Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Anyone who knows me knows I am a cycling nut. But i must admit that I've only become a cycling fan fairly late in the game. For a long time I was more than content to do my own thing and let the European pros do theirs, in Europe. But in the last few years I have come around. I now have the requisite Velonews subscription, I got satellite TV so that I could get the Outdoor Life Network and its cycling coverage, and have been eagerly awaiting this year's Tour de France for months. And it is here, in its full glory and terror. Of the 189 starters, more than 100 have been in crashes in the first week; the big guns -- Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich, Levi Leipheimer and my personal hero Tyler Hamilton -- are within seconds of each other and clearly all have their heads in the game. And three of the top contenders are American!
Things get crazy starting really soon, as soon as the road starts pointing straight up in the Massif Central on Wednesday.
In the meantime, check out Le Tour Delicieux for a blog by one of the few women who seems to truly appreciate skinny guys in spandex. It's a totally different take on the tour, for sure, but very well-informed.
Things get crazy starting really soon, as soon as the road starts pointing straight up in the Massif Central on Wednesday.
In the meantime, check out Le Tour Delicieux for a blog by one of the few women who seems to truly appreciate skinny guys in spandex. It's a totally different take on the tour, for sure, but very well-informed.
