Rest Day

It’s a rest day for the Tour de France which means the cycling public is forced to rekindle the love lost with a spouse over the last week, rediscover the sun and in general bathe and groom. For those who have gone off the deep end and need more time to recover you really have until Friday as the Sprinters will rule the land for the next couple days with more authority than Lance after an attack by Iban Mayo after being dumped by a spectator’s musette bag.

Come Friday most of us will be glued to the Versus channel searching for reasons to show up to work late or take a 3-hour lunch. We must see the action live as there is always some dweeb from the mailroom that blows the day’s results when we are recording the stage for when we get home. A recorded session of the Tour is like waking up to a wonderful gift on Christmas morning.

The likelihood of a cycling fan missing a stage in the mountains is right up there with the likelihood of Alberto accepting a water bottle from an overly-smirking Lance. Before the end of the Alps the drama of Team Astana will unfold and we will see who really has the ponies to hold it all the way to Paris. It’s hard to believe a team with enough talent to fill up all three spots on the podium could actually tear itself apart before they reach the Champs-Elysees.