The Cycliste Moderne, July 30, 2006

This week has been an incredible downer. If you did not hear, Floyd Landis’ drug test after his incredible ride into Morzine on Stage 17 of the Tour de France came back with an abnormal result for testosterone.

Landis’ test did not show an impermissibly high level of testosterone, rather it produced a result showing a discrepancy in the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. That ratio is outside of the permissible parameters, not the level of testosterone in Landis’ system.

It is a shame that this cloud has emerged at this time. Landis has acknowledged that there is not a single positive outcome from these circumstances. His victory will always be overshadowed even if he is able to prove he did not take any performance enhancing substance that caused this anomalous result. With all the doping crises in cycling, people are no longer willing to give the benefit of the doubt to riders who have positive tests.

With respect to the testosterone/epitestosterone ratio, there are many professional cyclists who have proven they have naturally high testosterone levels or naturally occurring ratios that are outside of the normal parameters. It is very likely that Landis will be able to prove that his test was the product of a natural occurrence. That does not mean that he will be believed.

It has been interesting to see how this matter has played out in the press. The cycling press has been full of rider and organizer reactions. Some of it positive, much of it negative. It is to be expected from a sport that has been almost under siege when it comes to allegations of doping. Some of the most informative, analytical and thoughtful commentary has actually come from some of the more mainstream sporting press. Check out this piece by Bonnie DeSimone at ESPN.com and Austin Murphy on at CNNSi.com

Cycling has done a lot to clean its sport up. It is aggressive and quick moving in stamping out doping, yet the ones who suffer are the athletes. Everyone believes they cheat, while turning a blind eye to the doping cesspool that exists in such other high profile Euro centric sports like track and field and soccer. It is disappointing, but it does not mean that I am not going to continue to watch and enjoy cycling.

Track Positive Gets Little Attention

What has been amazing, however, is the lack of attention that other doping stories have received. Current world record holder in the 100 meters and Olympic gold medalist, Justin Gatlin, has acknowledged that he failed a drug test for “testosterone or its precursors” which in dope speak means his testosterone level was elevated and could be the result of steroids. You have to ask, however, why it is that Gatlin’s test occurred in April and we are just now finding out about it. In cycling, positive tests have become almost instantaneous. Typically in cycling the results of the A sample are known within a week or two. With the ProTour’s code of ethics that all of the top level teams subscribe to, a rider with a positive result will be removed from competition immediately. Since failing that test, Gatlin has tied the world record and has raced numerous times. Gatlin is facing a life time ban as this would be a second offense, the first having been for amphetamines in 2001. Additionally, Gatlin has been trained by Trevor Graham, the coach of now banned sprinter Tim Montgomery. Graham has had numerous clients serve drug bans over the years. In cycling, such coaches and trainers are drummed out of the sport. Amazingly, a quick Google search turns up in excess of 2 million pages referencing Floyd Landis and drugs while less than one hundred thousand turn up for Justin Gatlin and drugs.

Sorry, Move Along, There Is Nothing To Look At Here

In a story getting no coverage outside some of the cycling press, the five members of the Astana Wurth team implicated in the Operacion Puerto scandal prior to the Tour de France, which caused the withdrawl of the team from the Tour, thus ending Alexandre Vinokourov’s hope of winning the Tour, have been cleared of involvement with the doctors at question. So even though the team’s management was implicated in doping with the arrest of former manager Manolo Saiz, none of the riders named in the Operacion Puerto investigation are now subject to investigation and are free to ride.

The European inquisitorial system of the law leaves a lot to be desired to the Anglo American notions of a presumption of innocence before being proven guilty.

The Cycliste Moderne, July 23, 2006

Tour Recap

The Tour de France has concluded probably the most memorable race since Greg Lemond's 1989 victory over Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. No team was dominant. No rider looked infallible. It was mano a mano from day one.

