Where am I now?

As you can see, this blog hasn't gotten any love in many years... But you can now find me on my site jessicatravels.com.

08 July 2005

Aw man, not again...

My least favorite rider won again today, dammit. My consolation is that the road tips upward tomorrow, and he can't climb to save his life. He'll be out of the limelight for a bit now, and that's just fine by me.

There were a couple little crashes today (one rather large one that took down green jersey wearer Tom Boonen, who sported a big gash on his hip at the stage's end and was complaining of a "broken back"), but Lance managed to stay out of them. He has such an amazing team around him - if you haven't figured it out by now, cycling is a team sport and anyone who says otherwise isn't paying attention. Sure, there's only one guy standing on top of the podium at the end, but it's a rare fellow who can get up there without a good team. Lance acknowledges his team's efforts each year by divvying up his winnings among the other guys on the squad. He's famous for his loyalty, and it's no wonder his teammates work so hard for him.

Anyhoo... We're looking forward to the mountains, where the big guns will either have to show their stuff or be content with a race for second place.

UPDATE: There are a few more pictures available online now from today's stage, including some I find interesting...

This is a shot of Lance after one of the feed zones. There are designated areas along the course where people who work for the different teams line up with cloth bags (like the ones in the picture) full of food and drinks. The riders grab the bags without stopping, sling them over their shoulders, unpack the goodies into their pockets, and fling the empty bags off to the side of the road. Man, I'd love to scoop up a few of those...

The second crash of the day (at least of the ones I saw) was in the middle of the sprint finish. It was lucky that only two guys went down, considering how fast the guys behind them were going.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is he your least favorite rider?

Jessica said...

Mainly because he's overly cocky AND a jackass. That stunt he pulled with O'Grady (for which he got relegated) was ridiculous - and then for him to claim that O'Grady started it? Come ON. It's not like there were thousands of cameras trained on him, or anything... There's the competitive spirit, to be sure, but he's gone so far overboard it's no longer tolerable (for me, anyway).