'No change in heart - a change in me...'

I got bored with regular titles as links, so I opted for Disney characters. I don't know why exactly - perhaps because it was one of the few things not already used. Now I can keep things alphabetized even when people change their titles =) This makes me very happy.

If you are unhappy with your name, or simply want an explaination, let me know - I shall be happy to accomodate...within reason.

'I am taking you with me' 'I am keeping you here...'

So I'm back. From vacation, from the Tour, from everything. This is gonna be huge - get ready!

First, I have to discuss this. So I wake up on Thursday morning to the press screaming about Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. A sample tested after stage 17 (the most amazing stage in cycling history) showed 'abnormal levels of testosterone/epitosterone' in Landis' system and if a second test shows the same results, he could be stripped of his title. My heart broke upon first hearing the news. Why? Why why why why why? Is nothing honest anymore? But then, I started thinking about it. How could someone be so dumb as to take steroids in the middle of a race, and then make the biggest comeback ever in the Tour? Could he really think he wouldn't be tested for every type of drug known to man? The answer is no - he couldn't have. So this leads me to believe him when he says that it's a natural metabolic occurance. This used to happen all the time in the beginning years of the race - people had bad days and their levels dropped, good ones and they went way up. In Floyd's case, they are waiting for a second sample to come back. If the levels are normal, he will be cleared immediately. If not, as will likely be the case, it's going to be trickier. He maintains however, that he has always been one to produce high levels of testosterone and can be tested outside of Tour conditions to prove this. He wants to clear his name, even if it's impossible to clear his reputation. Seriously though, the reasons against a doping case are astounding. How many cyclists were involved in a doping scandal right before the Tour began? 56. And how many were barred from their scheduled start? All nine that were part of the 56, including 2 projected winners. Add to that testosterone is a mass-building horomone that would more hinder than help a cyclist, and maybe Landis has some credibility here. The press does tend to get a bit crazed over this - especially the French concerning American's and their Tour. Personally, I have my fingers crossed. Regardless of this outcome however, the UCI has to do something about doping and cycling. It is officially out of countrol.

Okay, that's out of my system. I am tossing around another Tour-related idea that is absolutely crazy but rather than mention it here and be told a million ways that it is dumb, I'm going to think it over a bit more first. Now we're gonna go back in time and I'm gonna cover a few big events that I missed during the course of the Tour that nonetheless have played a major part in my summer.

Pool Party: The Sequel and The Golden Girls' Reunion

A bunch of other people have covered it already, but as the hostess, I get to, also. So I took off from work on Friday the 14th to get all set up for the festivities. I had to pick K-Laz up from the airport when her plane got in at around 12:20. I was actually nervous, I'd never been to pick someone up from the airport before, so there were a million ways I could mess up. Well, I found the place and after her plane finished taxi-ing around, oh, an hour or so later, we headed home. Much wonderful conversation and music followed on the ride home and as we waited for the others to arrive. Apparently, the time I give for things means nothing, as people show up when they are ready. Fortunately, the parentals are accomodating to out-of-towners. Dino, Kate, George, and Alysssa got to my humble abode at around 4:00 followed by Liz and the night of madness began. Events included:

Jump Contest aka The Leap of Imminent Pain: Let's figure out how flinging ourselves in to the air and water will inflict the most amount of damage on those imitating it afterwards. Awesome. Cartwheels, handstands (which I am no longer allowed to do), toe-touches, leaps (which Dino is no longer allowed to do), and flips that turn into backflops, if you're George, which I imitated to perfection topped the list of death-defying feats. Anyone who was to afraid to attempt, was thrown in, and usually ended up in even more pain as a result.

(insert the arrival of Amanda Greg, Chris, Jo-Anna, Davey and Felicia (from home))

10 on 2 Basketball aka How many people can you have attached to your being in a ten-foot pool before you drown - and more importantly, would you let go of the ball?: This was by far the most insane game of basketball I have ever participated in in my life. I will forever have the image of Dino backing Kelly in to a wall, towering over her, screaming 'WHAT? WHAT?' after he - approximately a foot taller - scored on her. Despite many attempts at drowning various boys, they still beat us. I think it has something to do with the fact that we can't shoot a basket to save our lives, most of the time...or that most of us were about half the size of George and Dino. Chris and Greg have no excuse. My contribution came with a flying leap off the stairs in the more evenly matched game to steal the ball from Chris. No one saw it coming, least of all Felicia, whose head I dove over in the process.

Five Team Chicken Fight aka Not-So-Sudden Death: As we paired off for the second round of chicken fighting, the teams were deep in conversation. About three and a half minutes into the plotting, Jo Anna astutely pointed out that 'It's a chicken fight'. This true statement was mulled over for .087 seconds before it was met by shouts of 'WE ARE STRATIGIZING FOR LIFE' by the males, who promptly went back to planning. After a quick weigh-in, I was deemed least likely to permanently paralyze Davey and we took to the Ring of Death. After a no-holds-barred, "I see boobies", insult-filled battle, I am quite pleased to say that we did not come in last. Fourth, thank you very much. If I was sore waking up the next morning, I do not evny the boys.
(exit a not totally up right Davey, and Alyssa)

Cranium aka Battle of The Sexes: The evening closed out with a not-so-friendly game of Cranium. From my apparently robotic representation of "evolution" and butt-shaped tombstones, to Chris's sacreligious yet futile portrayal of "congregation" and Dino's lack of creativity in acting out Shakespeare's plays it was utterly ridiculous. Jo Anna, Kate and I are unbeatable.

And so concluded the pool party portion of the weekend. After K-Laz's first trip to a Wawa, the remaining Golden Girls, sans Kate, headed off to my grandma's where we talked til the early morning, broke a glass, then slept til 11 AM. Cue Saturday. The morning was spent lounging and chatting at Grandma's. We then headed back to Edgewater to catch up on Stage 12 of the tour, as Liz is my fellow cycling-junkie, and to watch an episode or two of Grey's. Lovely. Then it was off to Collingswood to see the utterly amazing, ever entertaining, indescribably gorgeous Matt Duke. Yum. 'If he sang it, I would do it.' Yes, yes I believe I would. The trip home involved much swooning, and sightseeing of assorted place's one Matt Duke mentioned, and of Moorestown, the best town in America to live two years running - seriously. More Wawa, and then off to bed with us. Sunday morning was the Golden Girl's Church Fashion show. Sorry most of you missed it. Back home to watch stage 13 and get K-Laz and Amanda hooked to the Tour. Amanda, however, though intrigued could not understand much of the common courtesies of the tour. "Dear Bobke - why aren't they better?" And so concluded an amazing weekend - the girls headed off, I took Kelly to the airport and went home to a much emptier house in sadness. The evening, to raise my spirits, Christopher and I taught ourselves the beginning dance sequence of Tango: Maureen. We are amazing.

Family Values

Tuesday was much more interesting than I expected it to be. I had taken off from work to chaperone my six-year-old cousin Tommy's trip to the Franklin Institute with his Day Care. Having discovered that I was cool enough to be introduced to his friends, the following conversation ensued:
Thomas: 'Well, you have a boyfriend, don't you?'
Me: (amazed I'm discussing my relationship status with my six year old cousin) '...actually I don't anymore'
Thomas: 'Huh...well what happened?'
Me: (still amazed) 'He, uh,er...found a new girlfriend...'
Thomas: 'Oh...I liked Brian'
Me: '...guh-der-i-ah...I did too...'
Thomas: '...well?'
Me: 'He found a new girlfriend, too.'
Thomas: (deep in thought) 'huh...' (pause) ' Why don't you date him?' (gestures to freckle-faced boy in his class)
Me: (Looking from Thomas, to boy, and back to Thomas) 'Tom - how old is he?'
Boy: (self-satisfied) 'I'm ten.'

