Floyd Landis was on Larry King last night, and I assume most of you watched if you were able to. If not, you can click on the Link below and read the CNN show transcript.

I thought Floyd presented himself pretty well - any of us would be somewhat uncomfortable if we were interviewed on Larry King in the best of circumstances. Floyd came off as honest, sincere and straightforward - as he really is. Not glib and smooth-talking, but just an honest joe who is in the headlights of a blood-hungry media frenzy.

Floyd acknowledged that he now knows what Lance has been going through since his first Tour win. Larry King interviewed Lance via phone, and Lance totally defended Floyd as innocent. Floyd’s physician, Dr. Brent Kay, was interviewed and he said what everybody should be thinking about. He said that testosterone builds bulk and body mass over a period of time. In other words, just what a cyclist does not want, and it is not an instant boost.

Dr. Kay also made the point that what is in question is the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, not a high level of testosterone in his urine. Floyd has not traditionally had a high level of testosterone. But it was pointed out that the racers never see the results, or numbers, from all their testing unless it is abnormal. My thought right there was maybe Floyd’s ratio has been borderline all the time, just under the wire. Nobody would know that, certainly not Floyd. And just this once, it increased slightly and redlined.

Here is an excerpt from an article in the Salt Lake City Tribune:
”Landis' heroic ride in Stage 17, the stage after which he tested positive, followed his meltdown in which he lost the yellow jersey and trailed by more than eight minutes. Could Landis, in an effort to salvage his hopes of winning the sport's biggest race, have taken a shot of testosterone before his solo breakaway to spark his improbable comeback?

If he did, it probably didn't help, said Wayne Meikle, a professor of medicine and pathology in the University of Utah's School of Medicine. "It takes several weeks to benefit muscle mass or function," he said. "There wouldn't be a benefit that soon, except maybe a psychological benefit that occurs with almost any medication."

The article also said that one test that could be done to distinguish naturally-occurring testosterone from pharmaceutically induced testosterone is a carbon isotope test. However, the question is, was it used in the A test, and will it be used in the B test? If I were Floyd, his doctor or attorney, I would insist that carbon isotope test be run on both samples.

If I owned, or managed a professional team, every rider, at the time he was signed, would have a panel of tests run. Every possible test that WADA could use, would be included, to provide a documented baseline for each team member. Blood and urine samples taken immediately after high stress training rides to be included.

Why? Not because the riders are not to be trusted, but to protect them against any incompetent or deliberate, malicious testing errors in a certain French laboratory or anywhere else.

Personally - I’ll say it again - I totally believe that Floyd did not try something stupid, and totally ineffective. I took this photo of Floyd during the Tour of California this year.

Aiee Yiee Yiee... Is this the Bombshell Tour 2006 or what? Ya know, I just cannot believe that Floyd would have done testosterone when he knew he would be tested. It’s the same scenario as Roberto Heras - down to the wire and would you dope if you knew you were going to be tested? And who else is in this scenario but the same French lab as always.... the one I wouldn’t even trust to do a pregnancy test. The same French lab that the right amount of Euros will buy you whatever result that will make the most outrageous news...

And, dammit, whenever I surf the Net about Landis - why, why, why do the majority of writers/bloggers choose to say that Landis was “loosing” the stage. Come on guys, can you just brush up a bit on your spelling and grammar? Floyd Landis maybe was “losing” the stage, but he was not “loosing” the stage or what ever the Hell he was losing. Forums, blogs, whatever - Losing, not loosing, OK?

And Lance is/was at RAGBRAI, and if you would like to see the local news and real photos (even though the images are totally amateur, over-exposed and boring) about his appearance, go Here . The beer-guzzling-on-the-bike shot is not what one would call flattering.

Oh, BTW, speaking of testing, now the Spanish Inquisition is saying that some of the riders they crucified are really clean, like Beloki. Oh, excuse us, here’s a letter certifying that you really didn’t dope, Adios now from Operacion Puerto. Oh, did it ruin you life and reputation and income, and keep you out of the Tour de France? Well, that’s life in the cycling world... Vaya Con Dios.... Buena Suerte...

Almost forgot the other closer-to-home Bombshell - Frankie Andreu fired from Toyota United? Unbelievable - he worked his arse off getting the team together and he is a great DS. What is the real story here? Hard to believe it's cause he missed Tour de Nez - something else going on I think....

Here's the Discovery Channel Press Release about the new signings from PJ Rabice:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7/25/2006

Discovery Channel Team Looks Ahead to 2007

Team Signs Three New Riders

Less than 48 hours after the completion of the 2006 Tour de France, Discovery Channel Team management announced the signing of three new riders to the 2007 roster. Levi Leipheimer, Sergio Paulinho and Thomas Vaitkus will all be wearing Discovery Channel Team racing kits next season. The signing comes on the heels of a Tour de France in which the Team did not claim overall victory but did wear the yellow jersey and claim a stage win.

Levi Leipheimer will join fellow North Americans George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Michael Barry and Jason McCartney as he returns to the Discovery Channel Team. Leipheimer stated, “I’m very excited about returning to the Discovery Channel Team, its family of sponsors and working with Johan Bruyneel once again. This team has a long history of success and I plan to work hard to continue their winning ways in 2007.”

On hearing the news, Billy Campbell, President, Discovery Networks, U.S. said, “I’m very happy with these new additions to the Discovery Channel Team and I am confident that Johan Bruyneel will lead this team back to the top step at the Tour de France. As the team continues to race in the post-Lance era and grow cycling in America, we are very excited to see riders like Levi Leipheimer coming back to our program.”

