The Tour de France begins Saturday

I admit to getting a little rush of adrenaline when I hear Liggett and the cyclism theme song.

Cycling is very much an aquired taste. I don't fault anyone for not being excited for a bike race or for thinking the sport is boring or dirty. But as a once a year thing, the TdF is pretty dang cool.

I'm going to go watch/preride the 2009 TdF if all goes according to plan.

 

I find myself watching certain events even though I don't normally follow the sport like several sports during the Olympics, America's Cup yachting, Tour de France cycling and Stanley Cup hockey.

In 2009, the route will go back to L'Alpe d'Huez, right? Good luck with that. I'll expect daily trip reports.

 

My boss will expect the reports, too.

Think my wife will mind me going over there without her?

 

I don't think "Baby, it's a work trip not a vacation" will work on this one.

 

But who will watch the kids for four weeks while I'm in France?

Actually, there is a group I ride with occasionally that is targeting 2009 as a big vacation trip to ride along with the tour. They allow all us Yankees to preride each stage -- usually just the first or last 50 miles or so of the really long stages -- before the actual peloton rides. If I go, I'll make sure to take some white paint and give SportsJournalists.com a big shout out on the road.

 

I love watching the race just to see the countryside. That the race starts in London will be a treat. But won't it create a traffic snarl on the Orbital?

 

This year can only be better than last year, when all those big names got purged from the start list. And then, after Landis won, that whole fallout. It wont be the kind of big-name slugfest it has for the better part of the last 10 years, but there will certainly be good action - sprints, climbs, TTs. It'll probably be a different name each day making news, until the final handful of stages, and definitely worth watching at that point.
Even for cycling fans, the first few stages before the Alps are dull unless some accident or issue occurs - there's no much GC effect, sprinters reel in breaks, they bunch sprint to the line, and someone - McEwen, Hushovd, Boonen - raises his arms in victory.

 

This should be a 10-inch story every day with a small blurb notched in about the next stage, then run results on the agate page. If an American is close to the lead in the last week, then maybe give it 15 inches. Maybe. If they all get busted for blood doping, 35-inch centerpiece. I think that about covers it. This thing would be in briefs style if it happened during football season.

 

If Mike Lupica is to be believed, this event is dead.
Probably nobody along the course, right?

 

same

but, god, what a fraud sport

200 guys ride together at a comfortable pace for 120 miles, then they all sprint the last 100 yards to see who wins

unless somebody tries a "breakaway," which never works but is sure to get the announcers screaming like madmen, although nobody has a clue who or what they're talking about

 

Yeah, WTD, Liggett and Sherwen have no clue what they're talking about. They've probably never even seen a bicycle race before Armstrong came along.

 

30 mph for 100 miles is a comfortable pace -- teeheehee.