To start the Tour with the shadow of Operacion Puerto over the race, you had to wonder how exciting the race would be. The loss of the first five riders from last year due to Armstrong's retirement, the suspension of Basso, Ullrich and Mancebo and the withdrawal of Vinokourov's team cost the race its biggest names. Valverde's crash during the first week robbed the race of another of the emerging talents in the sport. The Tour overcame those difficulties to provide more excitement and entertainment than we have seen in some time.

The American cycling press and mainstream press was too focused, however, on the effect that Armstrong's retirement would have on the sport. The pre Tour hype surrounding Hincapie, Leipheimer and Julich was too much. I unfortunately bought into it to thinking that Hincapie could finish in the top 10 at the Tour. I thought the Leipheimer's win at the Dauphine Libere marked him as a potential podium finisher. I thought Julich would have on last chance to ride for himself with Basso's suspension. In reality, Hincapie has not had enough experience as a GC leader to be a threat, Leipheimer continues to be snakebit and it has been eight years since Julich finished on the podium in a Tour depleted of its top riders due to the Festina scandal.

Clearly, Landis was a threat as he had won three significant stage races already this year by showing the mix of time trialing and climbing that top GC riders needed. Landis was in reality the only American threat for the podium.

Team Phonak was not particularly strong, although it was more focused than it has been in recent years due to the fact that it had a designated leader in Landis. We all have been spoiled by years of the Blue Train dropping Armstrong off about 5km from the summit of the final climb where he then put enough time into his rivals to be able to win convincingly. Most people forget that Armstrong's wins in 1999 and 2000 were with teams that were not as strong, skilled or focused as his teams over the last five wins. Armstrong won his first Tour on the Stage 2 trip over the Passage du Gois when eventual runner up Alex Zulle lost six minutes after getting caught behind the crash that ended the Tour for Armstrong's Postal teammate Jonathan Vaughters. He then reaffirmed his individual strength on the slopes up to Sestriere. He did that without the Blue Train.

Team Phonak was strong enough to get the job done. No additional teammates could have prevented Landis' collapse to La Toussuire. On the ride to Morzine, Landis proved his individual capacity after his team attacked the first climb like Armstrong's Blue Train used to attack the final climb to blow the race apart. Next year, Phonak becomes iShares. It is not clear if Landis will return to iShares or if he will even be able to race once he has his hip replaced. If the team does get him back and if the team does want to win the Tour again, then they absolutely need to invest in some climbing assistance for their leader. I do not see the reformation of the Postal/Discovery Blue Train but as this Tour showed, you need riders who can stay with the team leader. T-Mobile had 3-4 riders who could make it to the final climb as did Rabobank, Caisse d'Epargne and Team CSC. Any team with GC aspirations needs 2-3 climbers and 2-3 strong domestiques who can ride all day keeping their leader out of trouble.

Ekimov Retires

One of the highlights of the Tour's final stage had to be Phonak letting Discovery Channel's Viatscheslav Ekimov ride alone on to the Champs-Elysées the first time the riders rode onto the finishing circuit. Ekimov was one of the most important components of Armstrong's legacy. As younger riders, they had been strong competitors. I remember watching Armstrong and Ekimov battle it out during several editions of the Tour du Pont with Armstrong riding for Motorola and Ekimov riding for Word Perfect and Novell.

Ekimov had retired once before but managed to stay retired for less than six months coming out of retirement to rejoin Postal in time to help Armstrong to victory. Ekimov is retiring this time for good at 40 having come back from a horrific injury last year. He was anOlympicc medalist on the track and the road and is one of the last riders who came up through the old Soviet sports system. He was one of the strongest and most tactically skilled riders in the peleton. People make a lot out of the fact that George Hincapie was on Armstrong's team for all seven victories. Hincapie was a very important part of Armstrong's legacy, however, Ekimov was probably the rider that contributed the most to Armstrong's overall success. Ekimov will serve as a director sportif for Discovery next season. With Bruyneel and Ekimov guiding the team, any failure of the team to win will be due to a lack of skilled riders, not poor tactical guidance from team management.

