Friday, October 27th, 2006
Michael J. Fox, this is kind of hard to watch.
I have a hell of a lot of respect for this guy, as well as anyone who is suffering from a disease like this and is still willing to put themselves in front of the public.
Archive for October 27th, 2006
Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition
Friday, October 27th, 2006Classic Monty Python with Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. Chapman’s leather flight cap and goggles cracks me up every time I see it.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F56ZZzz4me U]
2007 Tour de France
Friday, October 27th, 2006
The route was announced today. In summary:
8km prologue time trial in London England
Sprint stage to Canterbury England
Sprint stage to Gent Belgium
Flat stage to Compiègne which may have pavè sections a la Paris-Roubaix
3 more flat stages
3 stages in the Alps with the second being a mountain top finish and a rest day before the third
3 more flat stages
54km time trial
3 stages in the Pyrenees with the first and third being mountain top finish and a rest day before the third
2 more flat stages
55km time trial
Sprint stage on the Champs-Élysées
Despite the rumors, there is no team time trial in 2007. There is also no stage to Mont Ventoux. Too bad for both.
My impression of the course for 2007? Tough.
If the stage to Compiègne does include pavè sections it could prove the end of the race for some of the specialist climbers who are not cut out for the rough stuff. A smart team, with a team leader that can handle the stones, will go to the front and drive through these sections as hard as possible to rid themselves of a potential mountain threat. Remember when Postal did that the last time the race rolled over the cobbles in 2004 and it pretty much ended the Tour for Iban Mayo? I’m sure that he remembers.
The fact that there is one extra day in the mountains from the 2006 Tour, and that each of the mountain sections are split up by a rest day will make the mountain sections very difficult. It’s hard enough to try and get back on the bike after a non-race day. To make the stage after a rest day a climbing stage is going to blow out a number of riders. Like Iban Mayo. That guy is no good any more.
Who’s going to win? Beats me dude. But I can tell you for sure who is not going to win: Floyd Landis. Even if, by some miracle, he skates by being sanctioned and is allowed to race in 2007, Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) is never going to invite what ever team Landis finds himself on to race the 2007 event. That’s just the reality of it. ASO is still mortified that their race was tainted in 2006 and they have proven time and again that they can hold a grudge.
