And it's all over but for the crying

Stage 21 is done and done. Kristoff wins a CLOSE sprint on the Champs. Sagan looked to be in contention but didn't really even mix it up in the last few hundred meters. That crash took a lot out of him, including a new points record he would have EASILY shattered. Then we had Taylor Phinney, sheepishly (in the morning interview before the stage) acting like he was out of it, and then BAM he's in the breakaway, and not just IN it but an integral part of it! It was looking real good, but you just knew 6 guys can't hold that pace for 7 laps, and they couldn't.

Sky safely brought G across the line, continuing the Sky dynasty. "Anybody but Foome" did win. And yet I kind of feel bad for him .We will never know how this would have turned out if he hadn't tried for the Giro/Tour double. And it's funny but proven true once again (that old saying that "you can't win the Tour today, but you can lose it"). Froome lost it in Stage 1 of all places. That errant 'off the road' crash that wasn't even his fault...he was forced off the road on that left turn, SO very nearly clipping that post (boy did he dodge a bullet there!) Giving credit where credit is due, he never whined or cried or threw blame around at his misfortune...yet his only fault in the situation was his position on the outside. And it cost him any chance of his 5th Tour victory by losing time he could never make up, on his own team-mate of all people.

So where does Sky go from here? Is G the New Steve Young, Montana suddenly put out to pasture even though he still has playing years left?  (come on...he lost the final TT to Dumolin, the WORLD CHAMP, by ONE SECOND!) (ooh..and I'm sorry to throw an NFL comparison out there, considering that I'm still boycotting them until they get their ducks in a row w/ the National Anthem....like Baseball, or Hockey..do you see ANY of those guys staying in the locker room, or taking a knee? NO!) But I guess it's the NEW NFL that I have a problem with, not the old. Froome cracked back on Stage 17 when it was on the line, and G did not. G won on the Alp (that is HUGE! And Phil said it over and over....you win on the Alp d'Huez, you win in Paris...and turns out he was RIGHT!)

Lots of great memories from this Tour (I'm currently compiling a post of pictures from all stages to post in the next few days). I have to say I TRULY enjoyed it...ALL of it.  There's just no greater sporting event in the world...the spectacle, the drama, the action, the danger, the glory...and the SCENERY! I did love during the Stage 21 broadcast they finally gave us a taste of showing what it takes to put on the NBCSports Tour for 21 days...showed inside their control booth, the TWO mobile studios, the miles and miles of cables...all the PEOPLE! SO much work...all to put in a couple hours of TV for 3 weeks. If I had faster internet (we only have lame DSL but it's cheap) I'd opt for the
NBC Gold for a year...I could watch OTHER races (GASP! Is that LEGAL?) But hey...I get a years worth out of these 3 weeks...I don't miss much I can tell you. And now that it's over, I regret any FF'ing thru the stages...who knows what pearls of wisdom I missed from the fantastic broadcasting crew they've assembled! P&P, Paul, Bobke, Christian, Jens, and Steve and Steve...truly the A team of sports broadcasting...and I have to give it to NBC for the rest of the people behind the scenes that we will never know...kudso  and well done NBC! It was another fantastic broadcast in it's entirety!

So begins the PTDS for another year...but I can get my LIFE back and get back on the bike(s) again too. Along w/ the annual PTDS is the PJDS..(Post July Depression Syndrome)...as July is also gone. We started the Tour a week late this year, and It will be August on Wednesday! Summer is just about gone all of a sudden!

Please post your memories...good and bad. My fav is I think also the Dumolin stage win and his interview after...if THAT didn't bring tears to your eyes, nothing will. The bad? I think the Gilbert crash was one of them...and then there's the interview w/ Lawson Craddock right after Stage 1...when he was so broken up he couldn't talk...and then finally eeks out "I worked so hard to get here"...man, that also brings tears to my eyes. That he FINISHED in Paris turned one of the worst moments into one of the best! Then there is the awesome memories of Dan the MAN attacking to his solo win! Never seen anybody try harder, that's for sure. I LOVE it that he was awarded the "Most Aggressive Rider" for the entire Tour, how fitting! Movistar wins the Team award, and IF there was an award for "Most Aggressive Team", I'd give that to them also! Can't take anything away from Valverde...he gave his all for his teammates Landa and Quintana!

I Still give the "lame ass" award to BMC and Ochowitz (sp?) in NOT protecting Richie Porte in Stage 9. I'd have had GVA RIGHT IN FRONT of Porte w/ TJ right behind Richie. But no...he let GVA fly to TRY to win a stage, and to also try to keep yellow (which he did...for ONE more day). BOO HISS! Why did you even BRING Porte then? You THREW HIM to the wolves when you needed GVA's guidance and experience the MOST, and lost your BEST chance at a podium finish (actually lost BOTH chances at a podium finish). We will NEVER know how Richie might have fared had he gotten thru the stage unscathed. Hell, Quintana even got thru, and he's TINY! He had Valverde with him most of the Tour. THAT whole thing still sticks in my craw, and I'll NOT be rooting for BMC next year (and seriously, does he think GVA is a true Tour GC contender? I just don't really see it).

