It's the Tour De Friggin' France!
I know the world doesn't give a toss about pro cycling. But, you can't kill a blog for trying...
This year's tour has a lot of interesting story lines. One of the favorites, Alexandre Vinokourov (Vino), was dicked out of competing last year because half of his team tested positive for performance enhancing substances. Because a team has a minimum number of riders with which it must start the race, Vino was sent packing despite being in top form. For this reason alone I'm pulling for him. After this scandal many of the team sponsors checked out and Vino used his resourcefulness to lobby for more sponsorship. The government of Khazakstan partly sponsors his team (Astana). That's somewhat strange for a sport that is largely dominated by western Europeans. Aslo, his team has drawn the attention of Borat, who as we know, hails from Khazakstan. We won't mention his sister.
This year, my heart lies with the American Levi Leipheimer. Part of me is pulling for him because he's a "home town" boy in a European sport. But, he's unlike the last two American champions (Lance and Floyd) because; a) he's largely underrated and b) he's relatively modest. I think because he lacks flash, no one has ever really given him a chance to win. This year, his team (American based Discovery Channel) signed him but with the intention of supporting the team's star, Ivan Basso. Whelp, as fate would have it, Ivan is a fraudulent blood doper and will be forced to watch this year's tour on Time Warner cable.
Poor guy... *heavy sarcasm*
So, Levi has taken his spot (by default) as Discovery's team hopeful to win the tour. Levi and his wife also run a charitable organization for abandoned animals which is a welcome change to Floyd Landis, who runs his mouth.
Levi wants to ride himself into form late into this tour. He's a great time trialist (can ride well in the two stages where riders are timed by themselves against the clock) and he also excels when the road heads upwards. I'm hoping he makes a good showing when the tour enters the mountains in about a week or so.
You can check in at http://www.letour.fr/ It's a great event because it runs almost every day for the next three weeks.
No one is giving Levi a chance to even make the podium. I always love an underdog.
About Me
- Mick
- In 1968, a baby boy was born and his parents named him Michael. As a cute little zero year old, he had a little round nose and made gurgly noises. But, he also had colic which tired his mama out and his grandmother often rocked him to sleep. One night, while doing this, she nicknamed him "Mickey" and that is why people also call him Mick. He grew up in upstate New York in a place too remote to be called anything. There were a lot of bugs and his Dad yelled at him for using too many paper towels. Little Mickey tried to have fun playing war with his friends and shooting BB guns. He didn't apply himself very much in school and he graduated high school Magne Cum Lousy. One day in 1986 he discovered a lump in his neck which he promptly ignored for more than 6 months. As fate would have it, it was Hodgekin's Disease and after months of dicking around with inept doctors, he promptly underwent aggressive treatment involving brutal tests and chemotherapy. This lasted a year followed by many years of paranoia. This is where he learned to suffer and it payed great dividends. Now he teaches 13th grade at a college in Ohio where he suffers daily.
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