Me: 'Right.'

Ladies and gentlemen, my life has hit a new low. But that will forever be my favorite exchange with Thomas Seeds, my bleeding heart, ever helpful cousin.

Jersey's Finest

More moments with Thomas followed this past week as my entire maternal side of the family headed down to the Jersey Shore for our annual Sea Isle trip. Can I just say that I love that my two uncles own a house down there but we don't stay in it because our family's too big? Yeah - try fifteen, plus Jenna or another friend I bring with. This trip, whether I admit it or not, and whether my family believes it or not, has always been and still is my favorite part of the summer. Highlights included:

(as my brother shared his music with Tom)
Aunt Martha: Do you know what your listening to Tom?
Tom: '...no.'
My Mom: 'Oh, it's that Party at the Psycho.'
Me: 'Panic! at the Disco, Mom? Party! at the Psycho? Seriously? Seriously, Mom?'

- Will Grogan, Jenna, and I laughing for hours on end - 'MAX! MAKE ME A TURKEY SANDWICH!'
- Cousin Kelsey and I getting asked 'If we'd met Johnnie Ray?' and four questions by lifegaurds (1. SPF of preference, 2. Three people we'd spend the last day of our lives with 3. Gorgeous and bland personality or hideous and hysterical for a husband? 4. Supporter of gay marriage)
- The entire clan going to play miniature golf.
- Felicia and I walking 10 miles and sitting on the huge rocks in the tide pool, discussing the future and how we seriously want to settle down.
-Planning the future bar crawl and reward cruise.
-Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights

Seriously, this vacation was beautiful. Not nearly long enough though. I didn't get o go surfing with Will and I miss it like crazy. Just like I missed him. Our mom's were best friends at Holy Cross, we grew up together. I taught him the dangers of fire when our families went to Vermont when we were toddlers and he taught me to surf last summer. He is my perfect partner in comedy. And I don't see nearly enough of him. Spending time with Jen on Sunday was nice even if we just stayed in and watched movies. And Felicia and I had a great time at the end of the week. Seriously, despite our falling out last summer, she is still my closest friend from Holy Cross. Even with all of the changes, we have the most in common. I love it. And Havana Nights? I'm serious, people. I didn't want to watch it - she made me - and I love her for it. Jesus, why can't that be me? I want to go to Cuba and meet a ridiculously sweet boy and have him teach me to dance and wear amazing clothes and gaaaaahhhhh. Watch it and tell me I'm wrong.

Come Together

My beach trip was broken up and cut a few hours short by my running back and forth for play practices. We are off book, final line call is on Monday. It's going well. Today was a huge tech day. Prop Hunt 2006: Team Eta! I got to work box office. ATTENTION!!!! If you are interested in coming to see The Matchmaker, August 9-12 at 8 PM in Cinnaminson, NJ please let me know so I can reserve you a ticket. The Theater is small and we do SELL OUT. They are $10 when you pick them up the night of. I love box office. We had a workshop on stage managing - I have a huge huge respect for them, They do more work then you could ever realize. Then we had a costume parade - I am in love, L-O-V-E love with my costumes and hats. Vintage and amazing - I was born in the wrong century. I painted (and got paint on my shoe =( ) and clean paint off the carpet a million times. More importantly over the last few weeks the cast and crew is getting close. Finally. They're amazing, really. So tech week is almost upon us, and I can't wait! Love the part, love the clothes, love the people - love theater.

This post has made me very happy, so I will not dwell on the few icky things that have been occurring, because they are vastly outnumbered by the good. Vastly. Here's to hoping that sticks around.

Stage Twenty...

Stage Twenty:
1st: Thor Hushovd - Norway - Credit-Agricole - 3:56:52
2nd: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto - 3:56:52
3rd: Stuart O'Grady - Australia - CSC - 3:56:52

Overall:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 85:42:30
2nd: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - (+ :57)
3rd:Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 1:29)
4th: Carlos Sastre - Spain - CSC - (+ 3:13)
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 5:08)
6th Denis Menchov - Russia - Rabobank - (+7:06)
7th: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R - (+8:41)
8th:Christophe Moreau - France - AG2R - (+9:37)
9th: Haimar Zubeldia - Spain - Euskatel - (+12:05)
10th: Michael Rodgers - Australia - T-Mobile - (+15:07)
11th: Frank Schleck - Luxembourg - CSC - (+17:46)
12th: Damiano Cunego - Italy - Lampre - (+19:19)
13th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 19:22)
14th: Michael Boogard - Netherlands - Rabobank - (+19:46)
15th: Marcus Fothen - Germany - Gerolsteiner - (+19:57)
19th: Jose Azevedo - Portugal - Discovery (+ 38:08)
24th: Christian Vandevelde - USA - CSC - (+50:19)
25th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 52:02)
32nd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 1:11:22)
53rd: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC - (+1:50:41)
74th: David Zabriskie - USA - CSC - (+2:33:36)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Floyd Landis
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Damiano Cunego (Italy)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Michael Rasmussen
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): David de la Fuente

So after three long, heartwrenchng and ultimately shocking weeks the 2006 Tour de France has come to a close. And for the eighth time in eight years - the eleventh time in twenty-one years and American has won the Tour de France. Floyd Landis officially took his place atop the podium in Paris today and got the winner's yellow jersey. The yellow jersey race was pretty much done as of yesterday, though that was not the case for the white jersey. There was a shaky moment for Cunego, who allowed main rival Fothen to get in a breakaway that was nearly successful on the Champs d'Elysais, compounded when Cunego got a flat tire. The breakaway was caught, however, though there were several more attacks in an attempt to ruin the stage for the sprinters. No such luck though. It appeared as though McEwen was going to take the stage, but Thor hushovd, winner of the prolouge put in the extra effort and took the final stage, going full circle. None of this matter in the overall standings, however. The jersey competition was completed. An awesome, awesome tour in the end. I was a bit skeptical, but in the end I was very very pleased. Way to go Floyd Landis, way to go America. Vive le Tour!

Stage Nineteen...

Stage Nineteen:
1st: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - 1:07:45
2nd: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile - 1:08:26
3rd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 1:08:56

Overall:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 85:42:30
2nd: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - (+ :59)
3rd:Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 1:29)
Other notables:
4th: Carlos Sastre - Spain - CSC - (+ 3:13)
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 5:08)
13th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 19:22)
19th: Jose Azevedo - Portugal - Discovery (+ 38:08)
25th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 52:02)
32nd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 1:11:22)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Floyd Landis
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Damiano Cunego (Italy)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Michael Rasmussen
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): N/A

It's all but official. Floyd Landis wins the yellow jersey, making it the eighth year in a row and American has won the Tour de France. Although Pereire is only about a minute down, the odds of an attack are highly unlikely, as tomorrow is seen almost as just a formality. There will likely be a sprint finish, but that competition is pretty locked up as well. Today's time trial went to plan, with Honchar dominating as in Stage Seven, but Landis easily beating his main competition. Pereiro did hang in a bit longer than expected and in the end, he held on for second place overall. Well done for a man not known for his time-trialing. The news of the day came in the white jersey competition when Cunego held on and extended a five second lead over competition Fothen to remain the best young rider in the race. Not a huge surprise when you realize he won the Tour of Italy at 22, but still a bit unexpected. So there you have it. I may or may notbe updating tomorrow as I am off to the shore, but at my earliest convenience I'll put the final standing and figures. You guys have practically made it through my coverage of the Tour - good job.

