Stage 21
July 28 Melun - Paris-Champs-Elysees 144 km
I forgot about the first 50 km unofficial neutral zone in this
stage. Just before the first road prime, Telekom did their thing but
McEwen showed his superior speed there and at the finish to win the
Points Title. Did I tell you that the best tactic in the world is to
get stronger and faster than your competition and crush them? I'm
sure I did. It works. Ask Chris Carmichael and Lance Armstrong.
Did you see Mikhailov of Lotto finish just behind Zabel in the first
road sprint? He was trying to finish between McEwen and Zabel to get
second place points to help increase McEwen's lead over Zabel. Good
move. Did I tell you this is a team sport? :-) You'll get the idea.
The riders waited until they reached Paris to start attacking and
then the dam broke. There was constant attacking right down to the
finishing lap. Rumsas even got into this. Most likely he was trying
to get the stage win but then he was only one minute down, there was
a time bonus of at least 20 seconds for first place, and a gap of
only 40 seconds at the line would give him a tie with Beloki and the
superior placing in the last stage would have been the tie breaker.
Was he trying that? We may never really know. If he was, it was a
good try and I have to respect his determination.
Apparently, ONCE wasn't going to take any chances and put an end to
it. Just before ONCE was about to catch the break Rumsas dropped out
of it and back to the peloton. Then ONCE let the break go back up
the road. I think ONCE and Rumsas were thinking the same thing I was
thinking. Did I tell you this is bike chess where you have to think
fast at 35 mph?
Then Telekom took control of the peloton and brought the break back
in close enough for the sprint to run it down. Oh, did I tell you
that a rule of thumb for a break in the closing kilometers of a pro
race is that the break has to have at least 12" on the peloton at
the one kilometer mark or the momentum of the sprint will catch the
break? It works.
Tomorrow
Rest day. Sleep in, eat a big stack of pancakes with maple syrup and
bacon, go for an easy spin, and watch the birds. :-) See you here
next year.
