Regarding the Tour de France:
The Tour headed through the region of Savoy, which, as Cedric is proud to point out, his family used to rule several centuries ago.
Cadel was riding with a broken arm; he fell off the leaders rather early on the last climb of the day, the terrifying Col de la Madeleine. I still think he can win, or at least come in third, but it will take some grit. Fortunately, he’s an Australian ex-mountain biker, so he is not lacking in that. I bet he’s in pain though, and I hope that he gets a chance to heal and recover through the next few stages that are a bit flatter. His team was really super today, though I was also surprised to see George Hincapie going backwards even sooner than Cadel. However, he’s not called Big George for nothing; the big guys find mountains hard. The climbers – Cadel, Andy, Contador – they’re all between 140 and 155 lbs.
I still hope Cadel can be the first Australian to win the Tour – maybe not this year, but just you wait! He was looking awesome in the first week, and it was only a silly little crash two days ago that did him in. He still has a special jersey, though, the World Champion’s rainbow jersey, which he totally deserves. I have heard that he has been in the past somewhat irritable, but he seems really nice to me! Phil and Paul say that he’s more relaxed now. He was so upset at the end of the stage… He really is a nice guy. He has all my support, and I don’t think he did anything wrong at all; he doesn’t have to apologise for anything. He just had a bad couple of days, which can happen to anyone – look at the Armstrong for the most media-centric example.
Also kudos to Ryder Hesjedal! He’s not in the top bunch anymore, but he still gave a really strong showing today on one of the hardest stages – and he’s also a big guy.
On the other hand, Andy is the cutest cyclist in the world and I also really hope he wins this year! He’s definitely going to win white, hands down – barring some freak accident or something. He’s riding strong, and he can probably beat Contador in mountains – they say Contador is going to improve, but Andy is going to improve too. Of course he’s missing Frank, but he showed today that he is really strong all by himself (also I can’t believe Jens Voigt – he kills himself EVERY DAY for SaxoBank. It’s ridiculous!!). The only thing he needs to improve is his time trial, (he was a minute behind teammate Cancellara, world time trialing champ, (nicknamed the Swiss Time Machine) in the prologue this year) and maybe he will do that thing where, you know, when they smell the yellow jersey in Paris waiting for them, it’s like suddenly their feet are on fire. We saw that last year with Contador when he beat Cancellara in the final time trial. So either Andy will gain enough time in the Pyrenees to win outright, or else he might just suddenly ride a fabulous time trial. Either way, he’s going to win a Tour in the next few years. It’s just a matter of which one.
And of course he is the cutest cyclist in the Tour – tall and lanky and with a narrow face that lights up when he smiles, and that surprisingly deep voice – and of course, because he is a cyclist, very nice legs. …Dad says that he looks like a rabbit, but I don’t know what he’s talking about.
No, I don’t have a fancrush on him, why do you ask? 8)
<3