The Cycliste Moderne, July 20, 2006

WOW!

I do not know what more you could say about the last three days at the Tour de France. I have never seen three more exciting and compelling days of racing than we saw in the Alps. The story lines are amazing and it is not just Floyd Landis either. Consider the following:

1. We have two French riders in the top 10 from the same team during the final week of the Tour. AG2R has got to be thrilled with its performance after the exclusion of Mancebo at the beginning of the Tour for his implication in Operacion Puerto. Moreau has always been a top ten threat but to have Desell there as well is incredible.

2. Everyone has had bad days and good days. In the past you could always expect the leader of the Tour to have an off day and look somewhat human. This year every single one of the top 20 riders in the GC have had some really bad performances and some really good performances. I think that evidences the fact that the race is fairly clean.

3. T-Mobile has overcome the adversity of seeing Ullrich and Sevilla tossed from the Tour. They have consistently been the strongest group of riders in the peleton, but they lack that one rider who can stamp some authority on the race. Had Ullrich been in the race, you would have to think that we would have seen a repeat of the five Indurain victories, the two T-Mobile victories and the seven Armstrong victories. Unfortunately, for them they are not likely to put a man on the podium for the first time in ages.

4. Looking back at the Tours from 1991 to the present, with the exception of Pantani's victory during 1998 and the Festina scandal, the winning formula of Indurain, T-Mobile and Armstrong was to have a strong leader who was the best time trialist in the peleton who could also climb among the top 5-10 riders in the race. Get the lead after the first time trial and then defend, defend, defend with a strong team which has no personal ambition. This is the first Tour in a generation where we have seen the yellow jersey move from rider to rider to rider with no team either willing or able to defend it for more than a few days.

5. In 2000, Marco Pantani made a suicidal attack on almost an identical stage, at almost the identical point that Landis did today. Pantani's attack was driven by his animosity for Lance Armstrong over the famed "gift" on Mt. Ventoux. Armstrong's team nearly destroyed themselves chasing him back. They did, Pantani abandoned, and Armstrong bonked on the Joux-Plane losing nearly two minutes by the end of the stage. Landis just went out and did his thing. Not because he was angry, but to just show he could.

6. Floyd Landis is a manly man. His disastrous finish on Wednesday would have finished off many riders, including many of the "leaders" of the top teams. He blew up in a spectacular fashion, in a humiliating fashion. He did not make any excuses, he did not place any blame, he did not pack it in. He showed up the next day to do his job. That is a role model. Interestingly, Landis told Austin Murphy of CNN/SportsIllustrated that when it became apparent that he was going to put his team on the front of the race on the first climb and launch an attack on the first of the five mountains climbed today other riders encouraged him not to do stupid he told them exactly what he was going to do "Go drink some Coke, 'cause we're leaving on the first climb if you want to come along."

Today's ride is something we have not seen in almost twenty years. Maybe it is something we have never seen before. Floyd Landis joined the ranks of such Tour heros as Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault. Men who could go out and put themselves in the lead of the race by daring everyone else to follow their lead. The teams today really did not think Landis could do it expecting a spectacular flame out like Pantani in 2000. They did not chase and they lost the Tour de France as a result. Floyd did not play poker today. He told them exactly what he had and what he intended to do, and he did it.

He probably will not go on to win five Tours like Merckx and Hinault and probably will not win a world championship or any of the Spring Classics. Landis is not the second coming of the "Cannibal" or the "Badger." His impending hip replacement surgery could be a serious threat to his career. However, Landis will probably win this Tour de France and he will win it by being the most focused and the mentally toughest guy in the race.