Stage Eighteen...

Stage Eighteen:
1st: Matteo Tosatto - Italy - Quickstep - 4:16:15
2nd: Cristian Moreni - Italy - Cofidis - 4:16:15
3rd: Ronny Scholz - Germany - Gerolsteiner - 4:16:17

Overall:
1st: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - 84:33:04
2nd: Carlos Sastre - CSC - Spain - ( + :12)
3rd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ :30)
Other notables:
4th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 2:29)
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 3:08)
13th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 15:01)
19th: Jose Azevedo - Portugal - Discovery (+ 34:01)
25th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 48:45)
32nd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 1:07:33)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Oscar Periero
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Damiano Cunego (Italy)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Michael Rasmussen
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): Levi Leipheimer

Compared to the last few days, today's stage was quiet. A relatively flat stage with a perfect sprinters' finish, a breakaway of 15 riders survived, with three leaders separating from that to win the stage. Leipheimier tried valiantly for a stage win, but attacked too soon and was picked back up. Other than that, nothing really changed. Egoi Martinez was in the breakaway for Discovery, further proving they were trying to salvage an otherwise distasterous tour with stage wins. No luck on that, though. All anyone was really talking about was the miraculous turn-around for Landis, and how, essentially, he is the front runner, despite being in third. The time-trial is his play ground and in the Stage 7 ITT, he finished over a minute ahead of the two men ahead of him. I don't want to jinx it...but he's right there. Barring extreme circumstance...but you can't really do that on this tour. It is literally coming down to this. Tomorrow's stage should be fantastic. Please please please don't choke Floyd!!

Stage Seventeen...

Stage Seventeen:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 5:23:36
2nd: Carlos Sastre - Spain - CSC - 5:29:18
3rd: Christophe Moreau - France - AG2R - 5:29:34

Overall:
1st: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - 80:08:49
2nd: Carlos Sastre - CSC - Spain - ( + :12)
3rd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ :30)
Other notables:
4th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 2:29)
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 3:08)
18th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 22:01)
19th: Jose Azevedo - Portugal - Discovery (+ 34:01)
24th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 48:51)
32nd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 1:07:33)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Oscar Periero
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Damiano Cunego (Italy)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Michael Rasmussen
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): Floyd Landis

Holy God. If anyone needed to understand why I'm so attached to this tour all they had to do was watch yesterday's and today's stages in succession. These posts make me sound bipolar, but the impossible happens day after day in this thing. Everytime it seems like the field is sorting itself out, something totally incredible happens. Today's instance: Floyd Landis. Everyone - announcers, fans, Floyd himself had pretty much said 'Alright, good game' after losing over eight minutes yesterday and falling out of the top ten. And then today, he got into an early breakaway and dropped the leaders. He looked nothing like the man from stage sixteen who hit the wall. He was back to typical form. And it looked like he was simply riding out for a stage victory. And then he started putting on time over the breakaway containing about 35 of the big names (and 4 Discovery members, hanging in there). Then he caught up to the leaders. And then he was in the lead. And he wasn't racing for the stage anymore. He was racing for the yellow jersey again. At several points on the road he gave himself enough time to get it, but with the last climb of the day he lost a bit of his lead. Still - he went from being eight minutes down to thirty seconds. SECONDS. He's in third place. I don't know how to say it - but that just doesn't happen. This stage was unbelieveable. People in the booth put down their calculators because once again the board was turned upside down and it came down to the clock at the very end to see who would be where in the standings. Landis was accused of having no panache by the French press when he was in the yellow jersey. This would be a big f-you to them from Mr. Landis. You don't get anymore amazing than that. Now with tomorrow bwing a fairly inconsequencial undulating stage, it comes down to the final 54 km individual time trial on Saturday to decide this race. Floyd's specialty is time trialing...he could amaze us all. I love this thing.

Stage Sixteen...

Stage Sixteen:
1st: Michael Rasmussen - Denmark - Rabobank - 5:36:04
2nd: Carlos Sastre - CSC - Spain - 5:37:45
3rd: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - 5:37:58

Overall:
1st: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - 74:38:05
2nd: Carlos Sastre - CSC - Spain - ( + 1:50)
3rd: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 2:29)
Other notables:
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 2:56)
9th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 7:46)
11th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 8:08)
20th: Jose Azevedo - Portugal - Discovery (+ 19:46)
26th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 34:36)
52nd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 53:18)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Oscar Periero
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Michael Rasmussen
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): CSC
Red Number (Most Competitive): Michael Rasmussen

This stage broke my heart. It didn't make me angry, just very sad. It was another punishing mountain stage. Rasmussen, the King of the Mountain winner of 2005, shined from 5 km on, a clear cut winner from the beginning. But in the race for the yellow jersey, there was pandemonium. A breakaway of 14 followed Rasmussen and two others and contained a few Discovery riders, including Popovich. With four mountains to cross thoughm they could not stay seperated from the major contenders. The carnage known as the Peleton was scattered across the Alps after the first mountain of the day and highest mountain of the Tour, the Col de Galibier. Five riders dropped out today alone, bringing the field down to 147 riders. The decents of the day were treacherous, but oddly enough the safer ones saw more crashes. By the final mountain of the day, several of the main contenders were traveling together - Kloden, Evans, Landis, Sastre, and Menchov. Members of T-Mobile and CSC were present to help Kloden and Sastre, respectively, but Landis and the yellow jersey were alone. And he paid for it. An acceleration at the front of the group was not answered by Landis. He totally cracked. It was so sad. The group picked up more and more time on him and he rode most of the final ten km by himself, with people passing him left and right until one of his teammates, Axel Merckx who has worked so hard for the last couple days, caught up and led him into the line. It's hard to say anything for definite with this tour as things are constantly being turned inside out, but with time running out and another tough stage tomorrow, Floyd may have just lost his chance at winning or even taking the podium. It's devestating. Also disappointing on the day was an ineffectual attack by Leipheimer. He was gaining time for awhile but ended the day right where he started, actually losing a few seconds. Poor, poor USA. Periero, on the other hand is totally defying the odds and looking amazing in the mountains, which are not typically his strong point. The other contenders are kicking themselves for letting him get that half-hour lead before the rest day. Most of us called that though. Tomorrow is the final day in the Alps, and then its just 2 more stages before Paris. What a Tour.

Stage Fifteen...

