I am pretty stoked that Sastre was able to hold off Cadel in the final TT.  Cadel, man if you are gonna follow wheels the best you can hope for is 2nd.  Ya I know his team sucked the big one but he should have been driving it for all he was worth on Alpe d’Huez.  No way he should have let him get that much time without going all out to at least try and bring some seconds back.  He rode the entire Tour defensively.  As much as Sastre went out and took the yellow jersey, Evans let him do it.

Anyway here are the official Big Ring awards for le Tour:

The Chuck D Don’t Believe The Hype Award:  The run away winner here is Alejandro Valverde. After scaring the hell out of every one at LBL and Dauphine many (me included) thought he would run wild in France.  His Stage 1 V did little to dispute that prediction.  What no one saw coming was his meltdown on the Hautacam which truely put him in the Segway category of can’t miss, idiot proof, predictions that did miss. Adios podium!

Cippo Who?/Petacchi is a Pansy Award: Former ballroom dancer (?) Mark Cavendish sashayed across the finish line to the tune of 4 stage wins.  Ya, he didn’t make the Last Tango in Paris, but he is only 22 and his best years and a Green jersey are coming. 

The Wedding Crashers: I am sure when ASO invited Garmin/Chipotle they were thinking they were a novelty act with a strong anti drug message that would sit quietly in the pack and stay out of the way of the “real” racing.  Vaughters and Co responded like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn cutting in line at the open bar.  Had it not been for an untimely crash Vande Velde might have run off with the new bride and the keys to the honeymoon suite.

The WTF? Award: Bernard Kohl was not a name I heard anyone mention as a podium contender, yet after 3 weeks of wondering when he will come to his senses and crack he never did.  Honorable mention to Stefan Schumacher for proving his 1st TT win was no fluke by going out and winning the 2nd one as well.  Seriously WTF?

The Big Ring Award: The whole CSC team wins this one.  Sastre got to stand on the final podium but the selfless riding of the entire CSC team got him there.  The damage Cancellara did on the Alpe d’Huez stage was jaw dropping.  Schleck 1 and Schleck 2 were nails in the mountains.  Frank Schleck could have just as easy ended up in Yellow that day but Sastre made the move that Cadel didn’t follow.  Bad for Cadel, good for Sastre and CSC.

That was some showdown today ya?  For someone who supposedly can’t climb Cancellara did a pretty good job of shelling most of the peloton.  It was painful to watch, I can’t imagine what it would be like to follow that monster.  Then to have Andy Schleck covering all the attacks after Sastre went away, it was a CSC clinic out there today.

I think Cadel is going to lose.  He put 1:20 on Sastre in the first TT and now he is 1:34 behind.  Sastre is not terrible against the clock.  I think he will ride the TT of his life and hold off Cadel.  Nice try Cadel but I think you rode too defensive and are a little over confident in your TT.  I guess we will see.

I Cadels defense he kinda had to just follow wheels since he had zero team mates on any of the final climbs.  If he wins this tour he will be lucky.  Lotto has to shell out some $$$ and get him some help in the mountains.  Horner did a much better job last year than Popovich has done for Cadel this year.  They should have kept Horner around for another year.  Lotto has failed Cadel and failed McEwen for that matter.

Vande Velde, damn that crash yesterday.

Yesterday I got to see some actual Tour de France coverage on the TV.  Hot damn that was some stage yesterday.  How many matches di Andy Schleck burn on that climb?  CSC certainly has the numbers.  Now they have the pressure of defending Yellow.

Poor Cadel is going to learn to late that you can’t wear yellow in Paris by following.  Good God man just attack for a change!  At least ry to win the damn thing.  I guess no one ever told Cadel that to win you have to risk losing. I think he really dodged a bullet when Menchov crashed and they waited for him(which was a classy move).  Otherwise I think he would have got popped sooner and lost a lot more time than he did.  I also think he is banking too much on the final TT as he did not take much time out of Menchov or Vandevelde in the first one.

I was so hoping Pate could pull of the W.  Garmin/Chipotle has certainly pushed The Big Ring proving they deserve to be at the big show.  Podiums by Frishkorn, Millar and now Pate. Vandevelde continues to impress and has a real shot at winning the whole damn thing.  I am off for Le Burrito.

You know as much as I want to hate A Tour and write it off the racing is just too damn good. If you had asked yesterday who would win the TT today I would have said Cancellara without even blinking. Schumacher? Damn, would not have guessed that in a million years. Also looks like Evans is going to do his best to make a liar out of me yet as he took a big chunk out of Valverde today. How about Chipotle/Garmin with 2 podiums in 2 days. I am gonna go program the GPS and ride over to Chipotle for “Le Burrito” tonight.

What can I say? Viva la France! I may have to take El Hammermeisters advice and get a dish when I get back from Downieville. Speaking of Downieville, anyone have tire recomendations? I have been running some 1.9 Kenda Karmas but, I think a fatter one would be better. Just guessing though since I have never done the race. Any insight would be appreciated.

This past weekend here in the 801 we had our Mountainbike State Championships of The World. Yeah, I got worked. Still though, it is the first time my slack ass has raced in the dirt this year. So even as I was getting beaten down faster than the US dollar I was pretty happy about it. Followed it up with a BBQ at the Big Ring Compound. Not a bad way to spend the day.

A Tour de France started this weekend. Gotta admit I have yet to see a stage as I have never had (and never will) had cable. I have been following it online and ate “Le Burrito” at Chipolte today. Despite it’s problems it is still the big show as far as the skinny tire portion of our sport. It does have most of the best riders and is still a big spectacle.

I think Valverde is the man for this year and the 1st stage did nothing to change my mind. I like Cadel but I just don’t think he races well under pressure. Back in his MTB days he only won when he was the strongest guy of the day and just ran away with it. He still seems like that on the road. He just does not seem to find that little bit extra when it is close. I hope he can pull it off but, I just don’t see a weakness in Valverde.

It has been a long time since I have said this but, Trek has a pretty cool idea here. With gas not coming down in price anytime soon (ever) more and more Americans will look to the bike as a means of transportation and vending machines are something that everyone knows how to use. Ideas like this will make cycling seem like less of a fringe sport and something that anyone can do. Plus, how sweet will it be to be able to buy a tube at 1am when you pinch flat after casing your rear wheel into a curb riding home from the pub?

Brothers and Sisters please forgive my sloth. Things have been beyond hectic for me the last few weeks. TCOTBR does not support my fabulous lifestyle (buy some shirts!) so I have been spending a sinful amount of time at my day job and other assorted business ventures. Last week I was out of the country and without a phone or net connection. I have some big plans for our little community. Soon we will be adding more TCOTBR merchandise and our own shopping page. I have signed up for Twitter (RevBigRing) so be sure to add that. I am working on more interviews, lining up (and looking for) some contributing writers, lots of stuff. An idle mind is the playground of the devil yeah?

As a result of my trip I missed a lot of racing and am playing catch up on that front as well. I must say though it is nice to see Cadel Evans trying to shake his reputation as a follower that never attacks. Well done Brother.