Reflections on the TDF

What's Hot

Boonen giving his lead-out man, 26-year-old Gert Steegmans, the win in stage 2.  Boonen's gentleman remarks at the end of the stage say it all: "If you get the chance to give a gift to a teammate, you take that chance.All year he does work for me. I wasn't going to pass him on the line and rob him of his chance for glory. It's the perfect end for our team."

In a stunning display of tactics and pure power, Fabian Cancellara overtook a four-man breakaway with 500 meters to go and then held off the sprinters to win stage 3! Go Fabian!! The fact he retained the Maillot jaune for 6 stages ROCKS!

Wunderkid Linus Gerdemann escaping a 15-rider breakaway late in stage 7 for the stage win. It was a BIG win for T-Mobile which has suffered from crashes and now a new doping scandal. Not what the tour needed.

Michael Rasmussen winning stage 8 and taking over the Tour lead! It was his first ever Maillot jaune. Boy can that guy climb. He's my idol!!

Colombian climber Juan Soler earning an impressive solo win in the 159.5km stage 9. Another climbing inspiration!

Iban Mayo and Christophe Moreau finding new life in this year's TDF. It's nice to see that some of the older, more experienced riders still have their groove.

Alberto Contador from Discovery Channel is on fire. I would MUCH prefer to see him on the podium in Paris than Levi Leipheimer. I think that Levi totally screwed Tommy D on the Tour of Georgia Brasstown stage. He's becoming a mini Lance. I am really starting to dislike the bald, little man.

Cédric Vasseur winning one for the host country. You have to love the guy's comments after the race: "This is fantastic, to win a stage in my tenth and last tour. It was the tenth stage, my tenth tour and ten years after my last Tour victory. It couldn't get any better. This is a fantastic dream. All day long, I heard people shouting my name along the course. Winning a stage in the Tour is unimaginable." Numerologists have to love that win!

Colombian Mauricio Soler's super solitary ride to a stage win in stage 9 which confirmed his team Barloworld's wildcard invitation to the 2007 Tour.

Robert Hunter storming past the other sprinters in stage 11 to give South Africa its first ever stage win!

What's Not

T-Mobile's Michael Rogers crashing hard on the descent of the Cormet de Roseland. He will be missed.

CSC's Stuart O'Grady crashed on the same descent and was lucky to escapee serious spinal injuries!

Astana's crashes in Stage 5 that left Vinokourov and Kloden both injured. Talk about bad luck!

After an acceleration by Contador split up the second chase in stage 8, Klöden was forced to sit up and fall back to Vinokourov, the team captain. I am not sure this was the right thing to do tactically if Astana wants to ensure at least one podium spot at the end of the tour.

Rasmussen's comments about his teammate Denis Menchov after stage 9: "Now there is no doubt about who is the captain of this team is. It was disappointing that Menchov couldn't get his ass over the Galibier. I think it's a climber's Tour." That's nasty! I am a HUGE Rasmussen fan, but it's not nice to publicly diss your teammates. Plus, with two time trials looming, it's awfully early to start getting cocky.

Patrik Sinkewitz of T-Mobile testing positive for testosterone. The reported value was 24:1, with the allowed limit being 4:1. A normal value is considered to be 1:1. Come on, you have got to be kidding me!