Stage Fifteen:
1st: Frank Schleck - Luxembourg - CSC - 4:52:22
2nd: Damiano Cunego - Italy - Lampre - 4:52:33
3rd: Stefano Garzelli - Italy - Liquigas - 4:53:32

Overall:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 69:00:05
2nd: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes -(+ :10)
3rd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R (+ 2:02)
Other notables:
6th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 2:29)
7th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 2:56)
9th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 6:18)
13th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 7:36)
25th: Jose Azevedo* - Portugal - Discovery (+ 13:47)
38th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 26:18)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Floyd Landis
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente (Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): CSC
Red Number (Most Competitive): Stefano Garzelli (Italy)

The Alps always hold something special, particularly when the include the famed Alpe d'Huez. If you're a non-cycling fan and you think of one memorable image you've seen in passing from the tour, odds are its from Alpe d'Huez. Lance on the US Postal Team glancing over his shoulder at Jan Ulrich? Yup, 2001. Lance riding alone with his sun glasses on, yellow jersey unzipped and cross dangling as he peddled up hill? Mmhmm, 2004 time trial. How about fans swamping the road so that you can't see where the path is until you're already on it? Yeah, every year. I don't want to hear the cycling has no fan base. On this mountain alone, whenever it's included in the tour anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000 fans show upfrom across the world. Unbelievable. And they are insane. Absolutely crazy. And that's even without being completely intoxicated. They run along side, in front of and around the riders in costumes, with flags, or totally naked. They stand in the middle of the road snapping pictures until the last possible second, and are so loud you can barely hear the commentary from the box. Cycling legends are made on this mountain. Today was no exception. On a very strategic day of racing with two other climbs, the tour did not disappoint. A lead breakaway of 25 riders contained no one who is really still a yellow jersey contender, but several big names, like Zabriskie, Jens Voight, George Hincapie, Egoi Martinez, and several others. Martinez actually crashed out, but remained in the race. The same does not go for Tom Boonen who abandoned the race today, daunted by the Alps. He has yet to finish a Tour de France. There were a few attacks through out the day before the final major climb where all hell broke loose. The breakaway fell apart and the Peloton shattered. At the base of the Alpe d'Huez the contenders made their moves. Landis, Kloden, Leipheimer, Evans, Menchov - all were in fantastic form. Menchov and Evans did crack a little though. Landis and Kloden though looked amazing. Periero lost the jersey to Landis by the time he crossed the line, but still road very well considering he was not expected to be in the GC at all. I wish I could go into more detail on the stage, but there was just so much that happened, it's hard to pick and choose what to include. Just know that this year's trip up the Alpe d'Huez more than lived up to its precursors. In other news, Lance Armstrong made the trip to France yesterday and was seen riding the Alpe d'Huez on the rest day. He rode the mountain 4 times in the tour, winning the stage twice - once in 2001, and once when it was made into a time trial in 2004. This time though, no one recognized him. How strange. He rode in the Discovery car today during the stage. I give him a lot of credit for doing that. It has to be insanely difficult. It's like when I go back to Cross to watch a show and I'm just dying to be onstage with them - it's still home in a way. Im sure it's comparable to that. Anyway - tomorrow is another day in the Alps. It's anybody's guess how it will turn out though, just like every other stage, I know - but add to that the fact that no one saved anything today. They are going to be exhausted for a stage tomorrow that will be just as difficult, if not more so than today. Personally, I can't wait.

Stage Fourteen...

Stage Fourteen:
1st: Pierrick Fedrigo - France - Telecom - 4:14:23
2nd: Salvatore Commesso - Italy - Lampre - 4:14:23
3rd: Christian Vandevelde - USA - CSC - 4:14:26

Overall:
1st: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne-Illes - 64:05:04
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 1:29)
3rd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R (+ 1:37)
Other notables:
5th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 2:46)
7th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 3:58)
11th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 5:44)
15th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 7:08)
19th: Jose Azevedo* - Portugal - Discovery (+ 9:11)
34th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 24:28)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Oscar Pereiro
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente (Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): CSC
Red Number (Most Competitive): Salvatore Commesso

What a stage. It was much harder than one would think at first glance. With two big climbs and another hot day, many were looking to ust get to the rest day. Pereiro's team set the pace today, choosing a tactic different than Phonak's, to keep the yellow jersey through the rest. A breakaway of six occurred, but the only got about five and a half minutes on the Peloton at the most. That was before the crash however. I can't even put into words how horrific this thing was. Of the six riders in the lead, one went down on some loose gravel as he came around a corner and hit a baracade. Matthias Kessler, who won a stage earlier braked to try and avoid him, but couldn't and flipped over the barrier into a ditch. Then, I hadn't even noticed, but in watching the replay, a third memeber of the breakaway went over the rail further down the road. Absolutely terrifying. My words don't do it justice - so watch here. Click on the heading "Three Crashes." Kessler was the only one who managed to get back on his bike. One apparently injured his arm or collar bone and the other, the one who went over the rail had a suspected broken leg. Shaken, the race officials warned the others to slow down. There were no major crashes on the rest of the day, thank goodness. The breakaway group - rather what was left of it - managed to hold on and take the win, just ten seconds before a diminished Peleton. Vandevelde, an American, was a surprise attack off the front just as the group came down to the line. Discovery appeared to be organizing for an attack, but it fell through...surprise. Notice that Martinez and Zabriskie have fallen from my list of contenders. Today was a rest day and tomorrow presents the Alps. Get pumped!

Stage Thirteen (Abbreviated)...

Stage Thirteen:
1st: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC
2nd: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Espargne-Illes

Overall:
1st: Oscar Pereiro - Spain - Caisse d'Espargne-Illes
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak
3rd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R (+ :08)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Oscar Pereiro
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Australia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente (Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): CSC

Love love love VCRs. So notice the change in yellow jersey. Strategy by Phonak apparently. Dumb strategy, if you ask me. A breakaway occurred again and Phonak, for some reason, let the riders gain almost half an hour on them. Yeah, you read that correctly - a half hour. We're talking about almost 30 minutes here. That moved Pereiro from 48th place to FIRST. But Discovery (coughHINCAPIEparticularlycouch) wishes they were apart of that one. So Phonak apparently didn't want the pressure of guarding the malloit jaune for the rest of the race. The feel like then can get it back. But it was like they had to TRY to lose it this time. I mean the people in the breakaway were little to worry about before....but now? Pereiro isn't noted for his climbing skills, but now Landis is about a minute and a half down...this could really come back to bite him this week. Tonight I can be all caught up to stage fourteen, and then tomorrow's a rest day. It'll give the riders (and me) a chance to recuperate. One more week. =/

Stage Twelve (Abbreviated)...

Stage Twelve:
1st: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery

Overall:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak
2nd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R (+ :08)
3rd: Denis Menchov - Russia - Rabobank - (+ 1:01)
Other notables:
10th: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery - (+ 4:30)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Floyd Landis
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente (Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile

Abandoned: Paolo Salvodelli and Ben Noval - both Spain - both Discovery

You thought I'd miss it. Ha. Ok, so this update isn't nearly as detailed as most, but as I haven't been online I didn't get to double check my facts, so I listed the ones I knew. Dammit, Discovery - talk about your mixed messages. Salvodelli dropped out at the beginning of the stage following his descent from the mountains of stage 11. He was riding downhill, as it was faster than waiting for a car and, sans helmet and AFTER the day's race was over...and he collide with a crazy french spectator. Fifteen stitches later, he can't pull through today. And who knows the deal with Noval. Honestly, guys - Armstrong beat cancer. CANCER. No excuses for you. Seriously, this would not have happened last year. Or any of the last seven years to be honest. ::sigh:: But then, you have Popovich, last year's most promising young rider, in a breakaway. One that Phonak didn't rush the Peloton to catch. So all of a sudden, it was the end of the race and the breakaway still had about four and a half minutes on the group. So Popovich attacks the other riders once, twice, three, and finally four times to get away and take the stage...and cut his time deficit in half, moving in to the top ten. Just when my hope was almost lost, he pulls me back. I can't deal. Landis stayed in yellow, comfortable currently. I love VCRs.

Stage Eleven...

