Today's Question

Any idea why I would post these two pictures together. Any thoughts no matter how random they may be are welcome. Of course you can always try to get the right answer too.

I guess he has nothing to do now that his wingman Matthew McConaughey is busy with a girlfriend and a new baby...

If you haven't heard already, Lance Armstrong plans to come out of retirement to try and win the Tour de France next year, four years after he won his historic seventh.  The full Vanity Fair story is out now online.  

He'll be 37 years old at that time, and I'll be amazed if he actually pulls this off.  If he does manage to win, though, I'll be glad that he can finally put those doubts about whether he raced clean in years past to rest.

Suddenly, the Tour de France became so much more interesting again.

Winning by the (second) slimmest of margins...

It's strange to say it, but all the scandal that led to Michael Rasmussen being kicked out of the Tour de France may have been the best thing that happened to the race this year. While "The Chicken" (as he's nicknamed because of his frail-looking chicken legs) was still in the race, it looked like he had all but wrapped up winning the Tour barring some epic choke in the individual time trial today. The three men trailing him in the general classification would be left to duke it out for second place. Instead, Rasmussen was booted out of competition by his own team for being a complete moron and we had one heck of a competition this morning in France. What usually ends up being a head-to-head competition between number one and two, became a three-way battle royale with the yellow jersey up for grabs.

Going into the time trial today, here were the standings:

1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 86h 04' 16"
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto + 01' 50"
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team + 02' 49"

After putting in the ride of his life and winning the stage with one of the fastest average speeds ever recorded at the Tour, Levi Leipheimer came oh so close to not only overtaking Evans for second place, but even overtaking his teammate Contador to win the whole thing. In the end, Alberto Contador also put in a remarkable performance to preserve his lead by a slim 23 seconds, the second smallest margin of victory ever in the Tour de France.

1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 87h 09' 18"
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto + 23"
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team + 31"

The slimmest margin of victory occurred in 1989 when American Greg Lemond stuck it to a very smug Frenchman Laurent Fignon by riding the fastest time trial ever recorded at the Tour de France to overcome a 50 second deficit and gain an additional 8 seconds to win the maillot jaune. I remember watching that back then thinking I had just witnessed one of the coolest sporting events ever. Doping wasn't the center of attention then, just the actual sport of cycling itself. Heck, the biggest controversy at the time was Lemond's use of an aerodynamic helmet and aerobars, the first use of its kind in the Tour, and now it's standard equipment for any rider today.

Barring some freak accident tomorrow, Alberto Contador is the winner of the 2007 Tour de France. Too bad the first questions from the press probably won't be too congratulatory, but more in the vein of "Did you cheat?" At this point, I'm not sure I really care anymore. I could have cared less whether they were doped up on testosterone, EPO, bovine hemoglobin, or crack--today was an exciting spectacle to watch, and perhaps reminded me why the Tour de France will live on. Viva la Tour!

(Photo: AP/Christophe Ena)

Now this is just getting ridiculous...

Wow. This Tour gets dirtier and dirtier each day. After all but wrapping up a Tour victory with some incredible riding in the Pyrenees, Michael Rasmussen was kicked off his team and, as a result, out of the Tour de France with just four days left till the ride onto the Champs Elysees. Remember, this is the guy that missed four out of competition drug tests prior to the start of the race. Even though he hasn't tested positive for any banned substances, you've gotta think that his sponsor Rabobank knows something. They say they've got evidence that he was actually in Italy when he said he was in Mexico, and I'm inclined to think they must know even more incriminating stuff to have pulled him while on the cusp of winning the yellow jersey outright.

Levi Leipheimer is in third and now a mere 2'49" behind the current race leader and Discovery Channel teammate Alberto Contador. Making it nine in row for the Stars and Stripes is still a long shot, but not completely beyond reason.

(Photo: AP/Peter Dejong)

Who let the dogs out?

The Tour de France has now completed a full week and change. Despite the absence of any overwhelming favorites due to doping scandals, it's still turning out to be a rather exciting race, and perhaps even more interesting than one would expect. There's at least half a dozen riders still in contention to win the honor of wearing the Maillot Jaune into Paris.

I hate to say what's made this year's Tour so fun to watch, though, has been the crashes. A massive crash just short of the finish line in Stage 2 showed just how dangerous things can get with 189 riders all grouped together jockeying for position on a narrow road. Stage 5 brought about another rash of crashes resulting in some major injuries to top contender Alexander Vinokourov which essentially lost him the race (as he's rumoured to be toughing it out with 60+ stitches holding him together in his knees, no less). His German teammate Andreas Kloden (a contender in his own right) has a suspected fractured tailbone, yet manages to ride on and may be in the best position right now to win it all. The second day in the Alps for Stage 8 brought more horrific crashes and took out two Aussies. Stuart O'Grady had to be lifted out in a helicopter. Michael Rogers slammed straight into a guard rail on a technical descent which likely broke his collar bone as he soon withdrew from the race in tears after valiantly trying to continue on for awhile.

With all these accidents, you'd be tempted to think this Tour was cursed. Well, after Markus Burkhardt's crash in Stage 9, you might be right:



Luckily, it looks like the dog and the cyclist made it out of that crash OK. The same couldn't be said about Burkhardt's front wheel--that thing alone probably cost over $2000.

Levi Leipheimer and the Discovery Channel Team still have a chance to win this thing, too, if you want to root for an American to win for the ninth straight year in a row. The whole thing will probably be decided based on the individual time trial on Saturday and the mountain stages in the Pyrenees right after.