Stage 5: McEwen gets his stage win
Take away the bumping and relegation drama from Stage 3 -- and hype about sprinter rivalries -- and you're left with what the fans are waiting to see. Who can cross the finish line first?
Years ago in an interview with a journalist I was asked "So can you explain to our readers -- who may not know much about cycling -- exactly how is it that you win a race?" Without hesitating I said "easy, you cross the finish line first." This drew plenty of laughter from those within earshot except for the red-faced journalist.
Today's stage win furthers the contention that McEwen's a consistent sprinter that will go down as one of the best in history. He doesn't seem to be slowing down either.
For 33-year-old runner up Tom Boonen, he's collecting a large rap sheet of victories as well -- not only in sprints but classics to boot! In 2001, while I was riding for Telekom, I remember my first encounter with Boonen. It was a March race in Spain. We were on a climb and the group was whittled down to around 40 riders and I was at my limit. There was this new guy riding for US Postal just ahead of me ... looking very comfortable. He didn't look like a climber. The next month there he was again -- at the front of Paris Roubaix -- none other than Tom Boonen. This guy has always been a huge talent.
It was good to see Dave Zabriskie back in action. Lance Armstrong's attempt at not wearing the yellow jersey was a nice gesture. Going as far as getting tossed out by the race director for not putting it on might have been a little over the top.
Fred Rodriguez certainly did his part by leading out Robbie McEwen and must feel good with today's success.
Stage 6: This is the shortest and least difficult of the upcoming stages. Look for the all-too-familiar few riders escaping early, only to be reeled in by the sprinters' teams in the closing kilometers. The peloton knows exactly when to reel the boys back for another suspenseful sprint finish.
Calm before the storm? Maybe. The race will head into Germany, which will motivate T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner. QuickStep and Davitamon-Lotto will eventually tire and there may be some confusion over who is going to control the race.
Discovery is in control, Lance is in yellow and the Tour seems on its natural track. The current images of Lance in yellow could easily be swapped for any of the previous six Tours. Seems we've grown so accustomed to Lance in yellow, and in control, that it's going to be hard to adjust to life after Lance.
But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. It's still very early and there are very large mountains looming on the horizon.
Years ago in an interview with a journalist I was asked "So can you explain to our readers -- who may not know much about cycling -- exactly how is it that you win a race?" Without hesitating I said "easy, you cross the finish line first." This drew plenty of laughter from those within earshot except for the red-faced journalist.
Today's stage win furthers the contention that McEwen's a consistent sprinter that will go down as one of the best in history. He doesn't seem to be slowing down either.
For 33-year-old runner up Tom Boonen, he's collecting a large rap sheet of victories as well -- not only in sprints but classics to boot! In 2001, while I was riding for Telekom, I remember my first encounter with Boonen. It was a March race in Spain. We were on a climb and the group was whittled down to around 40 riders and I was at my limit. There was this new guy riding for US Postal just ahead of me ... looking very comfortable. He didn't look like a climber. The next month there he was again -- at the front of Paris Roubaix -- none other than Tom Boonen. This guy has always been a huge talent.
It was good to see Dave Zabriskie back in action. Lance Armstrong's attempt at not wearing the yellow jersey was a nice gesture. Going as far as getting tossed out by the race director for not putting it on might have been a little over the top.
Fred Rodriguez certainly did his part by leading out Robbie McEwen and must feel good with today's success.
Stage 6: This is the shortest and least difficult of the upcoming stages. Look for the all-too-familiar few riders escaping early, only to be reeled in by the sprinters' teams in the closing kilometers. The peloton knows exactly when to reel the boys back for another suspenseful sprint finish.
Calm before the storm? Maybe. The race will head into Germany, which will motivate T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner. QuickStep and Davitamon-Lotto will eventually tire and there may be some confusion over who is going to control the race.
Discovery is in control, Lance is in yellow and the Tour seems on its natural track. The current images of Lance in yellow could easily be swapped for any of the previous six Tours. Seems we've grown so accustomed to Lance in yellow, and in control, that it's going to be hard to adjust to life after Lance.
But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself. It's still very early and there are very large mountains looming on the horizon.
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