There is literally nothing to talk about in regards to this race- no story, no highlights, no nothing.
Now I didn't go into the Tour thinking this would be the greatest race of all time with the current pool of GC contenders, but I thought if there were so many of them, at least a few would make it interesting.
But it's not. They're boring to watch, and with the exception of Contador (obvious doper), the GC guys have been doing absolutely nothing. Lemme break it down:
Evans/Sastre/Vandevelde - Last year they attacked often, played cat and mouse games, and made the race exciting. This year? Nothing. They all just roll across the line with the peloton. Cycle Sport are talking out of their asses when they say Sastre made the best decision of his career to go to Cervelo- he went from a Tour champ with CSC-Saxobank to a complete ZERO with Cervelo. You barely see him on the camera either. Evans has always been a passive rider, but FFS just attack for once.
Andy Schleck/Frank Schleck - Last year they helped Sastre win the Tour, and made mountain stages exciting. This year they follow a "me-too" type approach, trying to make up Contador's attacks but with no success. They have not attacked on any stage yet, but have been playing catch-up. Their behavior is exactly opposite of what they did last year.
Armstrong - Now I know when he said he would come back he wouldn't win the Tour, but please, at least make it seem like you care about this race or your fans. Outside of yesterday's stage where he tried to bridge the gap to Kloden, he's rolled across the line with the peloton each day. Incredibly boring to watch.
Even the sprints suck too. In previous years, you've had Boonen, McEwen, Cavendish, and Hushovd all battling it out for green jersey points. This year you have Cavendish sucking someones wheel until the last 100 yards, then he rips past Hushovd (who has no help from his crappy team). Boonen was MIA until he dropped out. McEwen isn't even in the race anymore...
I know everyone is saving themselves for Mont Ventoux, but I can already tell you that the stage won't be as exciting as everyone is hyping it up to be, because if everyone is attacking it won't make a difference- they'll still finish around the same time. The hopes of long breaks like last years Tour with Sastre are minimal...
There aren't any doping positives either. Maybe everyone saw what happened to guys like Ricco, Kohl, Schumacher, Rasmussen, Landis, and Vinokourov in recent Tours and decided to not be as blatant?
Now I didn't go into the Tour thinking this would be the greatest race of all time with the current pool of GC contenders, but I thought if there were so many of them, at least a few would make it interesting.
But it's not. They're boring to watch, and with the exception of Contador (obvious doper), the GC guys have been doing absolutely nothing. Lemme break it down:
Evans/Sastre/Vandevelde - Last year they attacked often, played cat and mouse games, and made the race exciting. This year? Nothing. They all just roll across the line with the peloton. Cycle Sport are talking out of their asses when they say Sastre made the best decision of his career to go to Cervelo- he went from a Tour champ with CSC-Saxobank to a complete ZERO with Cervelo. You barely see him on the camera either. Evans has always been a passive rider, but FFS just attack for once.
Andy Schleck/Frank Schleck - Last year they helped Sastre win the Tour, and made mountain stages exciting. This year they follow a "me-too" type approach, trying to make up Contador's attacks but with no success. They have not attacked on any stage yet, but have been playing catch-up. Their behavior is exactly opposite of what they did last year.
Armstrong - Now I know when he said he would come back he wouldn't win the Tour, but please, at least make it seem like you care about this race or your fans. Outside of yesterday's stage where he tried to bridge the gap to Kloden, he's rolled across the line with the peloton each day. Incredibly boring to watch.
Even the sprints suck too. In previous years, you've had Boonen, McEwen, Cavendish, and Hushovd all battling it out for green jersey points. This year you have Cavendish sucking someones wheel until the last 100 yards, then he rips past Hushovd (who has no help from his crappy team). Boonen was MIA until he dropped out. McEwen isn't even in the race anymore...
I know everyone is saving themselves for Mont Ventoux, but I can already tell you that the stage won't be as exciting as everyone is hyping it up to be, because if everyone is attacking it won't make a difference- they'll still finish around the same time. The hopes of long breaks like last years Tour with Sastre are minimal...
There aren't any doping positives either. Maybe everyone saw what happened to guys like Ricco, Kohl, Schumacher, Rasmussen, Landis, and Vinokourov in recent Tours and decided to not be as blatant?