There are a few things that have been irritating me since the start that I have to get off my chest <rant on!>

1) The first half of Saturday's show being dedicated to Lance. I don't have a problem with his return, I don't love cancer, I don't even care when he gets his hackles up and takes on the role of spokesman for human kind and his fellow riders. But 35 minutes worth of the first hour? Really?

2) Any and all commentators (I'm looking primarily at Phil, Paul, and the third amigo in the booth) refusing to say why Floyd, Tyler, and Ivan have been absent from the peleton sometime during the last 3 years. How hard is it to say "And Floyd Landis, back after a 2 year doping suspension, is looking pretty frisky today, wouldn't you say Phil?" Do they actually think that more than 1% of viewers or internet followers don't know he was suspended or why? It's not like any of them would be taking sides by stating the facts, or disparaging those particular riders. Is it too much to ask that they don't try to sweep the past 3 years under the rug and hope no one notices? Sheesh.

3) The third amigo, Craig Hummer. Look, he sounds perfectly nice and he's not the second coming of Al Trautwig. But since this is a big gig for him I'd expect that he'd do some homework. And stating today that Tom Peterson wasn't helping Levi at all on the climb because he had a teammate who was high up on GC - Christian Vandevelde - I threw up in my mouth just a little. The name that he should have said was Dave Zabriskie, at that time only 3 seconds behind Levi. CVV was one of the 5' group. Is it too much to ask that you look at the actual standings and not just default to the team leader for this year's TDF? It's sloppy shit like this that's like a burr under my saddle. It bothers me no end.

Otherwise, the race has kicked ass so far. Gutsy ride by Paco yesterday followed by a terrific attack today by Levi. I can't wait to see how the rest of the race unfolds, and if Jimbo and Dan will ever hook up for that bottle of Captain Morgan that I'm hoping they get a hold of.

<rant off!>