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. Continue reading →