Boy it was great to watch some pro bike racing last night!
I taped the ITT and watched it after the kids had gone to bed. I don't know why any of us ever think that anyone other than Cancellara will win when it comes to this discipline. The man is a machine. Lance called it in the pre-interview and boy was he right.
It was a great first day and it was exciting to see Phil and Paul and Bob - and even Craig - again, but I have to say that if Versus insists on making this entire three-week race into a Lance Armstrong tribute concert I may have to stop watching.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan - always have been - and I've done a total 180 on my feelings about his comeback. His actions during the early part of this season in supporting his team and the incredible work that the whole Livestrong organization is doing is just incredible. I get it now. But that being said, there are a whole bunch of great bike racers in France right now and I'd like to hear about all of them. I think Lance would be the first to agree.
I think we're all calling Cavendish for the win today. I wonder if Quick Step will have answer for that.
Interesting to see Frankie interviewing Lance today....
Posted by: Amy | July 05, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Ooooo, Amy, I missed that!
You called it Sara, and I agree with you about the Lance hype.
Posted by: cat | July 05, 2009 at 04:26 PM
How about the little "Lance jersey" they have in the bottom of the screen with the other jerseys to keep track of where everyone is?
I just caught up - I rode a metric century (+ 5 miles) today. My all-time longest ride! The last metric I rode was in central PA (right past Floyd's mom's house) and was brutally hilly. This time I picked the right state - Delaware! Nice and flat. My friend thought the first half was a bit hilly, but I never shifted more than 2 gears on any hill. Of course you do a lot more pedaling becuase there are no screaming downhills, either! Anyway, it was fun! Even though it was more cloudy than sunny, I have to go put some self-tanner on my hands because I have a glove line!
Meanwhile... Yippee, TOUR TIME!
Posted by: Barbara | July 05, 2009 at 08:38 PM
Good job Barbara!
Sara, I'm with you, I don't think that Lance cares is VS does his fanfare. He's doing fine on his own. That "Epic Cycle" commercial is just a bit too much, to watch 50 times during the broadcast!!
I'm loving ColumbiaHTC (who's the new sponser?) And Cav and the whole Columbia team is just awesome!!
Posted by: Theresa | July 06, 2009 at 02:23 PM
I feel like Dick Enberg today : OH MY! :) :) :)
Sit down, Mary J. & set a spell; I loves me some drama, drama, drama!
And if it takes Lance being in the race with the media overhype machine (especially MMS) running amuck, & the commentators talking about the 7-TIME TDF CHAMPION a little more than, well, everybody, then BRING IT ON! The global econony is in a shithole, without Lance in the race, who knows how many sponsors would have pulled out & what shape cycling would currently be in. The fact is - the CASUAL viewer (at least in the USA) knows & cares about Lance only. THEY want to know how HE'S doing. Once interested in the coverage, they may become REAL fans of the sport. Something ANY sport needs right now. Lance is a BOAT LIFTER. Vino, on the other hand, is the TITANIC...
And the inclusion of the "Lance" jersey on the bottom Vs scroll cracks me up mostly because I KNOW how it enrages all the Lance Haters. Seriously, when I saw that yesterday morning, I deduced what it was before P2's mention & I ROLLED OFF MY SOFA! LMAO!
And on Sat AND Sun, I stared in SHOCK as that fast-talkin Man from Michigan interviewed Lance pre-stages! Almost-crapped-my-pants, I did! Seriously, WHO would have bet THAT would have happened?! I think it's great. Maybe a thaw in the iceberg. It has been 10 YEARS since Lance & Frankie, CVV & George, celebrated Lance & Team US Postal's 1st TDF win, so maybe a little nostalgia prompted the thaw. Whatever did it, I hope it continues & maybe, if something fantastic happens, they'll even hug! Of course, I'll barely be able to see it as I'll be bawling. I tell ya - this sport beats EVERY soap opera on the planet!
