"The wind changes — and so does the race.
Suddenly, as a corner transformed the breeze into a crosswind, Columbia went to echelon, gave it the gas and split the bunch."
And I knew instantaneously, without having to refer to context or to any other source material, just exactly what was being described. I have already formed a mental image of what it looked like, an image that I will be confirming shortly when I see that moment of the stage on the taped coverage of the race. Yes, I taped it, doesn't everyone?
Armstrong is up to third overall but more importantly, he is up to first overall among those considered to be legitimate GC contenders. He means to win.
It may be necessary to get GRider to confirm this, but before the race started she asked me how I thought Lance would do this year and I said I thought he would win. I cannot claim any particular brilliance in this prediction, however, as no less an authority than Phil Liggett predicted before the race that Lance would be on the podium, finishing in the top three.
I rode after work today and had a nice ride. I felt pretty strong, once again finishing my two hour ride in just under two hours. Quite near the end of the ride I ventured onto the Fairgrounds. I am not sure what event was held there this past weekend but it seems obvious that some of the food vendors opened for business. This one is going to be disappointed when they discover that when they closed up and left the grounds they forgot to turn off the neon sign.
That's going to cut into the profit margin.
3 comments:
Stunning, wasn't it? Leapfrogged from 10th to third. It was smart tactics -- taking advantage of the road conditions. Smart racing is what I've missed on the tour the past few years. I missed the fact that numbers 1 and 2 weren't GC contenders, though I knew that the other serious contenders were not in the group that went off the front. I find it hard to believe that a guy that old, fresh off a broken collarbone, could end up on the podium. But he certainly looks lean and hungry. He is definitely serious about this race.
I tend to watch the stages live. But the first couple of flat stages are not usually interesting.
Lance's tweet on Twitter this morning, about an hour or so ago. TTT today.
"Did a lap of the course with the boys. We're ready. What I thought was up/down/left/right is now up/down/left/WINDY! Important day..."
That's a great comment from Lance. He is smart, fit, extremely competitive and not THAT old. I can confirm Mr. Moohoo's prediction of an Armstrong win. I myself am doubtful, but I now agree that he is planning on winning it.
GZ's GRider
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