Vive le Tour

Now what will I watch in the morning - NEWS?? I swear I woke up this morning and couldn't think of a single reason to turn on the TV, or to get out of bed, for that matter. No calming voice of Paul Sherwen, no exciting stage finale commentary by Phil Liggett. No attempting-to-be-poetic-like-Al-Trautwig by Craig Hummer, no "ask Bobke". No gorgeous, dizzying views of chateaus and winding mountainous roads from the helicopter, no crappy broken-up video shot from a motorcycle. No annoying, repetitive commercials for motels, rum or male enhancement products.

Ah, the Tour. It's over until 2009. It always makes me feel so elated yet melancholy, like watching the Closing Ceremonies after the Olympic Games. But Beijing is only a few days away! That makes me realize that there is something to look forward to. It gives me hope.

Anyway, I was happy for Carlos Sastre, and I am proud of how the U.S. cyclists finished in the Tour this year - Christian Vande Velde in 5th (if only he hadn't crashed!), George Hincapie, Danny Pate, & Will Frischkorn. Next year will be even better when Astana is back, with Levii Leipheimer & Chris Horner (hopef.ully!) It was exciting to see the 4 stage wins by Mark Cavendish, though some of my favorite sprinters were missing (Paolo Bettini & Tom Boonen). This year the Tour was completely unpredictable from one stage to the next, but in the end, CSC-Saxo Bank epitomized how a team should ride in the Tour, and somewhat reminded me of the Discovery Channel years. They were unstoppable. Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle made very impressive debuts in their first appearance at the Tour as well.

As much as I would have liked to see Cadel Evans win after his close 2nd place finish last year, his legs just didn't seem to have the snap that they had early in the Tour this year. He wasn't quite the same after his crash, and his TT performance wasn't his best. I felt badly for him, especially since he was so emotional when he got to wear the yellow jersey. But it was still progress, and I don't think it's completely beyond the realm of possibility to see him on top of the podium. For now though, my favorites are headed to Beijing! Allez!~