OK. I'm tired. I can start to catch up on sleep. And getting things done that I've neglected or flat out ignored. And ride. A LOT.

Viva le Tour!

Cheers

14 down, 7 to go!

Can you believe the Tour is 2/3rds done all of a sudden? It happens SO FAST! I'm aging myself just a TEENSY bit here...but Carol Burnett into my mind..."seems we just started, and before you know it, comes the time we have to say....so long." (Isn't Carol AWESOME? Yes, she is)

Today's stage 14 was a good one but no change at the very front. I was again yelling at Dumolin to gap G and F...but he just didn't have it. Thankfully they didn't have it either, as F would totally like a bit more cushion. I can't help but wonder how the dinner table is at Sky...sure the team is happy to have 1 and 2...but you can't tell me F isn't ticked...this is HIS team and HIS tour...I guarantee he wants (VERY BADLY) to join the TINY list of 5 Tour winners. He may be calm on the surface but you really have to wonder what's going on inside...a quote from Gene Hackman (from the movie The Replacements) comes to mind..."Like a duck on the pond. On the surface everything looks calm, but beneath the water those little feet are churning a mile a minute." I have to think that's F right now. Will he and G attack each other at some point? I think F has to if he wants to win....he certainly can't hope to take that much back in the Stage 20 TT....at least I don't think he can. And w/ Dumolin...the WORLD CHAMPION TT'er 10 seconds or so behind him, THAT has to put fear in his heart!

And then there's Sagan. Can you BELIEVE he held on for FOURTH today? He was off the back, as that was a really nasty little climb...and then suddenly there he is coming around the corner, and if the run-out to the finish had been another 500m he might have pulled them back! Only 12 seconds behind the winner! He is an enigma, a paradox, a conundrum...a rubix cube with 10 x 10 rows on each side....he's SO very hard to figure out. And just when you count him out, there he is. He can win against the PURE sprinters, win in the punchy intermediate stages, and today held on in a very difficult finish.

OK...what else...OH! The scenery early today....up on that limestone bluff w/ the river down below...MAN did that look amazing! And the stone arch the river flowed under...WHEN I follow le Tour one day I'm swinging by there one way or another and canoeing/kayaking on that river! It just looked FABULOUS! Just some beautiful scenery today for sure! I wonder if the French tourism dept (if there is such a thing) contributes to the ASO....cuz I swear there is no better advertisements to visit France than to watch the country flow by during the TDF! And every year we see almost the entire country...yet when you think you've seen it all, next year we see something totally new! And hey....did you see me during the broadcast? I was everywhere (in my mind)! One day....one day.

Alright...enough on that...one week. Man...it's almost time to start getting sad. Every year it happens...living the Tour dream one minute, and suddenly like a fine vacation coming to an end, you realize it's almost over. At least I HOPE to get back on my annual post-Tour riding comeback...where I HOPE to go from 2 rides a week to 4 or 5....and by late August I'll be posting PR's (Personal Records) in Strava again. Haven't seen many of those in a while now...still trying to turn my all-day-endurance into 2 to 3 hour speed and power. Todays group road ride was crushing (to me)...I was off the back as the group was flying on flats and rollers. And yes...even the GIRLS were killing me. Hey... I'm not too proud to draft on girls...it was Elizabeth who pulled a small line of us (all guys) back to the group after a gap had formed. I couldn't close it, and she had me "on the rivet" holding her wheel for what seemed like FOREVER! And just as she faltered our resident LONG DISTANCE and VERY STRONG man John St John rolled up, pulled in front of her and finished the job. I thanked her profusely...I would have been left for dead if not for her. However I think I deserved that...as her husband left me out in the wind for miles...he was right in front of me as we were flying towards the small town of Guadalupe in a 2-wide paceline...and every time I'd get on his wheel to get a tiny shred of draft he'd pull out into the road on the left (echelon) as there was some cross wind. I'd be left totally exposed and start to drop back (I had 2 guys behind me holding MY wheel)...and then he'd pull back where he SHOULD be....and I'd bury myself to get his wheel only to have him pull out again....over and over. So by the time we got to Guadalupe I was shelled...toast....road-kill. So I actually feel like he owed it to me to have his wife pull me back to the group. Yep...that's how I see it.

OK....happy Saturday, and Viva le Tour! Stage 15 is tomorrow....and guess what? MORE MOUNTAINS!! YAY!!!

Here's Phillipe Gilbert being helped back up over the wall he crashed into and flew over in Stage 17! WOW! That's quite a fall! He finished the stage but withdrew on Tuesday due to a broken knee cap.
(Photo copied from Velo News, credit to Tim de Waele/Getty Images)