I'll be quick today... n.b. I've been resetting the time stamp on the Virtual DS Challenge so that it stays close to the top... we're still taking entries up til next Wednesday. Sorry for the confusion but the contest will work better this way.
BTW, I'm still trying to figure out a way to blog the National Championships happening now (ITTs) and this weekend (road races). But information is incredibly scattered, and I'm not aware of any live coverage.
- Davitamon-Lotto announce their Tour lineup: Cadel Evans and Robbie McEwen, with Mario Aerts, Christophe Brandt, Chris Horner, Fred Rodriguez, Gert Steegmans, Wim Vansevenant and Johan Vansummeren. Not too shabby, although Evans might be a bit naked in the Alpes.
Keep going...
- CN reports Frank Schleck fell and broke his nose in training. He's fine for the Tour, but won't be defending his, um, very tasteful powder blue and red Lux Champ's jersey this weekend. Maybe his bro can keep it in the family.
- CN also does a rare nostalgia piece, kind of a guided tour of the Tour history.
- OK, now to the elephant in the room: the latest outbreak of French media insisting Lance was a doper. Goddammit... this is about as much fun as arguing about Middle East politics. Can we please move on?
Update [2006-6-23 16:3:49 by chris]: Lance replies.
- Speaking of dope, one of the Cycling unions is lobbying for Botero and Gutierrez' reinstatement. Wonder if Santi appreciates this, he sounded pretty excited about his six month paid vacation.
- Pilfered from the CN roundup:
Leon van Bon will leave the Davitamon-Lotto team this year. The Dutchman, who didn't make the team's Tour de France selection, told De Telegraaf, "It seems that the selection was not made on quality, but on political grounds. I don't find that to be nice."
- Jan Ullrich is so screwed... not because he's getting married per se. It's just that this is more evidence he's too normal a guy to win the Tour. "She is the best woman in the world. I am head over heels in love. I want to bring the rest of my life with her." So much for pedals turned in anger.