Chad's spot for various thoughts, musings, poetry, ideas and whatnot

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Tomorrow will be epic. Absolutely, completely, mind shatteringly epic. OLN is planning a stunning five hours of live coverage because things are going to be so epic. This is going to be one of those stages Tour historians talk about for years. Five climbs with 63 km (about 50 miles) of climbing that will be twice as steep as your average interstate off-ramp and the finish line is less than two miles from the top of the last one. Add to that the possibility of strong thunderstorms during the stage that will likely change the face of the race entirely and I think we'll find out who came to race tomorrow.

What I don't think we'll really learn is who's going to win. There are no truly dominant riders (yet) at this Tour and I really think we'll see huge swings in the times. Floyd may gain five minutes today only to lose four of it on L'Alp d'Huez. Klodi may crack on the Peyresourde only to crush all comers in the last individual time trial. But, what's going to happen tomorrow?

Gonchar's a goner and he'll likely detatch from the train somewhere on the most storied climb in the Tour, the Tourmalet. T-Mobile's going to struggle to control things tomorrow I think. A lot of commentators are pronouncing the team dominant but I think what we saw was a couple of teams holding their cards close to the vest on a stage that wasn't going to decide much of anything. I see Discovery and CSC making some noise on the early climbs. I might try yanking T-Mobile's chain if I'm Bruyneel just like a lot of teams did him when he was dominating with Lance. I see lots of attacks. I see Floyd sitting behind the T-Mobile train grinning like the cat who got the bird. Or maybe that's grimacing. I'm never sure with Floyd. I see Rasmussen going for the Spotty Jersey. I see Mercado going with him...for a while...but not too long. I see lots of orange shirt. I see lots of drunk, dumbass orange shirts. I see them weeping. I see Iban Mayo and the orange boys wilting on the slopes where the riders in 1910 hissed "Assassins!" at the Tour organizers as they suffered up goat tracks and hiking trials. I see my eyes falling out of my head as I ride the trainer during the stage to the taunting of Chris and Bob again. Steady state hill intervals. I see tired people. I see a guy in white and yellow and green raising his arms. No, I don't see some incarnation of the Green Lantern. I see a big ear and a smile/grimmace. It's good that I see these things now because I won't see them tomorrow. My eyes will be rolling around on the floor being batted around by one of the six stray cats we're trying to find homes for while Bob Roll make fun of my fat, hairy butt and threatens me with a bizzarre combination or sardines, duct tape and Vasoline. That's an ugly thought for 7:30 in the morning.

Arrrggghhhh.

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