Stage Eleven:
1st: Denis Menchov - Russia - Rabobank - 6:06:25
2nd: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner - 6:06:25
3rd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 6:06:25

Overall:
1st: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 49:18:07
2nd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R (+ :08)
3rd: Denis Menchov - Russia - Rabobank - (+ 1:01)
Other notables:
4th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 1:17)
6th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 2:29)
13th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 5:39)
18th: Jose Azeedo* - Portugal - Discovery (7:27)
23rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 9:00)
40th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 23:01)
41st: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ 24:22)
52nd:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 31:26)
71st: Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ 41:33)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Floyd Landis
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente (Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): David de la Fuente

Oh man. This stage was well worth the wait. FINALLY the cyclist that are the most capable started to set themselves apart. It started with the daring attack of de la Fuente. He's a new rider but is proving himself to be very capable. On a day of five climbs though, it was impossible for him to stay in the lead. Finally, a group of about 18 top riders broke off the Peleton, which was shattered in to an indeterminate number of groups. The first group, however, had your leaders - Landis, Kloden, Leipheimer (who finally had a good day!), Evans...but without Hincapie. Discovery continues to let me down, falling to 10th in the team placement. They had their possible new leader Azevedo in the group at first, but her was dropped, like many others towards the end. Popovich stayed with the second large group, where Hincapie could not. This from the man who one a stage in the Pyrenees just last year. Riding as a leader is totally different than riding support though. Still quite upsetting. So the lead group went from 18 to nine to five to three. And the end was made all the better because Landis had to win by 4:46 to take the jersey. He crossed the line third, earning him an eight second time bonus...and then waited. Dessel was rancing the clock and came in at 4:45...without the time bonus. So Landis - and American(!!!) takes the lead in the tour de France - so forget his hip problem, he's in it to win!

Stage Ten...

Stage Ten:
1st: Juan Miguel Mercado - Spain - Agritubel - 4:49:10
2nd: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R - 4:49:10
3rd: Inigo Landaluze - Spain - Euskatel - 4:50:06

Overall:
1st: Cyril Dessel - France - AG2R - 43:07:05
2nd: Juan Miguel Mercado - Spain - Agritubel - (+ 2:34)
3rd: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - (+ 3:45)
Other notables:
5th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 4:45)
9th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 5:35)
11th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 5:37)
12th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ 5:38)
15th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ 5:55)
19th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 6:15)
24rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 7:12)
33th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 8:18)
58th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 10:28)
129th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 32:18) *Pretty much out of contention

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Cyril Dessel
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen (Austrailia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Juan Miguel Mercado*
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): AG2R
Red Number (Most Competitive): Juan Miguel Mercado
*Should be Dessel, but one jersey at a time, people

Mountains today. And tomorrow. Here's where the field gets turned upside down, and this year it has proved that there is no clear-cut leader of this tour. Again and again no-namers from teams that never dreamed of getting the yellow jersey are winning stages and taking the lead. Today T-Mobile almost willing conceded the malloit jaune to Dessel, allowing the leader of the breakaway, which started with 13 riders and split up further so that just two finished together, to be as far as 11:00 minutes ahead of the Peloton. Not a smart idea when you've got functional climbers ahead of you. Still, I guess they don't have the depth to defend the jersey when it's still fairly early in the race. The biggest mistake, in my opinion, came from Discovery which didn't put a man in the breakaway yet again. They also allowed way too many other teams to put their men out there while a few Discovery guys fell quite behind. Team Discovery is down to 8th in the team standings which is unheard of and really disappoints me. I thought that since Martinez and a few others were up towards the front of the Peleton today they might try something (anything) but nope. Leipheimer, who added to his deficit yesterday, acquiring a flat tire in the final stretches was at the front of the Peleton today in an attempt to gain back some time. Voight, who was in the original breakaway ended up losing more time in the end. He's pretty much out of it. Discovery had better hope that tomorrow the riders of today are exhausted and not ready for the five major climbs set for stage 11, the most difficult stage in the Pyrenees.

Stage Nine...

Stage Nine:
1st: Oscar Freire - Spain - Rabobank - 3:35:24
2nd: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto - 3:35:24
3rd: Erik Zabel - Germany - Milram - 3:35:24

Overall:
1st: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - 38:14:17
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 1:00)
3rd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+ 1:08)
Other notables:
5th:Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 1:50)
7th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 1:52)
8th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ 1:53)
11th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ 2:10)
17th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 2:30)
23rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 2:37)
36th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 4:33)
72nd: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 6:43)
114th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 11:34)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Serhiy Honchar
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): Christian Knees (Germany)

Big news yesterday on the break day. Floyd Landis, the one American who's actually primed to go and win this thing, dropped a major bomb on the cycling world. Apparently, due to a fall back in 2003, he has developed avascular necrosis in his right hip. Basically, bone cracked in the joint and prevented blood flow to the bone. The hip is, essentially, dead. The condition results in constant pain, which oddly enough in Landis's case is less severe when he is on a bike. The only option is surgery, which will likely occur within a month or to of the conclusion of the tour. No one has ever come back from such a surgery to race professionally again. Not that such odds mean anything to American cyclists. Greg Lemond, the first American to win the tour, did it again after being shot in a hunting accident. And then there was this guy Lance Armstrong - look into it on your own. So yeah, it's not affecting his riding, but that still sucks. On the brightside, he's having his best season ever. Only time will tell what comes next. With that hanging over the heads of the riders, stage nine began. It was the flatest stage of the tour, which makes the fact that tomorrow is a mountain stage even tougher. The breakaway did not survive, and it ended in the best sprint finish of the tour, Freire beating McEwen by a quarter of a wheel. McEwen was very gracious - he did get to keep the green jersey though. One crash on the day at the back of the Peloton, but all the riders involved got back up and finished with the group. The field remains at 170 riders, 6 having dropped (the ones mentioned and Fabio Sacchi who dropped with bronchitis before stage six). Tomorrow is where the sprinters' time at the top comes to an end. The treacherous Pyrenees loom ahead. Stage ten probably won't show many attacks, but stage eleven is going to be absolutely brutal. How exciting! Unfortunately, I don't quite know how I'm going to fit stages eleven through thirteen in with work and visitors and such...but it will be happening. No way I'm missing the best stages of this tour. So to all my guests, if I dissappear for two to four hours, don't worry - I'm just highly devoted. I love you all very much still. But tomorrow is my day off, which means there will be no issues in watching. Thank goodness =)

Stage Eight...

Stage Eight:
1st: Sylvain Calzati - France - AG2R - 4:13:18
2nd: Kjell Carlstrom - Finland - Liquigas - 4:15:23
3rd: Patrice Halgand - France - Credit Agricole - 4:15:23

Overall:
1st: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - 34:38:53
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 1:00)
3rd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+ 1:08)
Other notables:
6th:Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 1:50)
8th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 1:52)
9th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ 1:53)
13th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ 2:10)
17th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 2:30)
23rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 2:37)
36th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 4:33)
63nd: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 6:17)
120th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 11:21)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Serhiy Honchar
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): Sylvian Calzati

As you can see very little has changed from yesterday, causing me to remain in a fairly stormy mood over my beloved tour. Blah Blah flat stage blah sprinters blah breakaway that was successful. Wait, what? You read that right. Today there was finally a semi-successful breakaway that start out with 6 riders. Three survived to take the top spots in the stage, though Calzati finished 2 minutes before the others. I had a little glimmer of hope when Zabriskie was part of the original six, but he didn't stick with it. Story of my life. So there was no big exciting finish today, what with the race being pretty much decided at 5 miles out. There was a bit of a sprint for fourth with Boonen leading out, but as usual McKewn popped in for the win. Boonen has been frustrating me. He sits up so soon when someone starts to get ahead of him. He gives up. Not much from the world champion who's one 17 races so far this year. But the motto of this tour has become expect the unexpected. Discovery was silent today. T-Mobile kept things under perfect control. ::Sigh:: What's happening here at the end of the first week? Rest day tomorrow, then back to work Tuesday, with the first mountian stage on Wednesday. Maybe, maybe...

