Tour de France

Earlier this month I tried to predict who would win the various categories in the Tour de France.

The yellow jersey goes to the person with the lowest elapsed time for all the stages - the leader of the race. The green jersey goes to the best sprinter - based on points given for crossing the line first, second, down to 25th place, as well as some 'bonus' sprints (nasty sprints placed in the middle of a race - imagine having to sprint your guts out at the 35km mark of a marathon and then keep going). The polka dot jersey is for the best hill-climber, again based on points given, this time for crossing mountain peaks first. And the white jersey goes to the best rider aged less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden.

My choices were:

Yellow - Cadel Evans
This prediction looks like coming true. Evans is in second place and looks very strong.

Green - Robbie McEwan
An amazing sprint on Stage 1 made me think I'd definitely opted for the fastest rider. But a crash, also on Stage 1, made it impossible for Robbie to hold onto the handle bars up the steep mountains, and he lost too much time and was eliminated.

Polka Dot - Michael Rasmussen
The leader of this category is my pick - Michael Rasmussen. Although he is not wearing the jersey because he is currently leader of the Tour. He will be the Polka Dot jersey winner if he makes it to Paris. A major drug cloud hangs over him at the moment. He has been banned from riding for his national team up to and including the Beijing Olympics. A former friend has alleged Rasmussen tried to trick him into carrying Biopure blood into Italy for him. Rasmussen's career might be over. (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/tour_de_france/article2116022.ece)

White - Amets Txurruka
My rider is 6th in this category, 24 minutes down on the leader of the white jersey competition, Contador. However, Txurruka is a climber from the Basque region, so he will be saving something for the Pyrenees, where the Basque fans form a corridor of orange to cheer their riders on. Txurruka won't beat Contador or Gerdemann, but he could finish third overall.




Regarding my running. I still have lung pain and I'm waiting for my MRI scan on August 13. I'm fine - I still ride to work and the pain is no big deal, but not running is frustrating. I don't get the results until August 20.