De Ronde van Frankreich: R Mc's 5 geezers

1.  George Hincapie (BMC):  I'm not just trying to be nice to sminer:  the last couple of years have convinced me that George Hincapie is an amazing racer.  Maybe not a big winner, but an essential part of making things happen in the finale.  Don't believe me?  Re-view the last few kilometers of the Champs stage of last year's tour:  who put Garmin back in their place and set up Renshaw and Cavendish?  Hincapie.  I don't care whether he wins a stage or wears yellow.  But I will be watching to see how he takes control of things 5 or 10 riders back from the front when things matter in a stage.  And . . . don't forget, he's riding for Evans.

2.  Michael Barry (Sky):  Finally, the kid (hah!) gets to ride the tour.  Not really a super-domestique, more like a super-diesel. 

3.  Jens Voigt (the team formerly known as Saxo-Bank):  yeah, who else won't be watching Jens? 

4.  Levi Leipheimer, (Radio Shack):  This guy could have a really interesting role.

5.  Vino (VIno-land, uh, Astana):  Imagine the Olsen-twin movie that could be cooked up with Leipheimer and Vinokourov switching places.  (For some reason, I'm imagining it as if story-boarded in a Toto episode:  Armstrong:  "Bottle, I don't understand what's gotten into you . . ."  Vino-as-LL:  "mutters something incomprehensible in any language"