Stage Seven...

Stage Seven:
1st: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - 1:01:43
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 1:02:44
3rd: Sebastian Lang - Germany - Gerosteiner - 1:02:47

Overall:
1st: Serhiy Honchar - Ukraine - T-Mobile - 30:23:20
2nd: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - (+ 1:00)
3rd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+ 1:08)
Other notables:
6th:Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ 1:50)
8th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ 1:52)
10th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ 2:03)
13th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ 2:10)
17th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ 2:30)
23rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ 2:37)
36th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 4:33)
62nd: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ 6:17)
120th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 11:23)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Serhiy Honchar
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcuz Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): T-Mobile
Red Number (Most Competitive): N/A

Lost to Injury: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (Broken Wrist)

GRRR. I seriously almost didn't update today, I was so furious - absolutely LIVID - about how the ITT went. What the hell, America? Discovery? Just about all of the people that should have done fantastic today and set themselves apart for the next two weeks were horrible. WHO THE HELL IS HONCHAR? Leipheimer quite possibly had the worst time trial of his career. Zabriskie is the most aerodynamic man in cycling and he only pulled a 10th place finish? He holds the record for fast ever average speed in a time trial. EVER. ARRRGH. And DO NOT get me started on Team Discovery today. WTF (mate)? WTF? They are down to FIFTH in the team standings - they've been in first since day one. I can't even fathom what happened there. All of them. Except maybe Martinez who started to climb back up. But seriously - Hincapie, what are you trying to do to me here? Fourth to seventeenth? In a time trial? For shame - Amstrong would kill him. Rawrawrawr. The only guy who seemed to have his act together was Landis. And I will give him a lot of credit. The officials made him lower his hands on the bars at the start of the race, which caused them to crack so he had to change bikes in the middle of the stage. Even for all of his bad luck with time trials this year (like being eight seconds late to start the prologue because of a malfunction) he STILL managed second. So no excuses for these other guys. Ooooo they had better work their asses off in the Pyrenees or so help me God I will...get really angry. And to add to this distaster of a stage Bobby Julich is out. He took one of the most horrible falls I have seen since I started watching. He lost all traction and bam...landed hard on a curb. Ouch, seriously. So he's out, in an almost identical situation to the only other time he had to pull out of a tour in 1999 when he crashed in a Stage Eight ITT. Poor Bobby Julich. Here's an idea - hey other American riders - step it up so he's not out of it for nothing.

Roar.

Stage Six...

Stage Six:
1st: Robbie McKewn - Australia - Lotto - 4:10:17
2nd: Daniele Bennati - Italy - Lampre-Fondital - 4:10:17
3rd: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 4:10:17

Overall:
1st: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 29:21:00
2nd: Robbie McKewn - Australia - Lotto - (+ :12)
3rd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+ :13)
Other notables:
5th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ :25)
7th:Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ :35)
8th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak (+ :36)
12th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ :40)
17th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ :43)
18th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ :44)
21st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (+ :45)
23rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ :47)
25th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ :48)
89th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 1:57)
90th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 1:59)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Tom Boonen
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Benoit Vaugrenard (France)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Number (Most Competitive): Anthony Geslin (France)

Just when you thought I missed a stage...ha. Caught up on Stage Six while babysitting tonight. It's all about making it work. Another sprint stage. I'm tired of saying that. This is such a rare occurence to have so many flat stages in the tour. There are 12 this year. TWELVE. No offense, but ugh. The finishes are great but the rest either drags or is really dangerous. Give me the team time trial any day...which they don't have this year. Damnit. Lance and I are pissed. But yeah, typical stage today. One climb, no crashes. Lots of flat land, another long breakaway. You've heard this all before. The ending was super-organized today, though, which was nice. Still, alot of good Quickstep and Lampre-Fondital leading out did, because as usual, McKewn came out of no where to win it. Seriously, in the last 500 km, he was still 20-25 riders back. But after yesterday's mistaken early lead-out, it wasn't about to hapen again today. It could not have been more perfectly timed. Lotto team really sat back all day, biding its time. Beautifully executed. Most of the teams were quiet today, because the big deal is tomorrow: a long individual time trial. Here is where the big players will set themselves a part. The yellow jersey will most likely be taken from the sprinters...and quite possibly placed in an Americans hands. The USA has major depth. I love it. Bed for now though - can't miss my favorite stage tomorrow!!

Stage Five...

Stage Five:
1st: Oscar Freire - Spain - Rabobank - 5:18:50
2nd: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 5:18:50
3rd: Inaki Isasi - Spain - Euskeltel - 5:18:50

Overall:
1st: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 25:10:51
2nd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+ :13)
3rd: Oscar Freire - Spain - Rabobank - (+ :17)
Other notables:
4th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ :17)
7th:Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ :27)
8th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak (+ :28)
12th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ :32)
16th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ :35)
17th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ :36)
20st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (+ :37)
22rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ :39)
25th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ :40)
88th:Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ 1:39)
93th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 1:51)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Tom Boonen
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Number (Most Competitive): Samuel Dumoulin (France)

The sprinters are having a rough time this year, I must say. Today's stage was the closest they've come to an organized sprint thus far, but they almost let a 195 km, two-man breakaway spoil it for all of them. The timing is just off for everyone, it seems. Everyone but Freire. His finish was perfect as he accelerated from the back to the opposite side of the field to steal the win from Boonen. McEwen broke too early into the headwind and therefore couldn't score higher than 5th. he holds the lead in the points competition by one over Boonen, who remains in the yellow jersey and increased his lead with the second place time bonus. Discovery scared me today, when yesterday's best competitor, Martinez took a spill. He almost didn't get back up, but did manage to finish out the race 1:17 behind the lead, losing him his 5th place overall standing. Zabriskie was also caught up in a crash, but it was within the 3 km mark, so he took the same time as the leaders. Personally, I am desparate for a time trial. I need a little separation here. These tightly packed stages make me so nervous. Being so involved with this thing is not good for my heart.

In other news, today marks one year. One year since my hardcore addiction to the tour for reasons most of you can probably figure out. In the words of Lance - Live strong...

Stage Four...

