In The Beginning There Was Belgium And Things Were Not Good

Eerily similar to the start of the Giro, the first couple stages of the TdF have given us fans some spectacular crashes - including one that involved a loose dog. Perhaps the Vuelta committee can make a quick change to move the first few stages to Luxembourg where they can hope to round out the Grand Tour season with a smattering of early stage crashes. Besides Fränk and Andy Schleck's crash today, the Luxembourgers must be feeling left out of the excitement, what with their Benelux compatriots getting the opportunity to provide the general public with amazing racing (or unnecessary carnage). Don't ask Levi, he might tell you the infamous "they" want to see crashes (of course we do, this is the country of Nascar).

To be fair to Levi, here is photographic evidence of the conspiracy:

Perhaps it is just a handicap system, but I wouldn't give Lars Boom such a big handicap during a time trial as to have him ride it at night.

Speaking of the TdF (which we can't do here in America without mentioning Lance), Lance seems to be thumbing his nose at the D-O-double-G. Snoop created a "good luck" message for his man Lance and posted the video on YouTube. Yet clearly Lance is riding for another famous musician:

Anyway, being in America is good because I can watch the races on a large TV instead of the internet - or so I thought. It appears that Versus isn't on some cable subscription plans. No fear, I had the trusty internet as a back up. But alas, my two attempts were defeated by technology as the internet crashed and left me wondering if Christian Vande Velde had crashed out. I was happy to find out the next day that he had indeed crossed the line with the rubber side down. True to form, he unfortunately crashed in stage 2 and withdrew from the race with broken ribs.

On the academic front, I scored a sweet five out of six (including the bonus question) on BSNYC's 2 July quiz. If I keep up my high scores I might contact the Snob and see if I can get credit towards an associate's degree.

Big ups to Chavanel on his break away win on stage 2 and his ride into yellow. France really needs something to bring up their spirits after the horrible showing their national soccer team had in South Africa. What an emotional roller coaster those fans must be on: the French team "earns" a spot in the World Cup after a clear hand ball by Henry and then they make the US team look good after creating a mockery of the sport. That is just recent history, I don't feel it's fair to France to go on.

Happy belated 4th everyone. Enjoy the hangovers, ride the bikes, and support the minimum wage waiters.