Tour Update

Well, it may have been a farce to start off with, but this years Tour has certainly been filled with excitement and tension, right up until the penultimate day, the Individual Time Trial. This week has seen some fantastic swings at the front of the general classification. The stages on Wednesday and Thursday this week must rate as some of the most entertaining in years - with Floyd Landis losing 10 minutes in the Alps on Wednesday and being written off as a contender for this year, to fighting back in an aggressive breakaway on Thursday, and claiming back 7 of those 10 minutes. Todays time trial saw only 30 seconds between 1st and 3rd position (Oscar Pereiro in 1st, Carlos Sastre in 2nd and Landis in 3rd). Needless to say, Landis has launched himself straight back into top spot, with a 59 second lead as the riders tackle the final stage into Paris tomorrow. Unless something really dramatic happens, Landis has already won this years Tour - as there is no real attack on the final day. The yellow jersey is acknowledged, and the riders will fight it out for the glory of a win on the Champs Elysees, rather than trying to take time out of the yellow jersey.

I picked Floyd as the winner three weeks ago, and its been touch and go from the start (he lost valuable time in the prologue stage, after spotting a cut in his tire, and missing his time trial starting time). Although he wore yellow in the second week, this past week has seen him move from favourite, to write off, and back into guaranteed winner again. Even though the usual heads of state have not been present in the tour this year, it has turned out to be a fantastic spectacle once again.