KRUSHING THE TOUR: Stage 16

Johan Museeuw would have guys like Wiggins for breakfast.

Pessimist and Negative.
I have been accused of being a pessimist and negative when it comes to cycling today. I prefer the term "jaded," but yeah, I'm hard on the sport these days, and yes, I long for a time when cyclists had a little more... panache. Today I saw what's still great about the sport and what's killing it.


The Stage.
The race for the stage into Bagnères-de-Luchon today was simply amazing. It was a real cycling race, a true slugfest between guys who were depleted and drained. The contenders? Thomas Voeckler, Jens Voigt, Chris Anker Sørensen and Alexander Vinokourov. The average age right there is about 64. Old school, stubborn hard men, in the vein of Johan Museeuw, Ludo Dierckxsens, and, well and Alexander Vinokourov. That Gorka Izaguirre, and Brice Feillu also fought in there gives me a little bit of hope for the sport. For the sport, yeah, but for the Tour? If today had been a one day race it would have been one for the ages, but it wasn't. It was a stage in a rather uneventful Tour de France.


The GC "Battle"
While the real cyclists were in an all-out war up in the front of the race, the "favorites" (whose favorites? They aren't my favorite anything) were back there sitting on each other's wheel. It got SO boring that Cadel Evans actually fell asleep. That's why he started to yo-yo in and out of the bunch; the dude could hardly keep his eyes open.
Ok, so the fact is that Evans lost time today, because he obviously isn't in great form, not because he was attacked, or put in any kind of difficulty. Nibali did try. Twice. For a total of 36 seconds of excitement. UK Postal (™Gage+DeSoto Industries) has been so dominant during this Tour that it has chocked the beauty out of it.


To Hell with the Tour!
Pretty much every year, around this time, I decide that the Tour is too commercial and pretty for me and that the Classics is where it's at. But every spring I watch an awesome Giro, get all excited and BAM!! I get hit with the Tour de Prance™reality stick.


Tomorrow?
I give up on the GC. I officially do not care what Wiggins or Nibali do. Especially since they won't do anything. So, all I care about now is the race for the stage, and tomorrow should be a good one! Can't wait!

Should be an awesome stage. Let's just hope the cameras don't spend too much time on Wiggo.