Discovery’s other additions; Portugal's Sergio Paulinho and Lithuania’s Tomas Vaitkus arrive from the former Wurth and AG2R teams respectively. Team Sports Director Johan Bruyneel has high expectations for his new riders stating, “All three of these riders have proven themselves in the Pro Tour ranks and I expect them to fit well into our team. Each of them brings different strengths and I am excited about having them ride for Discovery Channel in 2007.”


All three additions come to the team with impressive results. Leipheimer has had a successful 2006 campaign claiming overall victory at the Dauphine Libere stage race, winning the king of the mountains jersey at the Tour of California, finishing 2nd on the difficult Tour de France mountain top finish to Pla-de-Beret and riding into Paris 13th overall. Sergio Paulinho won the silver medal in the 2004 Olympics while Tomas Vaitkus won a stage in the 2006 Giro d’Italia.

Visit the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team on the Web:

http://www.thepaceline.com

http://www.teamdiscoverychannel.com

# # #

Just got this note from Joey, of Outside Mag... They have a great interview with Floyd Landis (during the Tour) by Dan Coyle From the Hip - An Interview with Floyd Landis . Good stuff. Here’s a quote from Floyd (talking about his hip injury) in the article, “Now they know why I don't like it when people complain about stomach aches! No, everybody's been good about it. The only negative stuff was with [Discovery Channel team director Johan] Bruyneel, who said it was a publicity stunt, and that it was stupid to show a weakness. My response is, if it were a weakness, would I be at the front of the race? But if he wants to call it a weakness, fine, let's call it that. It's a weakness, and I'm so weak that I'm kicking their asses.”

Yep, tell it like it is, Floyd....

Speaking of Discovery Channel, Johan and Company have signed on two additional riders, in addition to Levi Leipheimer. Sergio Paulinho (a first choice by Jose Azevedo) and Tomas Vaitkus. Both solid choices, and Johan says there will be more soon. So who will go? Eki’s transition into the fourth DS for the team leaves one opening.... Three new guys have been signed so far....

Heads Up! Word I'm getting is that Levi Leipheimer will ride for Discovery next year. I'll try to find my shots of him when he was riding for the Posties...

Tour de France 2006 winner, Floyd Landis by Mark Shimahara Bike Zen . A big thank-you to Mark for sending images to this blog daily from the Tour. Please visit his site for more images, and don't forget that your purchases of his photos make it possible for him to go to the Tour each year. Mark has some really fine images this year....

Tour de France - Stage 20 - The Grand Finale. Floyd makes it safely to the Finish Line, amongst the snorting, pawing, sprinter stallions. Thor Hushovd steals the stage sprint from Robbie McEwen, after Eki, George and Popo take off way too early, messing up Robbie’s plans.

It was so fine to see the honoring of Eki by the Peloton... He was allowed to ride ahead to honor him for riding his fifteenth Tour de France. This better not mean that my Iron Man is thinking of retiring.. I just know that he has one more Tour left in his body and legs, so he can equal the record. Come on, Iron Man, don’t stop now!

So all kinds of records were made this year, this crazy, unpredictable Tour. I think that Floyd may just have broken the record for the number of bottles, or bidons, that one rider has used in a single stage. He used 70 bottles during Stage 17...

It is really a huge bummer that OLN does not show the ceremonial Promenade of Honor for the teams after the awards. It is the most awesome sight to see all the teams - all the riders and team cars, slowly parading around the Champs Elysees, receiving applause, cheers and the acknowledgement of their incredible achievement. It is a slow and glorious salute to the courage and tenacity for everyone on the Tour teams and staff. Everyone, even the Lanterne Rouge, deserves the accolades of the crowds on the Champs Elysees, for finishing the Tour de France - for every kilometer that they worked and suffered for their team.

OLN is really missing the boat by now showing this grand finale to the Tour.... Podium proceedings are not the only “feel good” part of the Champs Elysees that fans here in America should have the chance to see. The best part of the ceremony - the pageantry and the real, genuine feelings and emotions of all the riders - is not available to us on OLN.

Tour de France Stage 19 ITT - Floyd Landis on the podium while Eddy Merckx applauds...

By Mark Shimahara Bike Zen

Tour de France - Stage 19. Floyd Landis, the Phoenix, rises from the ashes and now stands to be the winner of the 2006 Tour de France. Barring anything unforseen, he will have the ride of his life to Paris tomorrow. Kudos to Pereiro, who rode out of his head to get the second spot, and to Kloden,who scorched the road to climb into third. Poor old Sastre (as Phil would say) lost his legs and his spot on the podium.

Three cheers for my Iron Man, Eki, who finished seventh in the Time Trial. The oldest man in the Tour this year was only six seconds back from Dave Zabriskie, and was ahead of Cadel Evans.. However, I do think I heard that Cadel punctured along the route. Bummer....

Thr image of Floyd is one that I took at the Tour of California Time Trial Prologue in San Francisco. Amgen Tour of California has just announced the route for 2007:

Prologue- February 18: San Francisco
Stage 1 - February 19: Sausalito to Santa Rosa
Stage 2 - February. 20: Santa Rosa to Sacramento
Stage 3 - February. 21: Stockton to San Jose
Stage 4 - February. 22: Seaside to San Luis Obispo
Stage 5 - February. 23: Solvang - Time Trial
Stage 6 - February. 24: Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita
Stage 7 - February. 25: Long Beach - Circuit Race

Stage 18 - Tour de France. Levi Leipheimer appears delighted that this was the last mountain stage. Levi received the Most Combative Award for this stage, and Gerolsteiner is the Number One Team. Levi moved up to 13th in the GC. Bur he really wants to finish in the Top Ten. Levi is pretty good in the ITT, but he's almost 3 minutes back from Michael Boogerd, who is in 10th spot right now.