Stage Four:
1st: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto - 4:59:50
2nd: Issac Galvez - Spain - Caisse d'Epargne - 4:59:50
3rd: Oscar Freire - Spain - Rabobank - 4:59:50

Overall:
1st: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 19:52:13
2nd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+:01)
3rd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ :05)
Other notables:
*5th: Egoi Martinez - Spain - Discovery (+ :10)
7th:Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ :15)
9th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak (+ :16)
*13th: Cadel Evans - Australia - Lotto - (+ :20)
17th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ :23)
18th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ :24)
22st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (+ :25)
24rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ :27)
27th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ :28)
98th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 1:39)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Tom Boonen
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): Robbie McEwen
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Number (Most Competitive): Egoi Martinez (Spain)

As for as the Tour goes today was rather uneventful. Maybe that's because I was kind of tired and kept dosing off, but I don't know. The field was down to 172 racers, three riding injured, including USA rider Christopher Horner with a dislocated finger and sprinter Stuart O'Grady with a cracked veretebrae. Unfortunately for O'Grady, today was another sprinter's stage. This one, unlike yesterday played out like one. It was an uphill finish, perfect for McEwen. He won this one by several feet. Boonen seemed to give up early into the sprint. He just can't quite get his timing right to take a stage so far this year. Regardless, he kept the yellow jersey. No major crashes today, which is good. One guy went down right at the end, but no one else got caught up, and several Spanish riders got into an accident coming around a tight turn but no one was hurt there. The * today are people that I forgot, once again would be major contenders, particularly Cadel Evans. He hasn't done anything remarkable thus far, but he isn't a sprinter, either. As for Martinez, he's another Discovery guy. In addition to my being quite particular to Team Discovery Channel, he's part of team manager Johan Bruyneel's apparent new plan. With no more Lance as a clear cut leader, he's using a tactic formerly employed by the Russian team, where individual team members 'leapfrog' as a way of keeping people guessing who the actual leader is. Expect different Discovery members to be parts of breakaways all week creating a powerhouse team. There are 4 Discovery racers in the top 25 right now and all can be expected to continue to perform well in the mountains. Tomorrow is yet another day for sprinters...I want mountains and time trials, dammit. Then the real race contenders will start to sorty themselves out. Unfortunately, tomorrow is back to work for me and play practice and Pirates at night, so catching the stage will be tough. Have no fear, though - I'll find a way

Stage Three...

Stage Three:
1st: Mattias Kessler - Germany - T-Mobile - 4:57:54
2nd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile - 4:57:59
3rd: Daniele Bennati - Italy - Lampre-Fondital - 4:57:59

Overall:
1st: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 14:52:23
2nd: Michael Rogers - Austrailia - T-Mobile (+:01)
3rd: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ :05)
Other notables:
5th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy - Discovery (+ :15)
7th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak (+ :16)
15th:Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ :23)
16th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ :24)
19st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (+ :25)
21rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ :27)
25th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ :28)
138th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ 1:39)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Tom Boonen (Belgium)
Green Jersey(Top Points Earner): *Daniele Bennati (Italy)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Marcus Fothen (Germany)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Jerome Pineau (France)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Jersey (Most Competitive): Jose Luis Arrieta (Spain)
*Should be Boonen, but two jerseys can't be worn at once

Retirements -
Alejandro Valverde - Spain (borken collarbone in crash), Erik Dekker - Netherlands (broken collarbone in crash), Fred Rodriegez - USA (crash)

Rough, rough day today. It was expected to be a sprinters day today despite the many hills, but such was not the case. Two hard crashes at slow speeds ended the tour for sprinter Dekker, and for expected potential race winner Valverde. Valverde had managed to beat Armstrong in the mountains last year, and was expected to be a real contender this year. As for the end results of the stage, a short but steep hill right at the end prevented most of the sprinters from getting into position. Kessler, who broke too soon yesterday, timed things properly today, finishing about 15 feet ahead of the pack. Boonen was the only sprinter to finish at the front, coming in fourth and desparate to where the yellow jersey when the race starts in his home of Belgium tomorrow. He managed to still get the yellow jersey as a result of the main pack spliting at the end, resulting in tdifferent times for finishers. That group included Thor Hushovd, who lost the malliot jaune and fell to fourth overall. My current favorite, Mr. Hincapie, managed to stay towards the front of the peleton with several Discovery riders (though they really weren't mentioned much today), and finished in the first group moving up to just five seconds off the lead in 3rd place overall. Jens Voight who was part of a long breakaway tired himself out and fell back, losing over a minute to the leader. Floyd Landis quietly and steadly climbs up in the standings and several other of the top riders jumped up 10 places or more today, following hills and crashes. The field is beginning to spread out as a flat stage starting in Belgium before heading back to France to stay is set for tomorrow.

Happy Fourth of July!

Stage Two...

Stage Two:
1st: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto - 5:36:14
2nd: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep - 5:36:14
3rd: Thor Hushovd - Norway - Credit Agricole - 5:36:14

Overall:
1st: Thor Hushovd - Norway - Credit Agricole - 9:54:19
2nd: Tom Boonen - Belgium - Quickstep (+ :05)
3rd: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto (+ :08)
Other notables:
4th: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery (+ :10)
5th: Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC (+ :16)
*7th: Alejandro Valverde - Spain (+ :16)
*10th: Paolo Savoldelli - Italy (+ :20)
11th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak (+ :21)
25th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile (+ :29)
29st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC (+ :30)
31rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery (+ :32)
35th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner (+ :33)
47th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC (+ :36)

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): Thor Hushovd (Norway)
Green Jersey(Top Point Earned): Robbie McEwen (Australia)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Benoit Vaugrenard (France)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): David de la Fuente(Spain)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Number (Most Competative): David de la Fuente(Spain)

This was the second longest portion of the race and another day where the leaders changed a million times. It's so nerve wracking not having a clear cut winner. They said today was for sprinters, but there were several hills on the course, which made it difficult, including some at the end. Two guys were out in front for about 200 km - both from Spain and new the the race. They almost spoiled it for the sprinters, often taking the top points in the intermediate sprints, and one took the lead in the king of the mountains race. However, the peloton caught up with them eventually. Then this guy from T-Mobile jumped to the front within the the last 5K and he seriously almost had it until his legs locked up on him at the end. Then the sprinters came forward and finished it off. I swear, McKewn comes out of no where every time. You couldn't even see him til the last 150 meters. Ridiculous. Hushovd picked up third and a time bonus, but he had already gotten the yellow jersey back when he crossed one of the intermediate sprints in the third. Damn. I'm kind of getting hooked on Hincapie. I'm not really worried about the guys ahead of him right now in the overall standings - they're sprinters and won't be a threat in the mountains. However, the two guys with * were some I'd forgotten about and are good all around. At least Salvoldelli is on Discovery, too. No big crashes today, though there as a minor one within the last 3K, which slowed Landis down. One rider was lost to a fever, so the group is down to 175.

Oooobsessed =)

Stage One...

Get used to this kids...the race isn't over til the 23rd.

Stage One:
1st: Jimmy Casper - France - Cofidis Credit - 4:10:00
2nd: Robbie McEwen - Australia - Lotto - 4:10:00
3rd: Erik Zabel - Germany - Milram - 4:10:00

Overall:
1st: George Hincapie - USA - Discovery - 4:18:15
2nd: Thor Hushovd - Norway - Credit Agricole - 4:18:17
3rd: Dave Zabriskie - USA - CSC - 4:18:21
Other notables:
9th: Floyd Landis - USA - Phonak - 4:18:26
26th: Andreas Kloden - Germany - T-Mobile - 4:18:34
31st: Bobby Julich - USA - CSC - 4:18:35
33rd: Yaroslav Popovich - Ukraine - Discovery - 4:18:37
38th: Levi Leipheimer - USA - Gerolsteiner - 4:18:38
50th: Jens Voight - Germany - CSC - 4:18:41

Yellow Jersey (Overall Leader): George Hincapie (USA)
Green Jersey(Top Point Earned - Sprinting): Jimmy Casper (France)
White Jersey(Best Young Rider): Benoit Vaugrenard (France)
Red Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountain): Fabian Wegmann (Germany)
Yellow Numbers (Best Team): Discovery
Red Number (Most competitive): Walter Beneteau (France)

So today was a sprinter's race. Flat course for the most part - one small hill allowing for King of the Mountain points. HIncapie made an absolutely brilliant move by sprinting up to third at one of the intermediate markers and earning a two second time bonus. Those two seconds put him in the overall lead. Awesome. The finish in sprints always scares me. The riders are going at about 40-45 mph and they are so close together. One goes down and 10 easily follow. Today, there was no real clear cut leader even up til the last couple seconds. No teams were really getting into formation to pull for their sprinting specialists. Strange. Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen had a huuuuge rivalry last year. Boonen is the current world champion, but he kind of gave up in the last few meters. McEwen came out of nowhere to take second. And a little French guy they hadn't mentioned all day beat out both of them and Stuart O'Grady and Prologue winner Hushovd. Hushovd, in the last kilometer coming up to the line apparently hit his arm on a spectator waving something in the track and was really hurt, even though he managed to cross the lined. The fans get so close, it's a wonder more people don't get hurt this way. When most people come up with an image of the Tour, its the one of Lance Armstrong getting caught on a spectators bag and going down hard in 2004.

