One More Sleep

Only one more sleep.  Only one more sleep until the start of the event that we cycling fans wait all year for.  It's our Super Bowl, our Stanley Cup playoffs, our Kodak Theater episode of American Idol. 

I'm still sad about the loss of Chris Horner from the Astana squad, but my sadness was almost overshadowed by word that Big Tom Boonen is back baby.  I'm going to write the word "girlfriend" now just to ensure that my blog hits go through the roof.  I have found that in all time I have been writing about cycling nothing boosts blog hits like the words "Tom Boonen" and "girlfriend" together.  I am a Cavo convert now but with Robbie McEwen not riding at the Tour this year it was going to be just too easy for him.  Cavo vs Boonen is a show worth watching.

Tomorrow it begins and apparently everyone is just peachy keen over there in Monaco.  Carlos Sastre is thrilled that no one thinks he can win again.  Cadel Evans never liked Thomas Dekker anyway (EPO Tom?  That's so 1998).  And it's just a big love-in over on the Astana bus.  So, with everyone is such a good mood, let's get this race started!

Comments

[susie b]

Are you guys reading the stuff coming out of Monaco? Specifically from Vino & the VP of the Kazakh cycling federation?
UNFREAKINBELIEVABLE.

I WAS just disgusted by Vino. Now I officially HATE the pr*ck. And who knew that 'Borat' was apparently the smartest Kazakh? Yesssiree, right before the Tour, after being shown up to WORLDWIDE PUBLIC HUMILIATION because you are ALL a bunch of DEADBEATS, come out & say you are going to eject the man who SAVED your friggin team from being thrown out of cycling entirely. And yeah, announce to the world you're going to annoint Senor Hissyfits the sole team leader on your NEW Astana, without the apparently useless help of the current manager, when he is going to desperately NEED the help of said manager to not just win THIS race but to even stay in it. Oh yeah, THIS will TOTALLY add a NEW LAYER of peace, love, & understanding among Astana. Tension-smension.

You CAN'T make this stuff up!!

WANTED : food-tester willing to re-locate to France for next three weeks. ASAP! Must speak Spanish.

Great to hear from you Jessica!

And it just hit me - of course Janann's baby is a member of the IA; his name is L-IA-M! :) :)

And Cathy - I like the new Astana site, but I do have one complaint. Why are we not reading on-site reports from our favorite cycling journalist : YOU?! Nothing against cb, but your race reports & interviews have been THE site's mainstay for the past two years, & YOUR in-person perspective on the madhouse that is the Tour would be lapped up like buttah!

Anyway, speaking of writers, I don't know what's going on with MD. Five-six weeks ago he posted he was definitely going & would write on his blog AND at Active. He was also going to link up with his oldest son for the 2nd half. And then, for almost 4 weeks now, he hasn't posted a thing. I don't know if something has happened to him or to his parents (they were both hospitalized back in May), or he's just been super-busy. I've gone from impatient to irritated to worried to panicked. I will be SO disappointed if he does not cover the Tour!

Just in case he DOES finally show up, here's the links to his blog AND to Active's TDF page :

http://dugardsports.typepad.com/

http://www.active.com/cycling/tourdefrance/

I've been checking Active's TDF site every day for three weeks & he's still not listed as a contributor. So, who knows - maybe that fell through. They also don't list Frankie A & last year he did these great podcasts for them, which really added to my enjoyment & knowledge of what was happening last year. If Frankie doesn't do them for Active, maybe he'll do them for Versus, as Robbie did a little last year. What they SHOULD do is team up & do the podcasts from the car driving from stage to stage. Robbie had one of those last year & it was a hoot!

Alrighty. Less than 24 hours away. WHAT's your PICKS?!! Here's mine - Lance, Levi, & Sastre. I think AC will crack because he doesn't think he's getting his 'due respect' & that will be enough for him to bonk on a stage. Or he may not even make it all the way to Paris. Due to, you know, 'food poisoning' or 'mental fatigue'. ;) Cattle doesn't have a strong enough team, ESPECIALLY since his top mt guy just got kicked out. (Wonder if Cuddles got a text-message from a certain someone : "I may have been 'non-existent' last year but at least I was IN the race!") Sastre will be DETERMINED to show the world & ESPECIALLY Riis that he deserved to be the winner last year & how DARE he not show him the proper respect. (What is it about Spaniards & 'respect'?) And oh yeah, the heretofore never-heard-a-peep-from little man is tellin' Lance via the media scrum that Big Tex needs an ettiquette education & well, to just "shut his mouth!". At the very least, Sastre will chew off an arm to beat The Brothers. Bambi (aka Menchov) may still be having flashbacks that his 'in-the-bag' Giro win ALMOST SPUN away from him on the FINAL 1K or he may just not have recovered enough from the 'fumes' of all that wheelsucking. (Yes, yes, I know - that's ALL he had to do!) Plus, he has to worry about links to doping - 2007 AGAIN (this time Dekker) & now the Austrian bloodbank allegations. He could slough it off during the Giro, but the WORLDwide media light is like a LASER on that stuff at the Tour. And I really, REALLY wish CVV could be on the podium with Lance & Levi, but his injuries were just too severe & he lost too much training time.

So, that's my crystal ball predictions! And even though I wouldn't mind placing a bet on Lance, I will NOT "bet the HOUSE". No, only Wall Street nitwits make THOSE kinds of bets. ;)

See ya again on Monday! And have a Happy 4th to all Americans &/or anyone who just likes to fire up the grill & oooh-ahhh at fireworks!

[cat]

Good one Ms Best! and susieb, you are back on top! Hope nothing is wrong with MD as well. He's kinda like an old boyfriend for me; forgiven, respected for his craft, but no revisiting. But, if he does covr TdF(sure the heck doesn't sound like it) I will read, that's for sure! You know, he seems to have little meltdowns that sabotage his work. Me hopes that isn't the case here....

[jessica]

Sleep - who will sleep? This is the most excitement for me in months! 12 months to be exact. tee hee

I don't see AC up there on the podium either. No science behind that statement, just a sense that he is over-exposed-hyperbole. That does seem ridiculous to say, given that Lance Armstrong, (did your crackberry catch that Lance??), is the king of self exposure.

And I too am a complete dilettante about cycling Cat. But completely willing to learn and so last night I did my homework and read all about the "big announcement that is due in July" re: Lance in my Cycling Sport US. Paddling like crazy to keep up with all you smarties!

And to Boonen's Canadian GalPal; I still have that lovely naked photo saved in my gmail. Meow.

[CMehl]

Only 10 hours to go!!! Gotta get a little sleep...much to do in the journo dept tomorrow!

BTW, Cb is actually working for the LAF at the Tour, they are footing the bill for him, so it's not like the team sent him and not me...he primarily works for them and obviously they had more money than us! ;-)

G'nite! Let's get it started!