It was great to see Matteo Tosatto win the stage... He's always leading out Tom Boonen for the wins, and Matteo finally got his day in the sun... Good on him.

Great shot from Mark Shimahara Bike Zen

Floyd Landis on the podium of Stage 17 and a shot of his solo flyer that got him on that podium and into Tour history. By Mark Shimahara Bike Zen.

Stage 17 of the Tour de France is FLOYD! Floyd Landis with a vengeance, Floyd with guts, Floyd with Panaché... Yeah, Baby - Panaché with a capital P.... Comprendez-vous?

An awesome, unbelievable ride by a true champion. Floyd fighting the mountains alone, fighting the devils from yesterday and overcoming all. OLN has a commercial that asks, “What is character?” Today, Floyd Landis showed the Tour what character is.

Bravo to Sastre, bravo to Pereiro, bravo to Moreau, bravo to Schleck. And bravo to Dessel, who went arse over teakettle on a turn, jumped up and back on his bike in seconds, without even looking to see where he was hurt.

What a stage, what a blockbuster of a stage. After yesterday, was there anyone who thought they’d see Floyd on the podium as winner and only seconds away from the Yellow Jersey? C’est Le Tour with it’s best face on....

Mark Shimahara Bike Zen caught Floyd Landis on today's Stage 16 of the Tour de France, just before he crumbled...

You can follow the Link to read Austin Murphy's report on Sports Illustrated.

Tour de France - Stage 16 . What a shocker the stage was today... Nobody would have ever thought that Floyd would have cracked like he did. What a sad, sad thing for him. Robbie Venture (Floyd’s coach) said that he thinks Floyd bonked, and it was not the problem with his hip that caused him to flounder. Floyd was so upset that he gave no interviews - just was ushered into the team car and driven away. Jeeze - losing over 10 minutes in the stage is just so awful for the Yellow Jersey.

Huge kudos to Axel Merckx for the job he did in staying with Floyd and leading Floyd up to the finish. He gave Floyd a very kind pat on the shoulder at the line. I bet Eddy is really proud of his son today for being totally dedicated to the team leader. Axel really gave his all... But Floyd was often isolate, and just couldn’t battle the whole group alone...

Michael Rasmussen totally earned his stage win today - staying out almost the entire stage. His soigneurs literally had to hold him up right after the Finish Line. He totally gave his all, and was physically and emotionally spent after his solo effort over those climbs. It was a horrible, brutal stage today, worse by far than yesterday. The descent was so wicked - everybody sure heeded the warnings, and didn’t do anything dangerous. There was potential for horrible crashes on that road.

I bet there are more than a few riders and directeurs sportif that are now regretting that they let Pereiro take that thirty-minute flyer a couple of stages ago... In hindsight, a bad decision to not chase him down. But, after losing thirty minutes in the Pyrenees, I guess they certainly underestimated the guy. So, here he is in the Yellow Jersey, and some butts are being kicked... Pereiro is delighted and good on him.

Sastre did a great job of chasing to end up on the stage podium. The CSC guys are giving a good race and showing themselves so well without Ivan. A real quality team....

Here are more Tour de France images, Stage 13 and Stage 14, from Mark Shimahara Bike Zen . I did a quick podcast this morning - you can follow the Link to listen. I was thinking that I might start The Velogal Drinking Game (a la Phil 'n Paul), so whenever you hear me say ummm or uhhh, you take a drink....

If you were reading my Podium Girl Gone Bad reports on cyclingnews.com a few years ago, you may remember that I created a PGGB Drinking Game, too....

I’m back from Utah - awesome cycling country. It’s a humongous job to get road marshals around some of those mountain stages. So get off your duff and sign up as a road marshal www.tourof utah.com. So I’m not gonna Talk Tour de France - it’s Rest Day, so lets give it a rest here, too.

But I am gonna Talk Tour de Pink presented by Hershey's. I am asking you to get involved in the Tour de Pink in October. If you live anywhere near the ride, or if you want to travel a bit to have a great ride, make your plans to travel to the Tour de Pink. Here is a detailed press release, giving you all the info, or click on the Link at the bottom. Raise some bucks to help get rid of breast cancer, ride with some famous women cyclists, and get lots of yummy chocolate goodies. Yeah, Armstrong is gonna be there ... it’s Kristin of TEAm Lipton, plus Mari Holden and Dede Barry. These are great gals... The press release is kinda long, so hang in and read it all...


(NEW YORK, NY) – July 11, 2006 – The Young Survival Coalition (YSC) is looking for cyclists to join their all-star lineup for this year’s YORK Tour de Pink presented by HERSHEY’S. Three professional cycling stars -- Kristin Armstrong (TEAm Lipton), Mari Holden (T-Mobile Women’s Team) and Dede Barry (former World Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist) -- have teamed up to ride in the YORK Tour de Pink, a cycling fundraising event benefiting the Young Survival Coalition, the only international network of breast cancer survivors, medical professionals and supporters dedicated to young women affected by breast cancer.

The Young Survival Coalition is searching for 100 devoted cyclists join these professionals in a four-day, 220 mile cycling journey from the Hershey’s Times Square Store in New York City on Friday, October 6 to Hershey’s Chocolate World attraction in Hershey, Pa., on Monday, October 9. All net proceeds from the ride will benefit the YSC's action, advocacy and awareness programs serving young women with breast cancer. Interested cyclists should register today at www.youngsurvival.org/tourdepink.

