And so it begins...

The Vuelta a Espana started today. In some ways, I like the Vuelta and the Giro better than the Tour. For all the tour's grandeur and hugeness, the Vuelta and the Giro are usually more exciting and usually down to the wire. This years Giro and the 2003 Vuelta are perfect examples of grand tours that came down to literally the last mountain.

The best part about the Giro and the Tour are the random teams and riders that are completely off the normal radar and are in EVERY single breakaway in the race.

I'm getting sidetracked...the purpose of my post tonight is to announce my choices for the final Vuelta podium.

Here they are

1. Jose Azevedo (Discovery Channel)
2. Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros)
3. Francisco Mancebo (Illes Ballears)

Armstrong a doper?

As anyone who follows cycling knows, Lance Armstrong was accused by the French sports newspaper L'Equipe of taking EPO during the 1999 Tour De France. According to Jean Marie Leblanc, the director of the tour, there is hard evidence supporting this accusation.

You've got to wonder what Leblanc is thinking.

On one hand, you have Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and arguably one of the most popular athletes in the world, and on the other, you have a French newspaper. Why is a newspaper breaking this story? Why did the lab ignore proper channels and inform WADA, or the directors of the tour directly, and then make a press conference announcing their findings.

Also, why didn't they have anoth lab test the sample on an anonymous basis? This would ensure impartiality from a source other than this unknown French lab.

I think that its bull, my guess is that L' Equipe knows that its bull, but ran it anyway.

The French need to spend less time concerning themselves with Lance, and more time building their young riders.

Just my opinion.

Welcome to my blog

So this is blogging huh? Since I'm new to this "blogging" thing, I'll try to keep it simple for anyone interested in what I have to say. So here it goes:

I say what I mean, and I mean what I say, so don't send me a lot of questioning emails about whether I meant what I said in whatever post you happened to read.

Some of the things I say or believe might offend some. Example, "Campy is better than Shimano." Note, this is not an invitation to bitch me out about your passion for Shimano.

If I do offend you about something, rest assured that I am not going out of my way to offend you, I am simply expressing my opinion. I definetly not a new age liberal that will shut my mouth because I think that someone, somewhere, might be offended.

So thats the disclaimer. I will try to keep posts focused on cycling, but politics will enter the realm at my heart's content. Hope you enjoy reading!