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Le Tour de France — Why Now?
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Le Tour de France

The 2009 Tour de France starts today in Monaco and continues until the July 26th finish in Paris.

You can follow on the official site, the BBC Cycling page. and the NBC site.

The CBC has a Tour introduction site.

Lance Armstrong is back, but he is probably not going to be a contender, especially following his injuries in a major crash during a tune-up race.

Update: From the ABC results from Stage 1.

4 comments

1 jams O'Donnell { 07.04.09 at 12:15 pm }

I would like to see some British riders make their mark. The British dominate the velodrome but not the road. We haven’t had anyone come even close inning since the 80s. From an Irish persective I would love to see a repeat of the glory days of Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly
.-= ´s last blog ..An unpaid advert on behalf of North Korean beer =-.

2 Bryan { 07.04.09 at 1:01 pm }

That shows in the time trials, Jams, Wiggans took third, although Cavandish didn’t have a good run.

Armstrong is sort of a sideshow to the main event, although he’s good for the race sponsors and brings out the crowds.

3 jams O\'Donnell { 07.04.09 at 2:33 pm }

Well he is already one of the Tour greats, if not the greatest of all. Still the Tour has had too much ill publicity. A good race and a creditable run by Lance will be good news
.-= ´s last blog ..An unpaid advert on behalf of North Korean beer =-.

4 Bryan { 07.04.09 at 2:56 pm }

The man had chemotherapy for cancer, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything that showed up in his body chemistry. Chemo is not exactly a subtle process.

When someone is outstanding in any field they become a target for supporters of their opponents. When someone is truly dominant, like Armstrong was, a lot of very good people lose their chance to win. There are a lot of riders who might have taken the yellow jersey during a different era, but couldn’t get beyond Armstrong, who was backed by a hell of team.

I think being sponsored by the US Postal Service was also annoying to a lot of people. Imagine a Royal Mail team coming in first in the Grand Prix – it just grates. There were people in the US who were outraged about it, not understand that USPS is no longer a purely public enterprise.

He does sell newspapers, and generates media attention. NBC wouldn’t have discovered the Tour without Armstrong’s success.