July 17, 2006
A Benefit for Bicyclists
Forget Paris. There's no stage more iconic to the Tour de France than the one that includes the brutal Alpe d'Huez. The steep "hors categorie" ascent up the Alpine peak to end the stage separates potential champions from mere mortals, as the weak fall away from the peloton and the expert climbers push ahead through the fan-crowded hills. In other words, even if you're not so addicted to the Tour that you TiVo coverage of every stage and watch it when you get home from work even though you've already followed the so-called "gaps" while at work, this stage is indisputably — for the casual observer or the hardcore enthusiast — the one to watch.
With live coverage of this year's Alpe d'Huez stage inconveniently taking place tomorrow during work hours, why not head over to Capitol Hill's Sonoma at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday to catch a rebroadcast of the stage? Sonoma is teaming up with Manayunk, Pa.'s Cadence Cycling and Multisport Center to present a screening of the stage to benefit two regional junior development bicycle racing programs. Besides getting to watch the stage in style and helping some deserving and talented athletes, your $25 donation will get you tasty appetizers, beer, and wine (French, we hope) — and the chance to win one of two $500 all-day camps at Cadence just outside of Philadelphia's Center City. That is to say, you do well by doing good.
Purchase advance tickets online today until 7 p.m. via this link. Or head over to Sonoma tomorrow evening and pay at the door. Aside from our pre-allocated $25 entry fee, our money is on Floyd Landis to take the stage — though don't count out Australia's Cadel Evans, Russia's Vladimir Karpets and Denis Menchov, and even Ukraine's youthful Yaroslav Popovych.
Sonoma
223 Pennsylvania Avenue SE
(202) 544-8088
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A great tour this year, with plenty worth watching. Looking forward to tomorrow. Thanks for the head's up on this.
Floyd will not win tomorrow, but will use the stage to distance himself from Menchov, Klöden, et al. Whether this actually happens or not, remains to be seen. Floyd should ride conservatively to make sure that he doesn't lose time to the GC contenders and MAYBE if the situation turns out ok, he can try to put time into them. Tactically, it doesn't make sense for him to try to win the stage. Leipheimer on the other hand needs to pull something out of his butt to make up time and this might be the stage to do it. I think Levi could deal a big psychological blow to the rest of the peloton if he were to win the stage tomorrow.
My money is on a Colombian or Spaniard to win the stage. Not sure which one, though.
The problem Landis faces is not so much his abilities, but rather whether his team has the right stuff to fully support him. I agree that it doesn't make sense for him to put in an all-out effort to win this stage. The fun thing about this year's tour is that none of us can predict the winner with much confidence -- a welcome change from the Armstrong era!
True, it remains to be seen if the rest of the Phonak team is up to the task of supporting Floyd. I think they can... I mean take a look at USPS back in 99. No one thought they could support Lance properly either, including me.