Stage 5 - What did I miss?

You Turkeys!! I take a break to build up some suspense over the Sprint Stages and all I hear is..."Where's my update?", "I've got my Dunkin but nothing to read", "My life is meaningless without the Tour". Alright, I made the last one up but I know you're all thinking it!

So...Tour de France 2006,..."a bad novel with boring characters or something you can really get into"?

I stole that quote but I like it. A Tour without Lance; is it a Tour worth watching? I think it is so let's do it!

The Sprint Stages; a little bit slow unless you're really into biking but where do we stand? After Stage 4, sprinter Tom Boonen - Belgium (Team Quickstep) is wearing Yellow (GC Leader). George Hincapie - Brooklyn Wa'sup (Discovery) in 3rd, Floyd Landis aka Kid Rock (Phonak) in 9th, Zabriskie - Landis's Do-Boy "What are we gonna do today Spike?" (CSC) in 17 and American Bobby Julich also (CSC) in 22nd.

To reiterate, the Sprinters rule the flat stages due to sprint points and time bonuses, and the sprinter Tom Boonen wears Yellow because of it without having won a single Stage. Outlaw Robbie McEwen - Aussie (Davitmon Lotto) who's been known to ride wheelies over the finish line, won Stages 2 and 4 and currently sits in 6th while previous Yellow bearer Thor Hushovd sits in 4th. Does anyone recall the sweet little move Robbie pulled last year when he leaned his head way over to block Hushovd or Boonen from winning the Stage. Yea, he's a 146 lb shifty little bastard but you gotta love how he appears out of thin air to take the Stage win at the very last hundredth of a second. I swear, no one sees him coming but all of sudden there he is crossing the finish line in front of 5 other riders doing 50 mph. Very impressive!

Before getting to Stage 5 let's rehash some Tour ending injuries. Alejandro Valverde a GC favorite for Spain and threat to Hincapie, out with a broken collar bone. Erik Dekker (Rabobank) a good all around biker, out after his face became acquainted with the pavement. Danilo DiLuca (WHO) out because he couldn't hack it I guess.

Up to Stage 5 and another sprint, but an interesting development along the way. Does everyone recall last year's team time trial where Dave Zabriskie who was in the Yellow Jersey fell within meters of the finish line and not a single member of his team stopped to help him back up and across the finish line? Yes, they were close to the finish line but not every single member of the team was required to finish together in order to insure the team's score. Someone could have stopped to help him without jeopardizing their standings. It was sad, the bearer of the Yellow Jersey is the man, the one guy on the Tour that everyone respects. But Dave Zabriskie's team (CSC) treated him like dirt and abandoned him on the pavement like a banana peal browning in the sun. Well Dave must be gluten for punishment because he's riding for Team CSC again and thanks to teammate Ivan Basso's ejection, Dave is prime for a Tour win. But only with support from his team and unfortunately I don't think that support is there. In Stage 5 with 35 km left, Dave got a flat tire and not a single member of his team stopped to help lead him back to the peloton. Pretty telling evidence that Dave Zabriskie's hopes for Tour 2006 have been dashed.

Several minor wrecks throughout Stage 5 but everyone survives and a sprinter by the name of Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins the stage. Tom Boonen (Quickstep) comes in second and remains in the Yellow for another day.

Stage 5 Results - http://www.letour.com/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/500/classement/ITE.html

GC Results after 5 - http://www.letour.com/2006/TDF/LIVE/us/500/classement/ITG.html

Stage 1 - "The Worst Paper Cut in History"

The beginning stages of the Tour are long and flat. These types of races favor the sprinters as the main Peloton will have no problems sticking together over the course of the race. The design of these long flat stages is to tire out the racers before they hit the mountains. Then once the weak have been weeded out so to speak, the real race can begin. The designers of the Tour know this can be the "quiet" portion of the Tour so they've added a little something to build some excitement. It's the sprinters race which is better known as the Green Jersey. Through out these long stages they have placed sprint points at specific mile markers. Sprint points gain riders points towards the Green Jersey, seconds to be taken off their overall score and most importantly Prizes! (I think it's probably candy like when you crack open the pinata but who knows???)

Regardless of what the prizes are, George Hincapie took full advantage of Stage 1's final sprint points in a brilliant move obviously choreographed by the Master, Johann Bruniel (Director Team Discovery). Starting Stage 1, Hincapie was 1/2 second behind Hushovd (Yellow). Hincapie knew he wouldn't be able to beat the sprinters at the finish of the Stage so he surprised everyone with a mad dash for the final sprint points. He got there first and earned a 2 second bonus which boosted him in front of Hushovd for the Yellow. A couple of minutes later as the race approached the finish line, the sprinters made their move out of the Peloton, speeding for the finish. Hushovd being a sprinter was well in the mix but was unable to finish in the top 3, which has another bonus incentive. The top 3 riders to finish the stage also receive time bonus's and a relatively unknown rider, Jimmy Casper (Cofidis) took the Stage.

Hincapie's 2 second sprint bonus proved to be the strategic move of the day and it moved Hincapie into the lead for the GC (General Category). Hincapie has officially earned his very first Yellow Jersey and proves he's a serious contender for this year's Tour.