The Cycliste Moderne, July 16, 2006

I have been too busy with work to really be as engaged in the Tour this year as in years past. I do not want OLN to think that I have not been tuning in because Armstrong is out, however, with the elimination of Basso, Ullrich, Vinokourov prior to the start of the Tour, and then the crashes that have claimed Valverde, Julich and others, and the poor performances of Hincapie and Leipheimer I am sure that the folks at OLN have been sweating the ratings as well.

It has been an exciting Tour, however. No single team has stamped its authority on the Tour, with the yellow jersey having been so far worn by Credit Agricole’s Hushovd of Norway, T-Mobile’s Gonchar of Ukraine, Quick.Step’ Boonen of Belgium, AG2R’s Dessel of France, Caisse d’Epargne’s Pereiro of Spain, and Discovery’s Hincapie and Phonak’s Landis of the United States all spending time in the jersey.

The stage wins have been passed around the teams and countries as well with German, Spanish, Australian, French and Ukrainian riders all winning stages to date. Credit Agricole, Davitamon-Lotto, T-Mobile, CSC, Agritubel, AG2R, Bouygues Telecom, Cofidis, Rabobank have all won stages to date. In fact the French have one three stages already and five out of six French teams have either won stages or have held the yellow jersey. Moreover, Quick.Step, Phonak, Gerolsteiner and Saunier Duval have yet to win a stage but all have riders who have not won stages but have lead one of the jersey competitions at some point in the race.

With the exception of Euskaltel-Euskadi, Francaise de Jeux, Milram and Liqugas, every team seems to have had their moments in the sun.

With the constant attrition that every team has suffered due to doping or injury, it is a wide open race as no one shows the ability to or desire to control the race as has been the case for most of the past fifteen editions of the race. Additionally, riders are having bad days and then good days which mean that it is always a different group who may be contending on any given day.

During OLN’s coverage the other night Phil Liggett opined that this may be the cleanest Tour in years as evidenced by its unpredictability and the apparent fatigue that has set in among the riders. Today’s stage evidence that fatigue as the leading breakaway of six riders hit a patch of gravel and slick asphalt outside of the finishing town of Gap putting half of the break over or into the roadside barricade and sending two riders to the hospital. Certainly the hot conditions contributed to the crash, much like Joseba Beloki’s crash a few years ago as the Tour raced into Gap. However, after watching the replay several times, it just seemed like people were not paying attention as neither the descent nor turn were that severe.

Does that mean that I think everyone in the past doped? No, but I think there is probably much less “preparation” going on than in past seasons. This year’s Tour will likely not be decided until the time trial on Saturday as I am not convinced that either Landis of Phonak of Evans of Davitamon-Lotto, have the team strength to go out and seize the Tour lead on Tuesday on L’Alpe D’Huez and then just defend through the Alps.

The Cycliste Moderne, July 9, 2006

Well with the end of the World Cup, I have to hand it to Italy. It is a deserving champion and has played as a true team. Its defense has been solid throughout the World Cup and it has never looked rattled. Italy did not play particularly well during the second half and overtime on Sunday but the shocking actions of France's captain Zinedine Zidane in the overtime period cemented the equity and justice of the Italian victory in penalty kicks.

Zidane had almost single handedly gotten France to the World Cup after he left international retirement to play for the team during the closing stages of qualification. The French emerged from the first round of games without Zidane having shown anything that would cause anyone to not believe that the 3 time world player of the year was indeed past his prime. However, in the knockout stages, Zidane put the country on his back and almost single handedly dragged them to their second World Cup. He had announced prior to the tournament that he would not only retire from international football but also from his club Real Madrid. For nearly two hours Zidane put in an effort that would end his career with the type of glorious memories that are reserved for the likes of Pele, Beckenbauer, and Platini.

Then Zidane completely lost it. So far behind the play that the main television feed did not capture the image, Zidane turned and lunged head first into Italian defender Marco Materazzi as the two exchanged words heading back up the pitch. It was several seconds before the referee stopped the match and the cameras returned to Marco Materazzi lying on the pitch. Only then did the graphic nature of what Zidane doen become apparent. In one minute he went from beloved elder statesman to crazed psycopath. Neither the referee nor the assistant referee saw the act but the fourth official on the side line did and after several minutes, Zidane was shown a red card and sent off the field. What a way to end your career. And it begs the question, will the French press go easy on him or will they hound him like they hound others they perceive to be cheats?

