// Definitely Going Through Tour Withdrawal
Posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009
Everyone knows the Tour de France ended last week, and many of the die-hard cycling fans out there are going through some serious race withdrawal, myself included. I mean, this year’s Tour had all the drama of a usual pro cycling stage race (who will take the stage? who will be in yellow today? and what about the team time trials!?!), but on top of that we saw some interesting team drama unfold.
I’m referring, of course, to the intense riding ability of just about everyone on Team Astana. A lot of people assumed that Lance Armstrong would be the team leader for Astana. He’s got seven Tour wins under his belt, so why not put him in the position to win his eighth? But Alberto Contado and Levi Leipheimer are also both astoundingly talented riders, and Contador has one Tour win to his name (albeit a win that resulted from Floyd Landis losing his yellow jersey in a doping scandal). It was my thought that the team coach, Johan Bruyneel, was aiming for a first, second, and third place–hoping Astana would dominate the podium in Paris.
But whatever dreams Bruyneel had for a podium sweep were lost when Leipheimer withdrew from the race due to injury. The drama between Contador and Armstrong grew even more intense, as Contador repeatedly took the lead by attacking in a number of stages. The result of course, was that Contador took the yellow jersey, and Armstrong ended up in third place, with a very talented Andy Schleck in between them in second.
But the drama didn’t end with the champagne in Paris. Contador has said some nasty things about Armstrong to the press, and both have been actively tweeting to their loyal Twitter followers about not having respect for each other. And just last week, Armstrong and electronics retailer Radio Shack announced that they would be forming a new team for the upcoming season. Lance will be competing in pro cycling races, marathons, and triathalons for the new Team Radio Shack. The team is also partnering with Armstrong’s cancer foundation, LIVESTRONG.
All in all, the drama was almost as interesting to watch as the race itself. But now that it’s over, what’s a cycling fan to do?
I’ve been consoling myself that with the fact that there’s still the Tour of Missouri coming up in early September. The race’s website has some great information up about all the stages, and I’m generally pretty excited to see what happens. There’s no mountains in Missouri, but it should still make for an interesting race. Will it have as much drama as this year’s TDF? I’m not sure, but I do know that there is some other drama surrounding the race itself.
The Tour of Missouri is actually in some financial trouble. Pro cyclists have been tweeting to their followers to help save the race by bringing it to the attention of possible corporate donors. The race brings a lot of tourist money into Missouri, but the state still says that in these hard economic times, it might not be worth the cost of the race. This year they’re looking for volunteers to help out at the race, too, so if you’re in Missouri, you can sign up on the race’s site to volunteer.