“We are ecstatic that Kristin, Mari and Dede will be joining us for the YORK Tour de Pink presented by HERSHEY’S,” said Young Survival Coalition CEO Michele Przypyszny. “In these three cyclists we have multiple National, World and Olympic Champions. Their participation will not only benefit our team of riders but will increase the visibility of our event and ultimately help us reach even more young women affected by the disease.”

A dynamic group of young survivors and supporters, the Young Survival Coalition is the only international non-profit organization dedicated to the critical concerns and issues unique to young women affected by breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women age 15 to 40. Through action, advocacy and awareness, the YSC seeks to increase the quality and quantity of life for all young women affected by breast cancer by educating the medical, research, breast cancer and legislative communities and influencing them to address the incidence of the disease in women 40 and under. In addition, the YSC serves as a point of contact and source of support for young women affected by the disease.

“I, like most people, have had multiple family members affected by breast cancer,” said Mari Holden of T-Mobile. “I know I speak for Kristin and Dede in saying how glad we are to help a great organization like the Young Survival Coalition and be a part of such an inspirational day. Sign up today and come ride with us to help break the cycle of breast cancer.”

Kristin Armstrong of TEAm Lipton enjoyed a breakout season in 2004 when she won the National Road Race Championship and earned a spot on the Olympic squad, where she was the top U.S. finisher (Road Race). Her success continued into 2005 as she won the U.S. National Championship (Time Trial) and was the Bronze Medalist at the World Championships Time Trial in Madrid, Spain. This year, Armstrong finished third in both the World Cup (Pursuit) in Australia and the World Cup in Montreal, while recently winning the 2006 Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Mari Holden of T-Mobile Women’s Team is a six-time National Champion and World Time Trial Champion in 2000. She also earned a silver medal in the 2000 Olympic Time Trial, becoming the first U.S. Olympic cyclist since 1984 to win a medal in road cycling. Holden has been touched by breast cancer, as several members of her family had been diagnosed with the disease, including one family member under 30. She is an active volunteer for the Breast Cancer Research Association Foundation. Holden is also a Member of the Athletic Advisory Committee to the U.S. Olympic Committee, USA Cycling Board of Directors and an Athlete Ambassador for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Dede Barry is a former professional racer and member of the United States Cycling Team from 1988 to 2004. A 2004 Olympic silver medalist, Barry also won three World Championship medals, two Pan American Games gold medals, two World Cup championships and six national titles before retiring at the end of the 2004 season. She was also named the 2004 North American Cyclist of the Year. Barry is now an author and columnist for various cycling and sports publications and serves as a coach and consultant.

The 2006 YORK Tour de Pink presented by HERSHEY’S is organized by volunteers and sponsored by York peppermint patties, Hershey’s Kisses chocolates and Hershey’s Nuggets chocolates. The event is produced by g4 Productions – an event planning and production firm specializing in participatory sports and charitable fundraising events.

To register for the YORK Tour de Pink presented by HERSHEY’S, visit www.youngsurvival.org/tourdepink.

About the Young Survival Coalition (www.youngsurvival.org)
The Young Survival Coalition was founded in 1998 by three women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 32 who were discouraged by the lack of information available to young women diagnosed with the disease. With revenue over $1.5 million, close to 11,000 constituents, six full-time staff people and eight affiliates, the YSC works to change the face of breast cancer by advocating for more research on young women and breast cancer and providing this underserved population with programs and services specific to them. The YSC also provides a peer-support network of survivors as well as vital resources to decrease the sense of isolation felt by young women affected by breast cancer.

About The Hershey Company
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading snack food company and the largest North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products. With revenues of over $4 billion and more than 13,000 employees worldwide, The Hershey Company markets such well-known brands as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Kit Kat, Almond Joy, Mounds, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, and Mauna Loa, as well as innovative new products such as Take 5 and Hershey’s Cookies. In addition to its traditional confectionery products, Hershey offers a range of products specifically developed to address the nutritional interests of today’s health-conscious consumer. These products include sugar-free Hershey’s, Reese’s and York candies, and PayDay Pro. It also markets Hershey’s cocoa, Hershey's syrup and other branded baking ingredients, toppings and beverages. In addition, Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company, markets such premium chocolate offerings as Scharffen Berger, known for its high-cacao dark chocolate products, and Joseph Schmidt, recognized for its fine, handcrafted chocolate gifts. Visit us at www.hersheynewsroom.com.

About g4 Productions
g4 productions specializes in the creation, production and management of professional and amateur cycling, running and multi-sport events as well as integrated corporate hospitality programs. g4 Productions provides turnkey opportunities for corporations & organizations that want to target product initiatives, ad/public relations campaigns and events that target an active lifestyle demographic though both sporting events and professional team sponsorship opportunities. For more info on g4 productions, please visit www.g4events.com.

Tour de France Stage 12 - Popo says, "Oh Yes we can", and accelerates to a stage victory. Maybe the thought of Lance coming to visit scared some fast into the DC team Also, Paolo and Benjamin abandoned. Paolo's collision with a spectator who stepped out in front of him messed him. And Bennie must have really been hurting - the guy doesn't easily quit.

Went over Stage One, Stage Two and Stage 5 of the Tour of Utah with a fine-tooth comb yesterday with four of my Team Captain/Drivers. Do I ever have some quality guys - I am sooo happy! They're gonna do an outstanding job for me with my road marshal volunteers. We'll have two more guys for a full team of six vans, each one carrying eight traveling course marshals. Their job is the most difficult and most rewarding ...Without them, the race simply could not happen. Headed out at 6:30 am and got back to the motel about 9:30 pm. Long day in the van for all of us...