Time Trial Recap

On Friday you would have thought that after the Stage 7 individual time trial on Saturday America would have been asking “Lance who?” The national press services picked up articles about the next crop of American cyclists.

Non cycling outlets were all over the impending conquest of European cycling. The Associated Press ran a story about Levi Leipheimer emerging in light of him being the highest placed returning rider from last year, having finished 6th. Reuters ran an article picked up by ESPN.com among others about George Hincapie’s impending ascendancy as the captain of Discovery and leader of the Tour. Bobby Julich was reported to now be able to ride for himself in light of the doping scandal at this year’s Tour de France. Even the cycling press like Velonews.com was breathlessly awaiting another 1-2-3-4 sweep of the time trial by Americans like happened at the Dauphine Libere.

The result was not what everyone had anticipated. Levi Leipheimer had the worst time trial of his life finishing 96th on the stage and losing more than six minutes to the leader and stage winner T-Mobile’s Serguei Gonchar. George Hincapie was only the third best rider on the day for Discovery Channel finishing 24th on the stage. Bobby Julich had the misfortune of crashing hard and ending up in the hospital with a sever injury to his hand. Even Team CSC’s Dave Zabriskie lost almost two minutes on the stage and finished outside of the top ten.

Leipheimer was not the only projected contender to have a disaster of a race. Liquigas’ Steffano Garzelli who was looking to the Tour to redeem a poor spring lost more than five minutes Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Iban Mayo who looked to be returning to the form he had a couple of seasons ago and a real threat in the mountains lost five and a half minutes. Lampre’s Damiano Cunego who is a past Giro winner also lost more than six minutes on the stage.

Floyd Landis, however, showed that his results in time trials this season have not been a fluke and finished second on the stage just over a minute behind Gonchar.

The T-Mobile team, significantly injured by the ejection of Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla at the start of the Tour placed four riders in the top 8 on the stage an now occupy 4 of the top 6 spots on GC. T-Mobile has already had a Tour to be proud of with two stage wins and the yellow jersey. They will likely attempt to defend the jersey through the Pyrenees due to the strong showing they have among the leaders. Strategically that will benefit Floyd Landis’ Phonak team as they will be able to defer to T-Mobile in defending the lead.

Landis has to be the favorite at this point. He put in a strong ride on a day when many contenders saw their races probably lost. Landis is a better climber than any of the remaining T-Mobile riders however, and Gonchar cannot climb, so even though Gonchar will likely be the favorite for another strong performance in the final individual time trial, he will not be a threat to the overall.

All in all, Lotto Davitamon’s Cadel Evans had a good day and is well positioned heading to the mountains. T-Mobile’s Michael Rogers and Andreas Kloeden are both strong climbers but not as strong as Evans and Landis. Denis Menchov of Rabobank and Vladimir Karpets of Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears are well positioned also heading into the mountains.

However, I think the Tour will be much more competitive and unpredictable this year due to the withdrawals, injuries and poor form of many expected to contend. It very well may be a race of attrition or a race where a few riders have some really good days and some really bad days with no one being like Armstrong and steady everyday but one.

We all have been spoiled by sixteen years of racing where, with the exception of 1998, the model has been to be the best time trialist in the field, and then defend in the mountains only attacking when time can be gained. This year it is likely to be a knife fight.

ProTour Fight Continues

The ongoing knife fight between the organizers of the Grand Tours and the UCI took another twist over the weekend with the ASO, organizer of the Tour as well as Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, announced that they would never join the ProTour, nor would Unipublic in Spain or RCS in Italy and that the ProTour was essentially dead to them.

