Tour de France: Au Revoir!

It's all over, and I am going to miss it!  But what a great race it was.  Congratulations to awesome Aussie Cadel Evans who rode like a man possessed yesterday and rolled into Paris today in splendid yellow.  Champagne for everyone!

Tour de France: All Hail Andy Schleck!

What else needs to be said for the Luxembourg rider in Stage 18?  Watching him attack in the mountains was a joy. Kudos too to Thomas Woeckler of France, valiant defender of the yellow jersey for 10 days in a  row. As for Alberto Contador, is his goose cooked?  Probably, and turned into pate (this is France, after all).

Tour de France Awesomeness in Stage 13

All hail the Norwegian god of thunder!  Wow.  And Jeremy Roy.  What a day in the mountains!

Happy Bastille Day!

Vive la France, folks, while I "celebrate" by obsessing about the Tour de France as it heads into the mountains -- w00t!  You can, though, check out the scheduled Parisian fireworks live here. (It's a countdown clock until the magic moment at 11 PM, Paris time.)  Ain't technology grand?

An Epic Race Finds Its Hero, the Flying Dutchman

Yesterday was a rest day for the competitors of the Tour de France, and while I (like many another fan) suffered from withdrawal, there's no doubt that they needed a day off.  The ninth stage was sheer madness, and one part of it was utterly horrifying:

Johnny Hoogerland of the Netherlands somersaulted in the air and fell into a barbed wire fence. He needed 33 stitches to close his bloody gashes. But he managed to finish the stage despite the untold agony of his injuries and even to wear the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey. That's heroics, people.  Not to mention the manliest tears ever.

So as we return to the road today, MM salutes the courageous Hoogerland. Johnny, you look great in those polka dots.

This year's Tour seems to be dogged with crashes, disasters, and injuries -- carnage on the road. So many people have had to drop out, and Alexandre Vinokourov's hair-raising crash ended with a fractured femur and a helicopter ride to Paris for surgery.  

Awesome: a Fourth of July Tour de France Stage Win by American Cyclist Tyler Farrar

I watched this thing live this morning -- and it's like gilding the lily on this sunny, glorious holiday.  Awesome!  Congrats, Tyler!

Bonjour! The 2011 Tour de France Is Here!

It's my usual summer delight -- working on papers while watching the Tour.  From today until July 24, it's going to be a good time indeed with the 98th Tour de France.  If I had any literary pretensions or skills, I would write an Ode to the Peloton!  Not that you need a reminder of why the Tour is so awesome, but here's a photo: