Some of you may think that with today's stage, the Tour might be over. You could be right--there are still two major mountain stages and we all know how good Rasmussen is in these types of conditions.
However, I don't think the Tour is over yet. There are still plenty of guys who could make it. But it's true that it could be a mountain specialist--a climber--who could win the yellow jersey in Paris.
With yesterday's time trial, today has been a very tough day for all in the Tour and I kind of feel now that tomorrow could be an important day.
With Vinokourov, who is almost out now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are the last chances for Astana to get one of their riders in the race for the win, so it will be very exciting to watch.
What was also very interesting with the time trial and today's stage is that it was the first time that you had a mountain stage right after a time trial. All the riders gave a hundred percent of themselves yesterday, even if they knew how difficult today could be. It’s interesting from a strategic standpoint to see how teams have handled that. And this is why I can't for tomorrow's stage to begin: Because I'm curious to see how teams will play this stage.
And one more time, today has been very exciting and lots of surprises. It is great for cycling.
The fact I have really noticed today and that I wanted to share with you is that there is pretty much nobody in the Tour who wants to see Rasmussen win the yellow jersey in Paris. It's like even all the journalists and so on want to see him down so we can stop talking about this whole drug problem. I saw Rasmussen at breakfast this morning and this guy is so obsessed by his weight that he is even replacing milk in his cereal with water so there is less fat. He seems to be a bit on the edge, if you know what I mean.
Is that the kind of leader you want to see or identify yourself with? Not sure...
The next two days are very important for many teams, so stay tuned and enjoy the show!
Ronan
Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in the 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.
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Sally
in response to: Theresa
Thanks Theresa! The comment about obsessing about weight was getting on my nerves! My first thought was, 'I know a lot of athletes that can't drink milk before an event, gives them stomach problems'. I've even coached athletes in nutrition and have recommended putting water on cereal instead of milk if it doesn't sit with them well. There's not that much difference between nonfat milk and water when it's put on cereal...now, if you're a whole milk kinda person, then that's a huge difference! But who knows, maybe Ras has let everyone know that it is a calorie issue...and that's where the comment comes from, I kind of doubt it thought, but I'm not there, so that's just an opinion.
There are tons of books/articles about LA and obsession, the way they weighed every piece of equipment, the material for their uniforms so it'd be more aerodynamic, weighing his food...
And finally, I thought the journalists WANT to talk about drugs, media is one main reason cycling gets kicked so much, is because the media senationalizes all of the drug happenings in cycling, but don't give the general audience the riders side of the story as well. I'm not saying the sport is clean and pure, but...it's a lot cleaner than so many OTHER professional sports out there, yet people think cycling is the dirtiest sport because what they read/hear from the media.
Jesse@Active
Just to further fan the flames following Rasmussen...UCI President Pat McQuaid told the Associated Press: "With all this speculation around him it would be better if somebody else were to win. The last thing this sport needs is more speculation about doping."
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2007/news/story?id=2945911
Obsession wins Yellow jerseys. Look at Lance Armstrong, and tell me he wasn't obsessed. I'm annoyed by all the talk about Rassmussen, like he isn't the favorite kid in the playground, so he shouldn't win. Well, I personally wanted Vino to win. That's not happening, and I find myself rooting for Rassmussen as everyone else, talks of how he'll fail. Floyd wasn't supposed to win either, but he did. And he has spent a year, still waiting to claim his prize, and the ASO isn't particually keen on giving it to Floyd. Well, if the ASO wanted a popularity contest, then they should have made it one!!!