TdF.

3 July 2009

Tomorrow is the start of a little race that some of you may or may not be watching. For those looking forward to it, I think this year could potentially be one of the most interesting tours of the past few years. Actually for the past many years since Mr. Juan Pelota rose to his firm seat on the throne. Here is a quick list of the reasons why I think this may be a very exciting race.

1. Boonen is in! This just came across the newswire, but Tom Boonen who is quite infamous for his loving of very young women, very fast cars, and very speedy extra curricular substances is allowed to race. Finally, a possible proper chance to see him go up against the Manxster, Mark Cavendish (and Tyler Farrar needs a proper mention with these guys as well).

2. Astana. Are we going to see what could be another La Vie Claire episode? Never has a team been so formidable ever started the Tour de France, and never has there been so much confusion as to who is going to lead and who will lead. Alberto? Lance? While Alberto could easily dominate the whole race, I doubt Lance will let him do it easily. Hello, Hinault/Lemond episode number 02.

3. Radio Free days. Finally, we shall see what real bike racing is like. I wrote about this a while back, but the organizers have decided on two days of radio free racing. This could either be really good for the peloton or really bad. I am leaning towards bad, since most of these riders have never known racing without orders being given through an ear piece.

4. The Biological Passport is working. Riders, even from a few years prior, are being caught by irregular blood samples. Hopefully this means it is a totally clean peloton and the racing should be human.

5. Christian Vandevelde. Why? Because I am a huge fan of this guy, and he has the ability to stand on the podium.

// Jonathan