Tour de France 2009: A Good One

The 2009 Tour had drama, conflict, more drama and a hell of a bicycle race.

I can't complain about the outcome. Alberto Contador proved himself to be currently the best stage racer in the world. He's won the last four Grand Tours he's started, becoming a top time trialist in the process, a capability necessary to win Tours even for the best climbers. He's young, talented and tough. He'll be around for awhile. It remains to be seen how he fares on a weaker team, which we'll almost certainly find out.

When Lance Armstrong returned to the Tour, my biggest concern was that he would drop 10 minutes in an early stage and be irrelevant. That certainly was not the case as he battled to a podium finish. He proved to be capable of climbing with the best, losing time only on a couple of shorter steep climbs, mostly due to attacks initiated by his teammate, Contador. He didn't do as well in the time trials as one might have expected, but he handily held his own through the incessant attacks from the Schleck brothers on stage to Ventoux, a longer, tougher climb than most. A third place finish after four years away from racing may disappoint many American Lance fans, but I think it is nothing short of amazing.

He'll be back another year older, but with a fresh year of race training on his legs and a new team of his choosing. You can bet the team will be loaded with the likes of Leipheimer, Kloden, Popovych and other top riders from Astana (that won't include Contador!). Rumor has Brice Feillu, the young French climber who dramatically soloed to victory on stage 7 to Arcalis ahead of a charging Contador, joining the team if he can bring his sprinter brother , Romain. Armstrong is also said to be interested in signing Taylor Phinney, star of the Livestrong Under 23 team.

Give credit to the talented Schleck Brothers. They animated the race and came away with second and fifth.Look for them to work on their time trialing before next year! They are both young and will be in the battle for a long time.

The 2010 Tour is already shaping up to be a good one!!

I almost failed to mention Mark Cavendish, winner of six stages and a final-stage romp on the Champs Elysees. His leadout man, Mark Renshaw, took second as they both just dropped the rest of the field on the sprint today. No half-wheel victory here. They went clear by several bike lengths and had plenty of time to celebrate. Thor Hushovd carried home the green jersey, but Cav is far and away the toughest sprinter in the peloton.