The UCI responded by pointing out that the riders excluded from the Tour as a result of Operacion Puerto were only excluded because of the ProTour’s ethical code and that the UCI as the governing body controls the calendar.

Girls, girls, girls. You are in the midst of a crisis that threatens the very soul of the sport and you cannot even come to an agreement about who gets invited to what. Quit acting like a bunch of 8th grade princesses deciding who gets to come to your party.

Landis Health Disclosure

The rest day Monday will include a major announcement as Velonews.com is reporting that Floyd Landis will have a press conference where he will confirm a report by the New York Times that he will undergo hip replacement surgery after the Tour.

Landis has developed osteonecrosis in his right hip that was caused by a crash a couple of years ago. As a result, the hip joint has deteriorated. Landis is reported to have had surgery to correct the problem which resulted in a leg length discrepancy of one inch. It has also been reported that Landis has been given dispensation by the UCI to receive cortisone injections to alleviate inflammation and pain.

The French are going to have field day with this one if Landis wins. Just like they did not believe Armstrong, they certainly are not going to believe that a one legged Mennonite rocker dude could stick it to their countrymen like Landis has without being on drugs.

I have heard criticisms of Landis based upon his laid back demeanor. Generally the criticism is that he lacks the killer instinct of a champion and that he does not have enough ambition to be great. I think he is a guy who loves to ride his bike and knows what is important in life.

The Cycliste Moderne, July 4, 2006

Before we get to the cycling stuff, it is important to keep things in perspective. Portugal is just two wins away from being World Cup Champions. Most importantly, the get Deco back for the match against France. Regardless of the outcome of Wednesday's match I guarantee there will be riots somewhere in Europe.

Doping Update

I wrote last week’s preview just as the full impact of Operacion Puerto was emerging. I can say that I am shocked and saddened by the result of that investigation. I don’t want to say everybody dopes, but it sure looks like everybody dopes. The most surprising information coming out of Spain is that the doctors at the center of the investigation had made upwards of $10 Million from helping athletes dope over the last 3-4 years. It also looks like systematic team wide doping was occurring at some of the Spanish teams.

The unfortunate victims are the riders not implicated in the scandal. Alexander Vinokourov lost his chance to race and potentially win the Tour with the dismissal of five of his teammates. With the removal of Ullrich, Basso and Mancebo before the race started, Vinokourov would have been the highest placed finisher from last year’s race. Meanwhile, sponsors like Wurth and Communidad Valenicana have pulled their sponsorship from the Spanish teams they supported.

Additionally, WADA chief Dick Pound is proclaiming that if he had a child he would not let them compete in cycling since you can only win if you are drugged. Pat McQuaid, the UCI leader, has already announced that Tyler Hamilton will be getting a life time ban and Basso and Ullrich will be getting four year bans if Operacion Puerto results in findings of doping. Tyler Hamilton’s attorney is already holding press conferences on the lack of due process afforded his client and pointing out that the information coming out now deals with the period of time for which Hamilton is currently serving a suspension.

FIFA gleefully announced, today, however that contrary to prior reports, no soccer players showed up in the Operacion Puerto dossier. However, two time French Open winner Rafael Nadal has already announced he will seek legal action against the newspapers that have implicated him in the doping scandal. I believe that Nadal probably does not dope since he only manages to win consistently on the slowest tennis surfaces and is generally incapable of matching the big serving speed players on hard and grass courts.

Tour Update

Anyway, the opening stages of the Tour have produced the carnage that is typically expected over the opening stages favoring the sprinters.

The Prologue

Thor Hushovd of Credit Agricole became the first Norwegian cyclist ever to wear the maillot jaune. Having won the green points jersey last year, Hushovd’s time trialing ability is frequently forgotten. He is however a past under 23 world champion in the time trial. With an opening week of stages favoring the sprinters, Hushovd’s performance was obviously designed to get the yellow jersey and give him and his team the opportunity to defend it. George Hincapie and Dave Zabriskie put in stellar performances in the opening time trial to finish second and third, with Hincapie missing out on yellow by just .73 seconds. The biggest surprise was Floyd Landis’ late arrival at the start house due to a last second tire change. Landis would have certainly been in the top three but for that lost time.