I get so worried about my boys.

Up early tomorrow for stage two =) Yes, I know - this is gross...but Liz gets it.

"Haven't you people ever heard of closing the goddamn door..."

Panic!...plays tonight at the pier. I want to go, but know is really around for me to go with. I should be brave and do it alone. But I'm not brave.

Long, long time since I've had an update of substance. Settle in for a novel, kids. Much has happened. Everytime I think about sitting down to write, I stop myself saying, 'just cover it all after [insert big event here]'. Lately, however, the big events have been coming one after another. Kida cool when you think about it, but not so conducive to writing.

Since we last met, work has been highly eventful. Friday the 23rd held the filming of Jo Anna and my horror movie trailer spoof Ditmore which can be viewed here. It's really not bad when you look at it, considering this was done in about two days, and on the clock. My job kicks your job's ass. Still not convinced? This Friday we had free breakfast for our boss's birthday and free lunch for one of the counselor's baby shower, which also meant an afternoon sans work. Add to that the rest of Friday was spent playing with an abandoned puppy one of the ladies found on the way in to the office and you should be sending in your applications now.

Last weekend was a mini-Basil's reunion. Stacey came up from Maryland for the weekend and Britni and Mel came down from North Jersey. We played catch up and went out to dinner. We watched American Beauty when the weather prevented us from going mini-golfing. Weird, but wonderful movie. I really do love the artsy-type movies. It makes me feel all mature and stuff for legitimately liking them. And admitting that immediately negates the maturity I might have just acheived.

Stacey and I went to a graduation party before she headed home on Sunday. It was so good to see her again. It's weird living with a person and seeing them the minute you wake up and the minute you go to sleep for 8 months and then not having them around at all anymore. I really didn't like it. But less than two months til we're back in business (wow). After she headed home, I went off to Matt Becker's (my costar in Cross' Footloose) graduation party. Here, I totally integrated myself into the Becker family. Seriously, I was the long lost cousin. I played with the toddlers and sang Karaoke and yeah. It was sooo much fun even though I was the only friend there for most of the party. Haha - I love the Beckers.

Monday, Monday, Monday! Possibly the best day of the summer thus far (I say that a lot). I had my first big girl party. A large group of Masque kiddies from Jersey, New York, and PA came over to swim. Yeah it rained all day and was only about 65 degrees - your point? We seriously had a blast. I know I always hosted pretty enjoyable parties in grade school and high school, but I was nervous about this one. I don't know why. The success of the party really has nothing to do with me - it's all about the guests. And of course the theater kids are going to be awesome. The night consisted of chicken fights (almost deadly), instructional diving, and tons of good conversation. In fact, the evening was such a success that I will be hosting another on July 14th beginning at 7 PM. A lot of the Golden Girls SHOULD be in town for our little reunion, and they were a bit jealous to have missed the first. So I figured it was a good time for a second. If you missed your invite, let me know - all are welcome, I just need a count.

In the Masque vein, Chris and I decided it would be a wonderful idea to go and surprise Angela at work being as she disappeared for awhile. So we loaded into my car with our directions and 162 showtunes and headed for Washington Township in search of the Dairy Queen. Got to Washington Township in about a half an hour. And then proceeded to hunt for said Dairy Queen. For three hours. Madness ensued, but the overall experience was soooo much fun. Lots of singing and hysterical laughing at the absurdity of our situation. We did finally find it and surprise Ange, and then got home in about a sixth of the time it took us to find the place. Ange returned the favor by coming up to see me last night where we also played catch-up and watched The Family Stone. Great movie. A bit unrealistic, but good. And please, someone, if I am ever as neurotic as Sarah Jessica Parker in that movie, please please PLEASE get me help. I wanted to punch her. Next weekend Chris, Ange, and I are going out again. I love my little Masque family. So there.

Continuing in the theater discussion, play practice has been going along smoothly. It's all been seated readings thus far, which are helpful, yes, but I'm dying to start blocking. I need to move - to stretch. It's so obvious during rehearsals too; I'm fidgity in my chair...I just need to interact and make faces and gestures. Which I tend to do anyway, but it's kinda weird during seated readings. But you all know this. The only peopel reading this are theater kids anyway. August is rapidly approaching and I really should start to get off book...should. I will - eventually.

Lastly, I did get to see Felicia the other day. We went to the diner after my rehearsal because we needed to discuss the fact that Josh Groban is once again single. We needed to plan our attack. So we just talked over coffee and Sprite. We seriously bonded with our waiter, who decided Feesh was a pothead and they should smoke together. Wonderful. We then stood outside in the lightening storm saying how much we'd missed each other, parting only when our lives were seriously in danger.

So yes, the only guy I am interested in finding right now is Josh Groban. As for as attainab;e guys go, I'm done. Just done. After getting stood up earlier in the month it dawned on me that I just don't care enough to get my hopes up when it comes to guys anymore. What a shame. It's not worth it. If anyone wants to take the time to pursue me for a change, I'll be the one who's totally uninterested and oblivious to your attempts at a relationship, as I am done. And that's fine. I'm too busy for boys and to easily upset for them too. And I don't like girls, so don't suggest. I'm happy alone. And for that reason, I'm done.

That's a lie. I have fallen in love with a boy. Actually, more than one. 176 to be exact. The Tour de France started today. Even I don't totally understand my obsession with this race. It began two years ago when I caught part of it down the shore with Jenna. And last year, Lance and Team Discovery got me through the worst month of my life. I seriously did not miss a day. Everything around me was falling a part, but I knew that I could depend on the Tour to go exactly to plan. Kind of sad, but it gave me hope and consistancy. And I've kind of become an officiando. I understand it, I know more people than just Lance, the teams, who to watch, etc. It's really not just a bandwagon thing. Today was the prologue. Individual time trial. There was a huge doping scandal yesterday which caused 13 riders to be barred from the race including the two front runners Ulrich and Basso. I say watch Dave Zabriskie, Yuroslav Popovich, George Hincapie, Bobby Julich, and Floyd Landis. Maybe Levi Leipheimer and Jens Voight. My early predictions. I could be way off, but I like these guys. I'm still pulling for Team Discovery, but Zabriskie has a place in my heart after last year. Alright, you guys reaaally don't care about this and I don't blame you, but the Tour has a special place in my heart. I owe it the next 22 days of my life.

Prologue Winner & Yellow Jersey: Thor Hushovd - Norway - Credit Agricole - 8:17
2nd George Hincapie - America - Discovery - 8:17
3rd Dave Zabriskie - America - CSC - 8:21

Viva le Tour!