Today, we'll recon the awesome Stage Six, finishing at the top of Snowbird. But first, two of my guys have to race the Sundance Hill Climb.Eight gruelling milels of climbing, then shower up and get into the van again today.

Mark Shimahara Bike Zen caught Popo getting ready to do zee kiss, kiss, kiss with a podie girl.

Great that Floyd is in yellow - Maybe some folks will start to realize that riders can suffer, and can win without doping... Poor Discovery Channel - even Johan says that all they can go for now is a stage win..

Heading home from Utah tomorrow night. It's been 16-hour days and I'm fried. Tomorrow will be all day in the van again...,Lots of work to do here...

It's been a whirlwind of cancelled flights and long hours in the van, previewing and planning the road marshal positioning at the Tour of Utah. This is gonna be one awesome race! Stage 6 will be the creme de la creme, and the lactic acid king stage. Starting in Park City, the riders will climb the Alpine Loop at 8036 feet, then Suncrestat 6100 feet, and finish at Snowbird at 8100 feet - 114 miles of riding. A killer final stage...

It was like a climb at the Tour, with some scary fast descents on narrow roads, and slow, grinding climbs. You gotta be here for this stage!

Thanks again to Mark Shimahara Bike Zen for these great close-up shots.

Tour de France Stage 9 pix by Mark Shimahara Bike Zen

So Rest Day, or better named Travel Day, had the additional press rush from the announcement by Floyd Landis that he has avascular necrosis and will have a hip replacement after the Tour ends. He has been riding in intense pain for a long time. The big question is not whether the hip replacement after the Tour will be successful, but whether he can regain and retain his form after he recovers.

The announcement particularly hit me, since I have been dealing with a similar type situation for a few years, stemming from a jogging-in-pain injury that I inflected on myself. I just damn well wouldn’t stop running five painful miles a day, for a couple of years after the hurting started. I am still paying the price for that one... So, I guess if Floyd can disclose the details, then so will I...

The docs suspected that I might have avascular necrosis about 10 or 12 years ago - I had to do all the testing and having dye injected and watching it on the TV above the operating table. It turned out not to be AVN, but they indicated it might be in my future. I had to walk with crutches for 3 or so months, along with cortisone shots, to try to relieve the inflammation. The sports medicine docs talked to me about hip replacement, but no way would I go for that... They said (back then) that hip joint replacement on a younger person meant two or three replacements over their active life span. Oh Man - no way - no way for me.... That’s when I stopped jogging and took up cycling.

So I live with the my mini-version of the stuff that Floyd talks about. I don’t think my pain level is anywhere near what he has, but when he talks about it feeling “like a toothache” and not sleeping at night from the hurting: I know, Dude, I know. So sometimes if you see me lugging my 30 pounds of cameras, or getting out of the car after a long drive, and I’m limping a bit - well, it’s the nasty, raspy hip joint. And when I’m down on the ground, shooting the race, and you see me struggle a bit when I’m trying to stand up - it’s that nasty, raspy hip bone grinding around in my hip joint socket. And if I’m walking along and suddenly swear out loud, Yep, you got it right. But - no biggie - it could be worse - It’s minimal compared to Floyd....

So it really sucks that Floyd is having to deal with this. That tough dude has got a long way to go, and lots of Podium stairs to climb. My money is on Floyd to conquer this just like everything else along the way... He can be my Titanium Man and Eki will be my Iron Man..

And, Cheers to Tom Danielson for his win at the Tour of Austria - he’s cooking and heading for the Tour of Germany and then the Vuelta. Go Tom!

And... I may be very late or not at all with the blog postings while I am madly racing around Utah till Friday night, to get the lay of the land for the race next month. Maybe I can get in at least an Audio post. And don’t forget to volunteer in Utah, so I can see you on the road.... Click on the link...

Tour de France Stage 8 - More from Mark Shimahara Bike Zen. Benjamin Noval grins with his jersey full of water bottles, Chechu takes his turn loading up with bottles, and Dave Zabriskie looks ahead to doing better in the mountains.

Didn't I read that there is a competition among the riders as to who can carry the most bottles? Remember, each bottle weighs sixteen ounces. Some of the guys can carry twelve to sixteen, and more. Do the math.... And they have to work real hard to get back up to the front to deliver those bottles with all that weight on them...

Tour de France - Stage 8 - The French get their second stage win with Sylvain Calzati staying away in a long break-away that started at 46k into the stage. Dave Zabriskie was in the group, but Calzati went solo at 30k from the Finish. The peloton didn’t show much interest in chasing him down until too late.

Calzati sat up and hi-fived his DS at 3.6k to go... He took a small photo from his jersey (his daughter) and kissed it, celebrating all the way through the Finish. I think he dropped out of the Tour last year in Stage 8, so how sweet must this have been for him. And winning in cycling-crazy Brittany is choice...

So Gonchar (or Gontchar - he said NOT to Honchar in an interview yesterday by VeloNews) remains in Yellow. Discovery is just a tad demoralized - Johan said yesterday that if Jan was in the race, the Tour would already be over... It’s gonna take a lot to get any of the Americans or DC racers on the Champs Elysees podium after yesterday.

Floyd is still chugging along, and he has the best shot of finding a podium spot. Phonak needs to get over their mechanical glitches. Maybe Floyd does need to go over to Discovery - their wrenches are the best in the business - rarely is there a screw-up. Yeah, Lance’s rubbing brake was a major screw-up, I know. The wrenches showed it to me the next day, and I saw the cremated brake pad. If anyone says that didn’t happen, they are full of crap, ‘cause I saw it...
George’s ender over his bike in Paris-Roubaix was a defect in the bike, not an error by the wrenches.

