My interest in the tour began back in 1997; desparate for a sports fix after the NBA finals. Two years ago A. and I sprang for cable TV, and we've been faithful watcher's of OLN's coverage ever since. That coverage can be maddening. They run the same handful of commercials over and over for the full three weeks of the race. A given day's coverage lasts for hours. The action hinges on a handful of moments.
Decisions to respond or not to another cyclist's attack, deferential gestures of camraderie, the curious sentimentality that enters into the latter stages of the race. Hand shakes or pats on the back as one rider moves ahead and another falls behind. Reinforcing the sense that the tour is a thing that the riders are enduring.
A thin collection of video highlights are yours for the viewing here. But like the last chapter of Mason and Dixon, the full weight of what you're taking in can only really be felt when you've put in the time.
Many of the cyclists implicated in the so-called Operación Puerto investigation had figured prominently in such moments. They were also favored to win this year. According to fellow cyclist Bobby Julich the evidence, at least against his team captain Ivan Basso, is largely circumstantial.
I'm inclined to be sympathetic either way. I can imagine the pressure to win the first "post-Lance" tour, and the quality of the competition compelling someone to go the illegal route. I can't imagine how terrible it would feel to be clean and realize that you wouldn't be participating in the tour. I can even imagine years of adversity, being so close to winning, compelling someone to believe that they are pure of heart and conscience no matter what they did.
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