Astana. Bull. Horns.

So the TTT is over, and as the smoke clears the devastation is plain to see. I have a strange feeling of de ja vu - memories of the same turquoise armada eating up the Spanish countryside, albeit led by faces we'd all rather forget.

BUT
What? (I hear you say - There are no buts) - but here it is. The tour suffers the same disease as the world cup final. I've said it before, but at the tour there is too much to loose. Riders risk their whole season to hit the top 10 in France in the summertime. Attack and hit the red zone? No thanks. This tends to make for defensive racing, especially from the leaders. Witness Menchov at the Giro - all he had to do was follow. Astana? How can they play the next 2+ weeks?

In my book the TTT was the best thing that could possibly happen to Evans, Sastre, the Schlecks and Denis. Now, they have nothing to loose. There is a bat's chance in hell that they will put 2 minutes into Contador in the hills, and if he falters there is always Levi, Lance, Kloden... No, these guys have to attack and attack hard.

My hope? That they quickly realise their predicament and start making friends. A marriage of convenience between Menchov and Evans? Astana letting Sastre run up the slopes for a bit? The best (and worst) days at the tour are born out of desperation, and after stage 4 there is plenty of that to go around.

It will only get better from here.

Saxo (laughing all the way to the) Bank

The lead up to the Tour is usually just as interesting as the race itself.

The one year it looks, as if Cadel might have had a team that could be within a 50km radius of him over the 3 weeks was dealt a blow with the news of Dekker testing positive for blood booster EPO. Apparently, though not all is lost they have 11 on the roster for the 9-man team and now it is whittled down to 10 – based on the previous Belgian decisions MIT won’t be surprised if the 10th is a man named Tyler.

In camp Saxo, Bjarne seems to have been preparing the team by watching re-runs of Seinfeld or The Comedy Company. Replying to the news that stage 10 & 13 will be “radio- free”, Voigt has suggested helmet free days or two days without cables in the brakes. Maybe not champagne comedy but a good try by Jens, his boss though has a slightly different sense of humour – thinking if the potential for unrest and conflict within the Astana squad does occur then he believes “it’ll be fun to watch”. We all do miss T-Mobile don’t we….

Around the corner

What with Michael Jackson dead and Lance Armstrong back this years tour will be unlike anything in the past few years - guarenteed. Though, to be fair, we've said that every year since the predictable Disco show left the roads of France after 7 years of utter domination.
The return of the texan is not the only news in this, the last week before Le Tour 09 hits the asphalt.

2 Leaders at Astana and counting...
So Bert and Lance don't get a long, but the third and fourth contenders vying for Bruneels attention are Levi and the ever weird Kloden. Both have pudium time in Paris and neither are particularly good at playing second fiddle. Sort of makes you wonder who in Astana will ride on the front. But then, this worked so well for T-Mobile...

Cervelo split focus
Not that this is die to lack of confidence in the reigning golden boy Sastre, but Cervelo are taking Thor along to try for the double - yellow AND green in Paris. With no Boonan to fight, Thor just needs to hold a few second places behind Cav then make it over the hills to secure another fancy green sweater. BUT (and it's a big one) will splitting the team just make victory in either competition all the more elusive? Lotto?

Caisse crossing fingers
With no Valverde, I guess Caisse will cross their fingers and look to Pereiro - so long as he has recovered from that truly terrible fall last year.

Garmin offering cash to anyone. Anyone.
Rumours have it Garmin were hoping to nab Albert should Astana miss their rental payment, but with the Kasakhs coming through with the cash (or at least some of it) the deal never game off. Nor will we be seeing a Livestrong team at the tour this year (though maybe next time) - but how committed to the Astana label do we think Albert is now... With no Albert, Garmin will hope VV has a very good day. It has happened before.

As always at this crazy time of year the news is thick and fast, and there will doubtless be more to roll out before a cleat is clicked in Monaco.

Gerrans the Great?

Unlike Robbie or Browny, this stage win by an Australian is something special. Simon Gerrans, the small rider from country Victoria is (in my eyes at least) like a Stuey O'Grady and shows what Australian cycling is about.
Yes Robbie et al have won stages on the major tours but to be honest to be a sprinter and have a train help you when needed and then pull out half way through a tour just doesn't seem right to me, reminds me of some wild nights in my youth - a crazy blur over way too quickly and with no meaning - anyway enough about me....

Gerrans second stage win in a Grand Tour (or whatever they call them nowadays) shows that he is on the verge of becoming one of the countries great cyclists. Gerran's is becoming a threat in the peleton and being part of a strong team will only enhance his prospects for greatness.

10 seconds in Stage 10

History repeats. If you don't believe me look at Le Tour 06 and Giro 09. Large climb, a pivotal stage and a leader blows his competition away. One being Floyd the other Danilo. One busted before the stage for involvement in unacceptable substances, the other found out after the fact.
Was it just me or did you see the recent stage 10 and just think this doesn't seem totally kosher? Hey even I can ride and have a grimace on my face showing that I'm struggling for hours (OK so that's my normal riding face), but De Luca's performance looked suspicious. Just think of Ricco, Vino, and Landis - there is a common theme - no?
If you think I'm jumping at shadows have a look at Danilo on the podium - how many of you would have a stone(d) face while being kissed by two podium girls?

The prosecution rests your honour.