Levi looked so downhearted in his interview - you can tell he is just sick about his ITT showing. The Gerolsteiner DS said yesterday that it is all over for his team in terms of a Tour victory. Poor Levi - he has worked his arse off all year in training - The Tour giveth and the Tour taketh... No mercy...

Tomorrow is “Rest Day”. HA - A seven hour trip to the start of the next stage... That is death to the racing legs - they’ll all get on the bikes as soon as they arrive, for a short ride, to keep their legs fresh....

I fried and died at the Coyote Creek Crit yesterday. Hot as Hell, no shade - those guys suffered, and damn it, so did I! I missed the first three races because I had to watch the Tour...Pix are up on Smugmug - follow the link...

Tour de France Stage 7 Individual Time Trial. Mark Shimahara Bike Zen features the Discovery Channel Team in the ITT. Great shots, especially of George Hincapie (middle photo). The large image shows the white, salty sweat on Georges lips and arms. Paolo Savoldelli is the top pic and Chechu rubiera is the bottom pic....

Tour de France Stage 7 - the stage of American Mishaps...

Well, well , well... Who would have expected the Stage 7 Individual Time Trial to end like this. Poor old Bobby Julich ate it right after the start - a hard, ugly fall. He put his hand down, and there went his wrist. His bike flew into the barricades and his hip hit hard on the curb. Into the ambulance and out of the Tour de France. This is the second time he’s crashed out of Tour in a Time Trial.. I’m sure he is bitterly disappointed as his role was the potential team leader of CSC. I wondered if his clincher had rolled off or something... he just leaned right into the pavement.. Bummer for him and for his team.

Levi was the second disappointment - he just didn’t have legs or something. I’m sure we’ll hear more about what his problem was, but he ended up over 5 minutes down. That will extremely difficult to make up in the mountains. Levi was a minute and a half down at the first time check, only 16k from the Start. Christian Van de Velde actually passed Levi on the course, which I’m sure was demoralizing for Levi. CV did a great ride today - he’s a great guy - one of my favorites. Dave Zabriskie didn’t meet expectations for a win today, either. He placed 13th, the only other American in the Top Twenty.

Floyd continued his Time Trial mechanical problems - does he have a TT Jinx? He did extremely well considering he had a problem with his TT handlebars and had to change bikes. Change bikes in the middle of an ITT! Holy Crap - that could be a disaster, but Floyd stayed cool and ended up in the second spot for the stage. Gonchar (also spelled Gontchar and Honchar, depending on what news source you surf on) was elated, to say the least, to bring in the Stage win and the Leader’s Jersey to T-Mobile.

George was steady, but not speedy, at least not the blazing speed we’d hoped for. He passed Thor Hushovd on the way. I think Thor is pretty disheartened and angry, by his relegation and lost hopes for the Green Jersey. George ended up 24th, and I think the Discovery Team will lose their fluorescent number bibs today. Savoldelli did a respectable job for the team - he looked real good today. So did Popo, but no cigar for anyone on the team. Except for my Iron Man, Eki, who by damn, placed 22nd - ahead of George Hincapie.... Jeeze - I just love Eki... Chechu rode very well and placed 26th...

Was funny to see the evident rivalry between Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen on the course. Tom passed Robbie, and they rode almost side-by-side for a while - very ironic. Finally, Boonen stood up and sprinted ahead. Boonen could have dogged it, knowing he was going to lose Yellow today, but he honored the Jersey with a good, hard ride to the Finish, with a respectable time.

Tour de France - Stage 6. Feed Me - Feed Me. Musette Bag time in the Feed Zone. Image by Mark Shimahara Bike Zen.

At long last, a stage with no Carnage Report. Maybe we’re done with those nervous crashes...The run-in to the Finish Line in Vitre was a worry because of the treacherous, narrow course, but the Tour poobahs changed it for safety reasons. So the Lampre and Davitamon teams hauled arse the final kilometers, trying to position their sprinters. I think that Cedric Vasseur has had more daily close-up TV time than anyone else in the peloton - he’s always working so hard. The grimace on his face is a testimony to the long, hard work that the domestiques do up front for their sprinters. It’s not just at lead-out time, either.

Brard, Geslin and Backstadt were so determined in the break-away. Brard, the French Champion, wasn’t willing to sit-up and let the peloton sweep by - he suffered to the last minute, trying to make it to the finish, but was caught at 4k.

Today, Steegmans was a hero in his lead-out for McEwen (yesterday, he was not). It was a perfect lead-out, and Geert sat up grinning, with his arm in the air before Robbie even crossed the line. He knew he’d done his job for the McEwen’s third stage win. Very cool... Needless, to say, Robbie was elated and gave Steegmans the biggest hug after the finish.

The look on Boonen’s face as he gave it his all, realizing he was in the wrong spot, was just terrible. He pounded his handlebars in frustration, after he’d bumped shoulders with Jimmy Casper and got boxed in by Jimmy. Tom came in third, and Phil Liggett wondered if Tom has lost his fast-twitch fibers. The huge Lampre driving effort resulted in a second by Bennati, and they were pleased.

Great, exciting finish today, and tomorrow will be the day to watch. I wanted to shoot a local crit tomorrow, but I gotta watch the TT live! Maybe I’ll try to do both and catch the last of the local race. I am already hating that I will miss watching next Tuesday through Friday while I’m in Utah. I’m sure the cheap-o Days Inn where they booked me doesn’t have OLN. It does have wi-fi, so I can catch it on the Internet. I’m not sure how early we’ll take off in the mornings, so may or may not have time to post to this blog until evening. Aargh.. I hate to miss the Tour live.

