2008 Tour de France - Stage 15

Mark Cavendish has been winning sprints like Cipollini. Just like Mario, Cavendishlini quits the Tour in round two of the mountains. Good luck in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics.

The first hill today is a lulu. It’s early enough in the stage to keep too many racers from cracking. Four racers are steadily increasing their lead from the peloton. They are Gerrans, Arrieta, Pate and Martinez. I would say Martinez would be considered the favorite. Pate could be a factor for Vande Velde. They are 5km from the summit and have a lead of 13:45. We’ll see if they can hold out through the valley before the last climb to the finish.

What goes up must come down. This rule has impacted Oscar Pereiro. He reportedly went over the guardrail and fell to the road below in a horrific crash. This could be the day when the excitement of the stage is not from racing but from crashing.

Actually, the peloton has been relatively calm throughout the stage. However, many riders slipped on slick roads and went down in a roundabout. CSC finally takes control while the break has maintained a large enough advantage to know one of them will win today’s stage. Did I say something about Martinez earlier?

Just as the excitement of the stage regained its focus on the riders, Menchov has slipped and fell while attacking. He’s down but not out!  There’s an abundance of activity and more drama from watching the lead group and the yellow jersey gang.

The first surprise is Gerrans who sprints away from Martinez to celebrate the stage win. There’s some shuffling going on around Evans and Schleck is leading Schleck. Evans is the last to finish out of the contenders group. He has lost time to significant challengers Sastre, Valverde, Schleck, Vande Velde, and Menchov.

Frank wears yellow thanks to brother Andy. My brother would never do anything like that for me. I suppose it’s from all those times I beat him up when we were kids. Come to think of it, I still do that. Oh well, I’ve only got three more sessions of my anger management classes left.

Tomorrow is a rest day. The 2008 Tour de France will continue on Tuesday...

Super Dave (Enjoy my dribbles, hate them? Suggestions? Feedback is welcomed!)