This should be an interesting Tour. I think as the sport becomes less supercharged, the racing should be way more interesting. The riders themselves will need more rest days during the race itself, thus allowing the long breaks to succeed at a much higher percentage.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that a RadioShack Team rider is going to win the race. Contador is obviously the safe pick, but that is no fun.
How about the local Midwest type riders wins a Elite Nationals last week, with Dave Wenger winning the Criterium Nationals and Jonathan Jacobs winning the Time Trial. It’s great to have the guys that we race thru out the season show case their abilities on such a national level. Congratulations guys.
Here’s a good interview with Danny Pate, who is riding the Tour for HTC. I applaud his thoughts on sticter bans for doping. Danny and I go way back to when he was a up and coming junior. Then later, we used to duke it out for the Iron Otter Award (Best Overall times riding both the MTB and Road stage races) at The Sea Otter Classic. When he came back for Sea Otter one year, when he was riding professional in Europe, I asked him why he is bothering racing MTB’s still. He said, “To be like you Steve.” That guy cracks me up.
The Tour of Lawrence starts tonight with street sprints in downtown Lawrence tonight. Tomorrow is a super hard circuit race and then a criterium on Sunday evening. I’m pretty iffy, but you never know. It’s a bike race and it’s not over until it’s over.
Okay, I need to glue some tires on and do the normal pre-race stuff. It is funny how you wake up with race mentality on a race day, even though I have no illusions of riding more than 200 meters this evening. Once.
Steve–what do you mean by the Tour will be less “Super Charged?”
Julie-I assuming and hopeful that there is going to be less drugs involved in the race this year than many of the previous editions.
You’ll see better bike racing if that is the case.
I was thinking about this the other day. In theory, if all the riders are doping, then wouldn’t that even the playing field in one respect…creating a “stock car” racing situation? So, then wouldn’t the racing be pretty tactical if everyone’s engine is the same? But, in a situation, like presumably present day, when a small(?) percentage are doping, they could run away from the rest making it rather unexciting. Agreed that without doping, more chance for off days and that would make things less certain and more fun to watch. In my opinion, it seems like race radios may be more a damper on exciting racing then doping.
It will – hopefully – be a more wide open tour. I miss the tours of the early and mid 80’s when guys would take yellow after a monster break, only to be wrecked for the next day, and lose five minutes and the jersey… Then come back and snatch the jersey a few days later. Tours are pretty anti-climatic these days.
Yes, I totally agree! Levi and Chris Horner are on form and definitely can challenge for the top step
For the first time I don’t have any expectations.
Thanks, Steve.