sprint, sprint, sprint, all Tour long...

Getting to the point, I'm starting to hate sprints. Ever since Cipo ceased being the spectacle he was at the Tour I honestly don't care about the sprints. The Valkenburg finish was dope, but that's about it. But tell me this, why can't they have the finish at the top of the climb, and not a mile down the damn road?

Which leads me to my next observation: where are all the damn mountain finishes? I can't remember the count, but it seems that there are only 2-3 total for the race. This is just stupid. No wonder that the Giro is picking up in popularity, it's actually interesting. Go figure.

But I can't complain about the coverage. OLN gots the lockdown w/ P+P giving the call, and I'm warming to Al Trautwig since listening to the ABC commentary of Lemond's '86 win when I'm pretty sure I heard his voice. He's been around for a while, but I didn't realize how long. Plus he's starting to get it. His stage picks for the jersey comp w/ the guys are actually thought out. Add in Cycling.tv's coverage, as well as my new find The Broadband Racer. They don't have the rights to show more than 3 minutes of footage, but they're getting some interviews of different people other than the usual suspects. My favorite sections are actually the video blogs. I'm very interested in all the behind the scenes shizzo that goes on w/ pro racing. It just seems more accessable than just the race all the time. That's why I loved the Lance Chronicles. I still can't believe they haven't put that out in some form to download or buy.

Anyway, Boonen looks like he's not doping and more favorites are doing the American contingent a favor by crashing out. I'm sorry for Valverde, and especially for Fast Freddie. It's all still bike racing, and that's all good, so I'll keep watching the repeats, I mean the sprints!