7/27/09: Musings on the 2009 Tour

1. Bradley Wiggins was the revelation of this year’s Tour.
2. In retrospect, Lance coming 3rd is huge. Especially when he probably would have ended up 2nd had he not played the proper teammate role like he did during key moments of the race.
3. George Hincapie will be on Radio Shack next year.
4. Contador only played the proper team role up Ventoux, when he sat on the Schleks’ wheels rather than attack them. His behavior during the Pyrenean summit finish (attacking against team directives) and to Verbier (effectively attacking and dropping Kloden) were completely selfish and self-serving tactics.
5. Lance will have a team in 2010 built for one purpose only – to help him win an 8th Tour title.
6. Contador will be on an inferior team, regardless of with whom he signs.
7. Contador could have won the 2009 Tour as a team of 1. He’s that good.
8. I don’t buy the rumors of Contador doping. If there were any valid suspicions, there’s no way Garmin would have been ‘this close’ to signing him pre-Tour. Vaughters studies athletes’ blood profiles ad nauseam to ensure no egg ends up on his or the team’s face.
9. Hincapie’s attack on the Garmin leadout train at the 1km to go banner on the Champs yesterday was sheer brilliance. He wrangled the control back singlehandedly and also set Cavendish up on the right line.
10. David Millar was clearly on the wrong side of the road in those final couple km’s. I found myself screaming at him to get over to the lefthand side of the road (from his perspective). Instead, Julian Dean and Tyler Farrar had to brake hard into that final righthand bend to the finish and lost the stage right then and there.
11. Columbia/HTC is nothing more than this decade’s Saeco. They’re wholly built around Cavendish. Make no mistake – despite what the team might say publicly, they have no GC contenders and do not covet the overall. If they did, then Kirchen and Rodgers would not be helping to lead out Cavendish, squandering precious energy in the process.
12. Cavendish is an amazing sprinter. But, he’s relegated the sprint stages to complete yawners. Is this good for cycling? It’s definitely good for British cycling.
13. Hats off the Vande Velde for coming 8th. Clearly, last year’s 4th place was no fluke. Had he not crashed out of the Giro . . .
14. Will Wiggins be on Garmin in 2010?
15. Will the Schleks still be at Saxo Bank in 2010?
16. What team will Contador be riding for in 2010?
17. Why was Lance’s TTing as sub-par as it was, especially in the Tour’s final week?
18. For the next 11 months, Lance will be pent up rage personified. If we thought he had laser-like focus in the past, just wait until next year’s Tour.
19. Kloden did an amazing amount of work for Contador and Lance throughout the entire race. He effectively took on the burden of filling in the hole left by Levi’s departure, doing the work of 2 men. No wonder he completely faded during the final 2 mountain stages. His final TT result was pretty amazing, considering . . .
20. Chris Anker Sorenson exibits the ugliest climbing form. It's painful to watch him. But, he definitely buried himself for the Schleks.
21. Wish we could flash forward 11 months to next year’s Tour. It’s gonna be a real barn burner!!