Athlete Deathmatch: Eddy Merckx vs. Tiger Woods

Greatest Athlete of All Time Matchup#2 on ProTrade

Despite the author referring to The Cannibal as Eddie, rather than Eddy, we give props for him laying out the palmares of both Merckx and Woods. Merckx's are much deeper.

No Surprise. Merckx takes it.

Chris Horner Watches the Tour, but only after training

Otherwise, he'd be too depressed to ride.

The ever-candid Horner not only told the San Diego Union-Tribune that politics are the only reason he's not at the tour, and that he expects Armstrong to win, even though Contador has the better form.

Armstrong looking seeking $20m for new team

So says Bloomberg News. What is most interesting is that, according to Bloomberg, he already almost had it and the potential sponsors backed out.

Contador Feud Speeds Armstrong Push for Cycle Team

Since Bruyneel, Astana's director, almost certainly won't put up with the return of Kazhak Alexandre Vinokourov, he's out anyways. And Contador might be forming his own team as well.

Stay tuned.

Eight-Year Suspension not enough for WADA

File this in the double-standard cycling lives in the fight against doping. Pro athletes in the Big Three US sports get a slap on the wrist and a little shame when they test positive. Bike racers lose everything. They're typically fired by their teams and lose any sponsorship deal they might have had. Tyler Hamilton, who already got busted for doping in 2004 and served a two-year suspension, got caught again. The US Anti-Doping Association, USADA, recommended an eight-year suspension. That would make Tyler 44 before he could race again. Now the World Anti-Doping Association, WADA, wants to make it a lifetime suspension. Some think it's about setting a precedent. Might be. Tyler blames his suspension on mental illness, specifically depression, that caused him to take a medication that he knew contained banned substances. But WADA probably wants to scare people straight. Eight years seems pretty long to me, but banning would keep people from participating in sport in any way for the rest of their lives--unless they want to go into unsanctioned sports like power lifting and pro wrestling.

Desert Stahlight Ridazz dig the Tour

Called one of the few regular group rides in Palm Springs, the ride leader is amped on the Tour. True, not much of a surprise that a cyclist is paying attention to the Tour, but the hippety-hop name and the thought that no one else is riding in the desert caught my attention.

Trek helps you get your Wow on

They've got a TdF lottery. You can do it by getting a card at a trek dealer or visiting their site. They say you can win Lance, Levi, or Alberto's actual TdF bike.

Seems like a good payout for easy work.

Astana Riders Slow to get (drug) tested

It will be interesting to see if this story has legs.

The Associated Press reports that: "French Sports minister Roselyne Bachelot confirmed Thursday that Astana team riders at the Tour de France stayed too long out of sight of an UCI inspector during a random doping test last week." The officials "didn't test the riders for nearly an hour." (after a random test visit)

Apparently, the UCI official had coffee with the Astana officials while they were waiting for the riders.

Making News out of nothing: The Daily News and Lance's Flat Tire

folks, it wasn't a big deal. Tires occasionally get cut and lose air. And when you're a leader or even co-leader of a team, at least one teammate is guaranteed to wait for you to help you back. That's what happened to Lance today. It happened with 37 miles remaining in the stage and teammates waited. Somehow, for the New York Daily News, he "avoided disaster."

I guess he did. And I avoided disaster by not getting hit by a car. A little ignorance makes for great copy.

Keeping with their sensationalism, they have a photo essay called Gore de France. I wouldn't write that these are the "tour's most gruesome crashes," save one, but these are the ones they must have had easy access to.

Evans Must have earned Hinault's respect today

While Stage 12 looked like a simple affair, the journos largely overlooked Cadel Evans insurrection. The Pre-race favorite lit up the race with an escape that contained a few other fellow left-behind stars. He started drilling it and after 70km, his little split had 15 seconds. Not much, but it showed that Astana had some work to do. Evans isn't going to roll over just yet.

chapeau!

Will there be a Red Kite Prayer tomorrow?

The Red Kite aka Flamme Rouge aka one kilometer to go banner has been known to tease those at the head of the race. The Red Kite Prayer is what you've got when you're in the mix and aren't sure which way the race is going to play.

We're not the praying type, but we find ourselves tense when we see a race get down to the final kilometer. That goes for whether we're in the middle of the action or if we're watching a race. So close to the finish and yet so much can happen. Anyone solo at the sharp end of the race is both elated and worried at the flamme rouge. Breaks can get caught, sprinters can

If you want another take on cycling, and like an indy vibe, check out the site of the same name. I'll probably be there some myself

Flat Stages Are Not Easy

It's hard to read or listen to people discuss flat stages being easy. Here's one guy's take on yesterday's stage 11, "Another flat stage, another easy ride with a bunch sprint at the end."

These aren't easy. It's more than just a four-plus hour spin. The roads are narrow, the turns tight, the wind shifts, there are countless hills even on what seems like a flat day, and just one mistake by one rider can have the effect of blowing the race apart at any moment.