BTW - I finally did a podcast yesterday, with tons of "uhs" and "you knows" in it - I hate when I do that ... I'm obviously no Phil or Paul when it comes to live talk. But I'm no way as bad as some of the stuff up there. And I will say that some of the guys need to stick with cycling, or work a bit on their podcasting content.

Oh yes - check out the new icon at the top of my menu on the right. Road ID is a very cool and smart idea from a couple of cyclists. There is no way that any of us should be out on the road or trails without some personal identification on us. Cycling, running , walking, hiking, skating - whatever we do, we could be the next accident that happens. Quickly accessible personal identification could save our life or the life of somebody you love. I saw this and signed up immediately as an Affiliate, mostly to get the word out. Yeah, I make a teeny amount on each sale, but I support this idea 100%.

Tour de France Stage 5 pix from Mark Shimahara Bike Zen Love the close-up of Iron Man Eki!

Tour de France - Stage 5 - Tour Carnage Report, unfortunately, continues. Three (at least) crashes in the nervous peloton today. Looked like the hardest crash was Egoi Martinez, who touched the wheel of an Euskatel rider at a traffic island. Egoi just laid in the road, with his hands over his face... The team doc was there instantly, and so was Dirk Demol. The doc got Egoi up, and we next saw him holding on the Tour doc’s car (for quite a while) with a big bandage on his elbow. The crash occurred in the last ten miles, so Egoi finished and looks to me like he is in no danger of abandoning. However, he lost so much time that his craftily earned 5th GC spot will slip way down. (Is craftily a word - oh well, it works for me.) But, sadly, Egoi joins The Velogal Podium To Pavement Classification.

There were a couple more crashes - a Saunier Duval guy hit his brakes hard and went ass-over-teakettle, or rather handlebars, and caused several riders to go down. My guess is that he heard a sound from ahead that sounded like brakes, so he instantly grabbed his. And another large pile-up closer to the finish - riders from several teams, but no obvious injuries.

The sprint finish was a hummer. McEwen and Boonen were expected to fight it out, but McEwen saw he wasn’t in the right spot, so he kinda sat up. His lead-out guy, Steegmans, didn’t move to the right, and that left a gap that Friere instantly jumped into. It was a great opportunistic move, and Friere hauled A, surprising Boonen who was powering on the left. Friere took the stage win with Boonen at second, but Boonen still retaining the Yellow Jersey. Man, these sprints are a Huge Quads Festival - Those Guys Got Legs... Oh, Yeah... Sweet.

The two break-away guys, Dumoulin and Shroder led for almost 200k, and they didn’t look in all that bad shape at the finish, even with those killer cross-winds blowing off the North Sea. Phil and Paul were wondering on OLN if Tom Boonen had ridden his legs away with all the Classics he’s done - they were wondering if he has the form left for a Stage Win...

Discovery Team Channel still leads the Team Classification, (that’s why the fluorescent yellow bib numbers), and that will either change or get reinforced in the Time Trial on Saturday. So you (and the TV commentators) can recognize the DC guys from the helicopter shots.

And, to recognize Floyd Landis, you can no longer look for the little, wicked goatee under the helmet - he’s shaved it off. Gee, I didn’t think it was thick enough for wind resistance.... By the way, the B&W cover shot of Floyd, (maybe I told you already), on Road Magazine was awesome. That is the classiest cycling mag in existence today... Check it out and tell Neil Browne I sent you.

I had the worst time yesterday accessing Mark Shimahara’s images that he sent from France. Earthlink, in it’s paternalistic wisdom, decided the file was too large and dumped it into an Undeliverable Folder in my Web Mail... I had to go thru a worthless 25 minute Live Chat, and then a phone call to a customer service rep in India, which was also worthless. I finally got to a broadband tech support gal, who fixed it for me... I am normally a mellow kinda gal, but I was just a hair away from a temper tantrum by the time it got fixed. Earthlink, let me decide what file is too large, OK? Mark and I can’t be the only photographers in the entire Earthlink network who send large image files....

More Mark Shimara Bike Zen Tour de France Stage 4. Nice shot of Egoi Martinez on the podium as Most Combative Rider. Only shot of Egoi on this podium that I've seen so far....

Tour de France - Stage 4. I’m starting to think that we're gonna to need a daily Tour Carnage Report. Jeeze - the crashes and weird stuff keeps on happening. I knew that Sandy Caspar had crashed yesterday, and it turns out that it was caused by a drunken spectator, who then almost got into a fight with the DS. While that was going on, spectators tired to steal Sandy’s wheels! OMG... Can you believe it?

Stuart O’Grady is riding with a cracked vertebrae from yesterday’s crash. In a pre-race interview with Frankie Andreu, Stuey said he is in a lot of pain - “like a knife stuck in my back”. For a tough guy like him to even say that, it must be hurting like Hell. Imagine all the bouncing around on the road going right through his spine.

Chris Horner is riding with a dislocated little finger - it’s splinted up around his hand. He said they were shooting the gutter, with smooth pavement, and that the village must have run out of money, ‘cause it suddenly turned into dirt and they took a header, going 50 mph.

So Johan Bruyneel was still making crafty moves with the Time Bonus Sprints, and Egoi Martinez took every one of them for something like 18 seconds, which moved him into 5th in the GC. He was in the break-away group that stayed out till about 7km from the finish. Egoi was pulling 800 watts of power and redlining on his heart rate monitor. The two guys, Martinez and Lefevre, were caught by the frantically chasing, loosely organized sprinters lead-out men at 2Km.

