Tour de France Underway

ByEdward Pizzarello

Lance Armstrong started much better this year in the prologue individual time trial than last year.  I was ecstatic when he posted a 10th place finish in 2009, as it was hard to gauge his fitness after a long time away from professional cycling.

Fast forward to 2010, and Lance finished a strong 4th in the time trial, 22 seconds behind Fabian Cancellara.  While Fabian may profess his dream to win the Tour, he has no legitimate chance.  A great time trialist, but a horrible climber.

Tony Martin and David Millar finished second and third, but neither poses a challenge to Lance, IMO.  Alberto Contador, the top contendor, finished 6th, 5 seconds behind Lance.

Alessandro Petachhi won Stage 1 after an odd crash coming down to the finish line.  He’s probably the least likely sprinter to notch a stage win on a course like yesterday’s.

Stage 2 is going on now, with a dangerous stage 3 on the cobblestones tomorrow.

My goal in life is to fill my family’s passports with stamps, creating buckets of memories along the way. You’ll find me writing about realistic ways for normal people to travel the world, whether you’re on a budget or enjoy luxury. I also enjoy taking us on the occasional detour to explore the inner workings of the travel industry.

Leave a Reply