The finish, despite what many think, isn't all that certain. Look at today's stage 12. The field held the gap to the break at three minutes much of the day and then when Columbia realized they were going to have to do all the work to see the breakaway brought back, they threw in the towel and the breakaway's gap quickly shot up to six minutes, where it stayed.

Columbia was playing "chicken" with the field. Only the field had little interest in seeing another Cavendish stage win. Just as the field should have little interest in Astana winning the Tour. When you're the best sprinter with the strongest leadout, don't expect the field to help. Likewise, Astana shouldn't expect any help starting tomorrow.

Want to sound like a choad, I mean tifosi?

Yes, folks, it's that easy. Just like Walter Kirn fakin' it at Princeton, you can learn how to fake it with people like me* by using a few key phrases from the Examiner.

A warning, don't ever use "velodrome track." And get the distinct feeling Kirn's faking us out now.

*not really.

Vlogger Lance Armstrong gets praise

Some just love Lance. Others love the color he brings. This person loves that he brought in Robin Williams. Much more interesting than any cyclist, and yet, Williams is a cyclist.

Official XBox TdF Game Available Now

Why watch the race when you can race the actual racers yourself?

http://www.411mania.com/games/news/110292/Tour-de-France-2009:-The-Official-Game-Available-on-Xbox-Live.htm

"Players will be able to take control of individual racers during the time trial stages and think of various strategies during the other legs. All of the riding goes towards trying to get a team member the yellow jersey, of course.

Up to two players can play on the same system, or four players can compete over Xbox Live. The game will set you back 800 Microsoft Points to get."

Versus TdF coverage up 83%

And even 18% above when Lance last won the tour.

Reuters covered the story. Apparently, Versus wants to grow their network. "The strong numbers for the Comcast Corp-owned network's early Tour coverage are a sign of the sports broadcaster's momentum as it looks to add content, broaden its reach and boost advertising revenue, network president Jamie Davis said."

Confusingly, the 2008 Tour apparently had record viewership. "Versus has aired the Tour in the United States for nine years and is in the first year of a five-year extension that runs through 2013. Davis is positive Tour viewership on the network will eclipse last year's record of nearly 33 million."

will HTC give us a special TdF Phone

That's what the mobile phone world is asking. Or at least a guy on Mobile Phone News.

Cav is so good, his lead out man is now a star

As every bike race fan knows, it's the team that makes the difference. Mark Cavendish has an amazing sprint, but he has the best lead out train in cycling. The Team Columbia roleurs go to the front and bring back the break, then George Hincapie takes over a little more than a kilometer to go. When he's through, Mark Renshaw takes over. Renshaw burns out just as Cav needs to get his sprint on.

Renshaw's skill is nearly as important as Cav's. And, with the press tiring of Cavendish stories, there's now a rash of Mark Renshaw stories. The one linked to is from Agence France Presse

USA Today Knows Cycling

Every year, I try to give a shout-out to the best coverage of cycling found in daily newspapers. When Sal Ruibal is on the job at USA Today, his paper takes the title easily.

Here he is writing about the radio-free stage 10. He's the rare journo to point out that the upcoming, currently scheduled to be radio-free stage 13, is the stage that nearly derailed Lance's bid for a seventh victory in 2005.

His blog is a decent read, too, though filing daily stories and blogging should result in overtime pay. How's he going to ride and enjoy the eats with that kind of workload? (you can read the fatigue in his writing "velodrome track sprints"?)

18 Pedal Strokes

Team Columbia gives an incredible leadout. They ride fast enough to keep the other sprinter teams on the ropes in the final few kilometers and then drop Mark Cavendish off at the perfect spot every time. on the flat stages that moment was at 200 meters to go. on stage 11's uphill finish, it was at 150 to go.

Cavendish still hasn't taken more than 20 pedal strokes in a sprint. Today, it was only 18 before he stopped pedaling short of the line, victory assured.

No one is going early to disrupt the Columbia train. Some one ought to try it because no one has the jump Cav has. If they wait for Cav to jump before jumping, they're going to lose every time.

Brute Force!

It's a great noir. Skip the next CGI-infused thriller and check out this old flick instead.

Despite what writers at Sports Illustrated think, Bernard Hinault, not Lance Armstrong, is the multi-time Tour de France champ who is not afraid to speak his mind. He may be from "old europe," but the 55-year old, who won the last of his five Tours in 1985, is still The Badger.

in an interview with Velo News' Andrew Hood, said, "There is nothing but brute force that can win a race. The only thing the head is good for is to help endure the elements, because there are some riders who are not so strong in the head and not so good at that."

While Hinault had a rep for grinding his opponents into submission, he also was a pretty savvy racer. Still, he supports Cadel Evans for trying to make the race hard on the Astana juggernaut and suggests that making the race hard is the only way anyone will have a chance to beat Contador, Armstrong, and company.