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| Why this man is laughing. |
Ten days into the Tour de France, and no notice of it here yet? I'm betraying the masthead promise. But I've been watching a fair amount of it.
Theme of this year seems to be: is Slovakia's Tadej Pogachar the god of cycling and destined to sweep all before him again this year? Or is it possible that Visma, the team of the leading alternative to "Taddy," a Dane named Jonas Vingegaard (I know, the names are the best), following a devious plot to let Tadej's UAE team lead most of the time -- while it gradually wears itself out in minor dominance displays, so Vingegaard can sweep past his tired-out rival in the last stages.
Well, maybe. But Tadej does seem to believe in himself, and makes dominating whenever he wants look almost easy. He is wearing yellow again today.
On the other hand, his strongest supporting rider, the one who was supposed to clear his path all through the Pyrenees and Alps, had to withdraw yesterday after a crash. That has to be a boon to Team Visma -- but Team UAE is well supplied with other strongmen. Still a long way to go.
One of the pleasures of this tour is that Michael Woods, great Canadian cyclist and frequent top-ten contender in the Tour and the other grand tours, is now 38 and has very publicly declared he has intentionally been sitting comfortably at the back of the race most days. He will only break out when he thinks he can jump from the pack and steal a stage somewhere (as indeed he did last year in 2023) Here's hoping.
The more relaxed Woods actually has time to maintain a blog during this Tour. He has been posting about Tour management's culpability in allowing, and even welcoming, the frequent crashes at this year's race -- and then blaming the riders for them. He describes how to "subpar" a time trial -- that is, loaf through it to save energy for another day, while avoiding being disqualified for missing the minimum time rules. And he is particularly open in laying out his strategy for avoiding the chase for top standings, avoiding crashes, and awaiting the moment to have a single day of glory like last year. It's a funny sport -- read his explanation of it all. L'autre Canadien du tour, Guillaume Boivin, is still there in the rankings, but I have never spotted him or heard his name mentioned by the race commentators.
Meanwhile the scenery is gorgeous as ever. I want to go to half the landscapes they have written through. This year Chinon may be the prettiest Tour town I know nothing about. No doubt other contenders will emerge.
Update, same day: Well, I had not seen today's results. Seems Tadej is out of leader's yellow again tonight.
