment when he set the record. But they let him set it...

I think this year's tour is off to an exciting start because so far, nothing predictable has occurred. If the rest of the peleton can keep Robbie out of the winner's circle and CSC can take a shot at the team title, I will be happy...

Tour de France Woes

I'm not a cyclist, and most of what I know about the sport comes from a few amateur cyclist friends and of course, watching the Tour on TV.

Today's events, first the withdrawal of Cofidis after Moreni tested positive, admitted to doping and was taken away by French police in irons, and then of course Rasmussen being fired, certainly put the sport in a tough, tough spot.

What surprises me a little bit is how hard my wife has taken it. Personally, I think that if cycling is really trying to clean itself up- meaning the teams and the coaches are no longer facilitating doping by their athletes- it is going take more than one season. Cycling certainly has a bad history of doping, with plenty of disgraced athletes, and I think that the sport is on the verge of sponsorship meltdown, with the tipping point where the sport never recovers somewhere extremely close.

Yet at the same time, I look my favourite spectator sport, NFL football, and can't help but think it's little better off when it comes to athletes doping- although much better off in other ways, including sponsorship fatigue, where the Michael Vick meltdown is probably a bigger issue (see Nike). I think the league has a better drug testing system, but I don't think they test often enough, have tight enough controls, and the smokescreen of athlete privacy is used to prevent the general public from learning the extent of the performance enhancement drug problem the NFL has. The league is populated by literally super-human men of such bulk and speed that it simply defies any statistical explanation of how the population is producing so many men so large and so gifted- gifts that often lead to pain and suffering in later life.

The Tour is a beautiful thing, a wild, undulating mass full of personality, rivalry, excitement- and disappointment. But the last few days, it seems like mostly the later. Which is too bad. I'd miss it if it were taken out of my July...