To add insult to injury or vice versa, Hushovd not only lost the Yellow but was sliced open in a freak accident crossing the finish line. Just before the race finished, Hushovd got hit by a marketing piece or "hand" that was ironically given out by the company that sponsors him. The advertisement looks like a giant foam number one finger like you see in American sports but unfortunately for Hushovd they're made of cardboard. Flying across the finish line at dam near 40 mph, the cardboard hand gave Hushovd the worst paper cut in recorded History! Now imagine this, Hushovd is in an all out sprint. His heart is beating at 180 beats per minute and fan number 1 just opened up the main artery in his arm. It's a Hushovd blood fountain! The fans are getting sprayed the other riders are getting sprayed and Hushovd has so much blood on him it looks like he's lost a limb. Tour racing at its finest!

The good news is that "it was merely a flesh wound" (what movie?) and Hushovd will be back up and racing for Stage 2.

My Riders

Right about now you're probably wondering which horse to back. Well the great thing about the Tour is that you're allowed to have more than one favorite. You're even allowed to follow riders that you don't like, despise or even hate. How much fun is it to see those guys lose!

Here are a couple of my favorites and why.

George Hincapie (Discovery): Has raced the tour for 8 years, each and every time as Lance's chief lieutenant. His job was to break the wind and position Lance for each stage win. He's been such a close friend to Lance that Lance actually positioned him to win his first stage last year and he is now poised to lead the Discovery Team to another team victory. With great support from one of the strongest team's on the tour, Hincapie has a real shot to win the Tour overall. So what is Hincapie like? I equate him to the Pete Sampras of the road racing world. He is quiet, modest, methodical and strong. So if George is the Pete Sampras then Floyd Landis is definitely the Andre Agassi!

Floyd Landis (Phonak): Yes, the Andre Agassi of the Tour. This guy is the Tour Jester, but he's also got Brass Balls. He isn't afraid of anything. If you want to win the Tour then you have to be able to ride down the face of a mountain like a bat out of hell, and this is what Floyd does best. He's a strong all around rider and his 9th place finish in the time trial proves he's got what it takes to win the Tour.

David Zabriskie (CSC): Last year he wore the Yellow for the first 4 stages until he lost it in an unfortunate wreck in eye site of the finish line during the team time trial. Dave and Floyd are like peas in a pod. They room together, hang out together and both have had experience riding with Lance on Team U.S. Postal. They are veterans of the Tour and know what it is going to take to wear the Yellow. For Dave, this year is a little different. Ivan Basso, one of the favorites to win this year's Tour and one of the guys in the alleged doping scandal was Team CSC's captain. Up until the day of the race Zabriskie was to be one of Basso's lieutenants, but with Basso out Zabriskie is now the team leader for CSC and has a real shot at winning the Tour.

There are many other contenders who also have a legitimate shot at the win but these are the three US riders that I'm pulling for.

The Prologue

The 2006 Tour is well under way and once again it doesn't disappoint. You might have thought to yourself, "Without Lance the Tour just can't be as good." But with Friday's suspension it has left the field wide open for a new Tour hero, and I'll be here to tell you about him.

This year's Prologue was a very short 5 mile individual time trial. Because of the ultra short distance, the prologue was basically open for any rider to win, especially the sprinters. As a quick recap, the sprinters are the riders who enter the Tour to win the Green (sprint) Jersey and do not stand a chance of winning the Tour overall aka the General Category (GC). But more on that in another post.

In fact, this year's prologue did go to a sprinter. The big Norwegian for team Credit Agricole (C.A.), Thor Hushovd. He finished the sprint in a blazing 8 minutes 17 seconds! And just .023 seconds behind him, my favorite, Big George Hincapie from Team Discovery.

For a little prologue drama, another Tour favorite American Floyd Landis from Phonak was late for his start time. In time trials, the riders are evenly spaced throughout the course by their mandatory start time. As the digital beep for Floyd's clock started its countdown, Floyd was no where in site. But an excruciatingly long 6 seconds later, Floyd was in the gate and starting his time trial. He finished in 9th place, 9 seconds out of first place which is an unfortunate start considering he has a real chance to win the Tour overall.

And finally Dave Zabriskie, the winner of last year's prologue, finished in 3rd place only 4 seconds behind Hushovd.

It was a quick race and even quicker recap but there will be plenty more to come as Stage 1 was just as exciting.

Tour 2006 Preview

Can you believe it??? The two favorites to win the 2006 Tour de France are out of the race. Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso haven't been proven guilty yet but were named on a list of riders released by Spanish authorities late Thursday that were alleged to have contact with Eufemiano Fuentes, the Spanish doctor at the center of a suspected blood doping ring.

A total of 9 riders have been dismissed, not by the Tour de France organization, but by the individual Team Directors. In my opinion, the Team Director's decision to let their best rider go is a Tour death sentence for the team. These guys must be dam near positively guilty and unfortunately for them, close does count in hand grenades, horse shoes and the Tour de France!

FYI...a good article on Blood Doping http://www.slate.com/id/2107096/

So where's the silver lining? The Tour is once again wide open for an American rider to be standing on the podium at the finish; George Hincapie (Discovery and MY PICK), Floyd Landis (Phonak), Dave Zabriskie or Bobby Julich (CSC) and Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner). The action starts today and I can't wait. Let's beat the French at their own game once again!