Anyway, my thoughts so far : Stage 1 - the King of Switzerland extended his rule without bloodshed! All hail Fab Spartacus! AC looked fantastic ( he really is a GREAT Time Trialer now!). As did Kloden, Levi, & Lance. Astana's "weather bet" didn't pan out & going early hurt both Lance & Levi, I think. I can't lie, I thought Lance would be in the top four for sure, still, it wasn't a bad ride. Like Bambi's! Wow, even I didn't see that disaster coming. He will have to attack on EVERY mountain stage & hope all the other GC riders fall off their bikes, or he just rode himself out of contention. Andy Schleck surprised - he did much better than I thought he would. And even though CVV wasn't in the top 10, I was happy he did as well as he did, due to the circumstances.
And Stage 2 - I expected, you expected, ANY cycling fan not in a coma the last 12 months, expected Cav to win. And good for him! And I was happy for Tyler. Even though he finished well in several Giro stages, I still don't think he got enough credit. NOW he will. If ever a non-mt stage comes where The Cartel is NOT in charge of the last 5K, I think Tyler can definitely win it!
BTW, anybody else having problems with the Versus coverage in that commercials just BARGE right in? I don't know if Versus is doing this or my local Comcast operator but it is AWFUL!
And anybody who hasn't heard/seen/read about TODAY (Tues)'s stage, well, something happens in the last 20 minutes, so make sure you WATCH TONIGHT! And here I thought this would be a boring stage! Here's a thought - the LAF could raise a TON of money if they auction off Johan's radio instructions from today. ;) ;) :) Where is that Versus camera when you need it?!
Posted by: susie b | July 06, 2009 at 02:33 PM
Great post SusieB!
Sara, will you be around alot during the tour? Maybe we should have the spoiler alert thread and the other option like we've had before? Because like Suze says, there is plenty of action today on what looked to be routine and I'd hate to wreck it for anyone...
And where's that Janann? Sheesh, I can't believe she's too busy to write! (Might even be too sleepy if I recall 20 years ago having a newborn!)
Posted by: CMehl | July 06, 2009 at 04:03 PM
OK, here's a great piece of Americana - my admin told me today that her mother told her that "she doesn't like Lance Armstrong any more because he broke up with Sheryl Crow when she got cancer." I'm sure there are a lot of reasons to dislike Lance, but that's a new one. (an update on "I stopped liking him when he left his wife for Sheryl Crow"?) I started to explain, but... to what end?
AARGH! My DVR cut out 10 minutes before the end! (And thanks to Matt's reminder, I set it up for 30 extra minutes - guess I have to change it to an hour.) I don't know if I can stay up to watch the end of the Craig & Bob show. I do love the way Bobke explains things. I just wish I were one time zone earlier so I could go to bed at 10. I am recording the morning show so I can start watching as soon as I get home (and skip all those annoying commercials - all 4 of them).
Posted by: Barbara | July 06, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Good job Barbara on the ride!!
I'm still alive and watching the Tour.....just.....*yawn*...sleepy ;)
LOVING it so far! It was great today to see how both Fabian and Lance completely anticipated that split in the peloton (yes, the one that P&P were predicting for about 2 hours!) and made the front group. I was really cheering Columbia on -- it really paid off for them on several levels and was a fantastic move! When I saw Lance talking into his radio and then saw Popo and Zubeldia start pulling I was just DYING to know what Johan had to say on the radio too!! What an exciting stage - I was sure it was going to be ever so boring today.
Excited for Tyler and amazed at Cavendish. The top views of those sprints just said it all. NO ONE can catch that guy if he gets in front of them. Wow.
Simply can't wait for the TTT tomorrow. I've really missed that and it promises to be full of high drama.
Oh, and the little blue jersey completely cracks me up and must be infuriating to some of the other riders. But, hey, like Susie said -- this sport can use a little Lance fever right now to get sponsors and everyone else excited again! Wooo Hoooo!
Posted by: janann | July 06, 2009 at 11:15 PM