Plenty of wankers get out to be a part of the tour
I was hoping today to get in a break and maybe go for some solo glory and a stage victory, but even the best plans can come unstuck. I was certainly looking for glory, though “Glory” ended up being the name of the stripper I met last night and she really took it out of me before today’s stage.
Having said that, I did bust into an early break today for the first time in the tour. Johan wasn’t really paying attention because he was tending to his facebook Farmville farm and driving at the same time, so when Vino went for some solo glory in the break, I thought I might as well follow.
Everything was going well in the break, though the peleton never really let us get a solid lead. I think some of the teams had their eyes on a stage victory as well.
Lars and the Rabobank boys had a fine selection of post race entertainment
Once we realised the break was doomed, I ducked back to the team car for a few professional water bottles (the ones that accelerate you to 60km/h) and pretended to had a dodgy injury so I could hold onto the doctor’s vehicle for an extended period of time.
One thing that did come up today was the art of a “natural break”. Many people don’t realise that during a stage of the tour, nature is going to come calling at one stage or another and riders need to “lighten the load”. What people don’t realise is that sometimes we do it on the move and sometimes the whole peleton pulls up at the side of the road. With such massive crowds in le Tour, often it is tough to find some spare room at the side of the road for a discrete toilet break.
Vino wins the award for biggest drug muncher in the tour
Today saw one of the more ugly incidents in this year’s tour. Firstly, when you hear commentators talk about “Big” George Hincapie, keep in mind he is under six feet tall and weighs about 75kg. Well… Big George pulled slowly towards the side of the road, took the outside foot off the pedals, lent back and relaxed (as per standard procedure). The only problem is that we were rounding a bend at the time and once around the corner, we came across a group of boy scouts and girl guides. As most men know, doing a number one is like eating a pack of Pringles, “once you pop, you can’t stop”.
It was like a massive cruise ship coming into harbour for the first time with the water cannon tug boats firing water across the bow. I mean, I know it was a hot day, but as I said, it was one of the ugliest incidents in tour history. Some of the poor children almost had an eye out. It was like lining them up and slapping them with a wet fish. I really felt sorry for George.
I still felt good up the final climb, but Rodriguez and Contador just had a little too much punch. A top 10 finish for me was a great result and it felt even better because I hardly even cheated today. It was superb to see two “team mates”, Contador and Vino racing today for themselves and Alberto really did rob his team mate of a victory when he attacked the main group even though Vino was alone up the road.
Tonight Johan has planned a board game night. At first I thought it was a bit lame, but I hear Johan is a visionary when it comes to planning evening events. Lance has told me about some of these nights in the past and he says during his 2002 tour, it almost brought him unstuck on the GC. This I have to see.
Another chance for the opportunistic break tomorrow, though the teams of the sprinters may have something to say. I guess it all comes down to what kind of night out everyone has tonight. I’m a bit sore this evening. I just came out of a massage and let’s just say, it took it out of me.
