2006 Tour de France - Stage 15

It's time to get out of the recliner and do a little hill work today. Oh man, my knees are stiff. I think I'll sit back down and watch TV.

Bad things always happen in threes. Today is the start of that with three mountain stages. Floyd will have to choose when his rest is over. He will more than likely decide that depending who goes for the early break. On Sunday, Freire became a proud father. For future reference Oscar, count back at least 10 months from July then make your move if ya wanna be around for the birth.

Speaking of breaks, we have a good one which totals 25 riders. There are a mixture of teams including Discovery, T Mobile, CSC, and Phonak. Oh crap, Martinez crashes on a decent. That's gonna leave a mark. Is that his 3rd crash of the Tour? It must be that three thing. The good thing is he's back riding. The hills are too much for Boonen and he leaves the Tour.

The turning point (pun intended) comes as they round the corner to begin the L'Alpe d'Huez climb. The lead group surges and Phonak finally has to do something.  As Landis, Kl?den, Kessler, and Evans respond, poor George slips back. Floyd creeps up to Merckx and Axel is domestique of the day for the pull he gives to Landis.  George is eventually caught and passed by Floyd and friends. Looks like it will be the Landis and Kloden show. But wait, there's time to rest since the leader isn't a threat to Floyd. Schleck is the man and wins the stage! Frank "the Subaru" Schleck damn near lead the whole thing! He's no slacker and should keep all the stage win money. By the way, who is he? CSC is showing their team strength.

George doesn't make the top ten but his effort was certainly respectable.  Lance was there but couldn't save the day. Floyd isn't doing anymore than he has to. I think riding not to lose is risky. One down and two to go. What does everyone have left?

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