Viva la Tour

The route for the 2009 Tour du France (thanks Bobke) as we Amurrkans like to call it was announced yesterday. This comes right on the heels of the news that two more riders who had very successful 2008 tours were found positive for being dopes. I'm all for it. It's satisfying that the cheaters are being caught and that the four real surprise performances of the tour have now admitted to doping. Personally I never liked Schumacher, Kohl, Ricco, or Piepoli and I'm glad to see them go.

The tour looks like an exciting one (and not just because of the scandals) with the team time trial returning (too bad for Cunego and Valverde) and a summit finish on one BFM the day before Paris (too bad for whatever sprinter doesn't make the time cut).

I'm more excited about the Giro though. Lance, Basso, Sastre, (again, too bad for Cunego) and bunch of quacky italians. Plus it's in May so I don't have to wait so long to see it--and I hate waiting. Luckily for me, not only is it months earlier than the tour, but it'll feature the comeback of mellow jonny. I'm on this side of the Atlantic so I still like Lance. I think there are about equal chances that he is either an ex doper or just the most amazing physical specimen to jump on a bike in the last 40 years. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt because that makes the world less depressing. Either way I'm excited because Lance means people aware of cycling and the more Amurrka sees, the better for all of us out there pedaling around. Now I hear a lot more "Go Lance" than I do "Get off the road, F*&%#$".

He's spreading the wealth around. Sounds like a good idea to me.