Stage 1

Stage 1 marked the first Tour victory for Cofidis’ sprinter Jimmy Casper. The French managed to get the “when are they going to win a stage” monkey of their backs early this year. No doubt that the French press is noting that the early victory is because the Italians, Germans and Spanish dopers got sent home. Anyway, the carnage of the sprint finish of Stage 1 is best exemplified by this photo of Hushovd.

Both Hushovd and Tom Boonen were struck by objects held out into the course by fans. As a result, neither were in a position to really contest the sprint and Hushovd ended up in the hospital getting stitches to close the gash in his arm that was reported to have been caused by green jersey sponsor PMU’s green promotional cardboard hands. As a result of that, PMU and the Tour have announced that PMU’s hands would not be distributed within the last 2km of a stage. Hushovd finished the stage, however, he finished in 9th and lost the yellow jersey to George Hincapie who managed to steal two seconds in the final intermediate sprint of the day to take the lead and wear the yellow jersey.

Liquigas’ superstar Danilo Di Luca abandoned the race after the stage due to an ongoing illness. He was looking to have a strong Tour after a less than impressive Giro.

Stage 2

Robbie McEwen won the stage in Luxembourg, but most impressively, a bandaged and sore Hushovd managed to take third on the stage to reclaim the yellow jersey. Even more impressive was the fact that Hushovd pulled out of his pedal with 25m to go and still managed to have enough speed and power to pedal through with one leg to get the time bonus associated with third place. Although T-Mobile’s Matthias Kessler put in a late attack and almost stayed away, he was caught in the final 200 meters as it was a day for the sprinters. Of course, the requisite mid-pack crash in the closing kilometers capped the day and split up the peleton.

Stage 3

Stage 3 from Luxembourg, through Belgium and finishing in Valkenberg, Netherlands. The finish came 2km after the climb up the Cauberg where the Amstel Gold Race finishes. Although the finish was flat and straight, that last climb up the Cauberg was expected to break things up. T-Mobile’s Matthias Kessler again attacked late, this time halfway up the Cauberg and managed to hold on for the win.

The climb did shake up the overall as Hushovd was unable to stay in contact with the leaders and eve though Tom Boonen only managed a fourth place finish, Boonen pulled on the yellow jersey for tomorrow’s start in Huy, Belgium due to Hushovd’s group being unable to reconnect to the main chase group before the finish. Boonen is huge in Belgium and it really means a lot for a Belgian to be in yellow when the race goes through Belgium. On the podium to congratulate Boonen was former world champion Freddy Maertens who Mrs. Cycliste Moderne and I had the pleasure of meeting last November at the Belgian National Cycling Museum when Mrs. Cycliste Moderne walked into the museum and asked him where she could get some lunch and then as we walked out said to me "isn't he that one guy?"

This was a stage that I thought a rider like Spaniard Alejandro Valverde could win with a late attack in the hills of the Limburg region of the Netherlands. Valverde can sprint and climb. He has improved his time trialing ability and with the dismissals of Basso, Ullrich, Mancebo and the withdrawal of Vinokourov, Valverde would have been on my revised podium. Than ended, today, about 20km from the finish when he crashed and broke a collar bone. It always seems like the first week results in the elimination of a certain top 10 finisher due to a stupid mid-pack crash.

Additionally, Rabobank’s Erik Dekker and Davitamon Lotto’s Fred Rodriguez crashed about 50km from the end of the stage with both of them ending up with a trip to the hospital as well, Rodrigeuz with a broken collar bone as well and Dekker with a concusion. Both riders were important to supporting their team sprinters and for possible stage victories. The peleton just keeps shrinking.