There was another crash on the turn leading to the finish, mostly Euskaltel-Euskadi guys, Iban Mayo went down and some stopped to help him. Julian Dean fell over sideways at the finishing sprint - he just started leaning and over he went like the 2,000-year-old man on the old, old Saturday Night show.

It was kinda amusing to see José Luis Arrieta drafting the team vehicles to get back to the peloton after a flat. He ended up drafting the red Official’s car on camera. Usually, unless a rider stays a long time behind a car, the officials look the other way. However they could hardly overlook this, but they did....

The TV screen kept showing the SRAM heart rate for several riders - my Iron Man, Eki, rode along with the lowest damn hear rate you could imagine. That guy is a wonder, riding his 15th Tour. I hope he rides the Tour next year to even out the record of 16 Tours held by Joop Zoetermelk.

Tour de France - Stage 3 - More awesome pix fom Mark Shimahara Bike Zen. Go to his site to see more, larger pix...

Love these pix! Thanks, Mark, for sending my blog readers these exclusive shots - Whatta guy you are...

This is from the Gazet van Antwerpen, in Belgium. Translation: "Another French Invention?"

Thanks to my Belgian Connection!

Stage Three was killer heat - they said the reflected temp was 122 degrees Fahrenheit - there were lots of flats. I remember being there in that kind of heat and my Nikes were sticking to the asphalt. It’s brutal, totally brutal. And so was the luck of Freddie Rodriguez, Erik Dekker and Alejandro Valverde - all victims of what seemed to be careless, slow crashes. All out of the Tour de France and to the hospital with likely broken collarbones. Freddie and Erik were riding slowly in the back of the peloton, near the curb, and down they went. Alejandro was in the closely-packed middle of the bunch - a dangerous place for a potential Tour winner to be. Almost certainly. it was the touch of wheels that brought him down and out for good.

And how about Tom Boonen taking fourth in the final sprint and claiming the GC lead with a flat tire? He’d had a slow leak since the Cauberg. Is this a Tour first - getting into the Yellow Jersey and onto the Podium with a flat tire?

T-Mobile will be happy with Kessler and Rogers taking a first and second in the stage - Now Rogers is back 0.01, Hincapie back 0.05 and Hushovd back 0.07 in the GC.

One of my favorite things to do is catch the headlines of American newspapers during the Tour. Many of the “sportswriters” don’t have a clue about cycling - some are soo dumb and funny. Here’s an example from the Seattle Times, American Hincapie Loses His Yellow Shirt. An Allentown paper zinged this headline about Floyd, From Farm to Fame...not bad, not bad.

And I listen, when I drive, to San Francisco’s KGO Radio, and I notice they give Tour headlines in their Sports Headlines report. Now, I’m usually in France during July, so maybe they’ve done this all along for the past five years, but I remember when any kind of cycling news would never show up in radio or TV sports shows. Yep, I think America loves cycling with or without Lance... No problem, we'll be watching and volunteering for cycling in America.

Stage 2 - More great shots from Mark Shimahara Bike Zen. Hop on over to his site for a larger view of these images. Love this one of Floyd - such a powerful shot... Yeow... sweet - wish I'd done that shot! It would be great in a 16x20 size poster..

Final sprint and time bonus sprints were where the action was today in Stage 2 of Le Tour. The Golden Viking, Thor Hushovd, with bandaged arm, outsprinted and surprised Robbie McEwen for bonus points at one of the intermediate sprints - really exciting to watch. And Thor was sprinting in the final run-in, but McEwen powered on to win. Thor pulled his foot out of the pedal and lost momentum. But, Thor picked up time to regain the leader’s jersey from George Hincapie, and the tough Viking looked a little emotional on the podium.

As a result of Thor’s injury in yesterday’s finish, where Tom Boonen also got whacked by a fan’s camera, those ugly, green PMU hands are banned in the last two kilometers of a stage. The Caravane cannot hand them out, nor can fans wave them about. I think the Tour security guys will be watching the finish lines very closely for fans who hang out into the way with junk or cameras in their hands.

Thanks to my Belgian connection, here is a quote from Tom Boonen about yesterday’s stage, "I got hit in the shoulder by someone's camera, right at the spot where I fractured that collarbone last year. My shoulder went numb. Next thing I knew, there was blood everywhere. On my jersey, my shorts, my shoes, blood everywhere. I knew it was not coming from my shoulder, and I could not figure it out. It was scary. Then when I crossed the line, I saw Thor on the ground, bleeding profusely. It was not my own blood, it was his blood I had on me. Had that cardboard hand sliced a major artery, and with his heart pumping the way it was, it would have killed him."

I wanted to note yesterday that Jimmy Casper won his first stage at the Tour, and Jimmy Casper has also been the Lanterne Rouge at the Tour, not once but twice. How sweet it must have been for him to be first - he’s experienced both ends of the Tour.

Caught an OLN Craig Hummer interview of George Hincapie in front of the Discovery Team bus, where Chris Brewer was predominately in the background. Chris was looking very bodyguard-ish, kinda mean and don’t mess with me. He was gesturing “no” to people who were trying to get in the scene or cross the yellow tape. Doing a pretty good job, it looked like to me... So George is down now by something like nine seconds, which means nothing this early in the game. And I think that Johan didn’t want to use the team’s energy to defend the leader’s jersey this early in the Tour - so no problem that George loses the jersey right now....

Thanks to Mark Shimahara Bike Zen for the shot of George in yellow at the end of Stage 1, and the image of George and Levi talking helmets before the stage started. All of Mark's great Tour images are for sale on his site. Check 'em out and buy one!