Today's Tour Brief
Huzzah! Floyd Landis (USA riding for Phonak) is back in yellow! He has a ten second lead which he can probably expand for the next two mountain stages, especially if Phonak rides as well in support as they did today. I won't kid you- Phonak is not a USPS or Discovery with Lance riding ahead but it's a strong, motivated team that will, I think, pull Landis to the Tour win.
What shocks me is that Tom Boonen (Belgium riding for QuickStep) abandoned the race today. He was riding out of 106th place but he was sprinting wonderfully in the first few stages and seemed to be in the hunt for the green jersey. I guess the ascents were too much for him. Too bad.
It's also too bad that viewership of this year's Tour is down by something like 50% from Lance's final year last time around. It was historic and inspiring to watch Lance but this year's tour is, despite the favorites, very much wide open and hella exciting. I'm sorry more people aren't watching. It's more fun to watch than golf or baseball. In my opinion.