Blob's ToC Predictions

What is there left to say about the Tour of California that hasn’t been said already? Lance! blah blah blah…Floyd! blah blah blah…and Levi! blah blah blah…Basso Astana, Boonen, Cavendish, Cancellara blah blah blah…but what will Phil, Paul and Craig Hummer say about it all day long? Here are some of my predictions:


PL: “He’s dancing on the pedals!”
PS: “Right you are Phil.”
PL: “I dare say.”
PS: “He’s riding like a man possessed.”
PL: “Right you are Paul.”
CH: “What did you guys say?”
PL: “Cavendish blah blah blah...”
PS: “Rogers blah blah blah…”
PL: “(Insert British rider) blah blah blah…”
PS: “the course looks fabulous.”
PL: “Spot of bother, hotting up, spit the dummy, glorious day of racing, out on the open road.”
PS: “argie-bargie, suitcase of courage, blue touch paper, it is an undulating course, the time trial is called the race of truth, I think (insert anyone’s name) will agree with me.”
CH: “Come again?”

I am just kidding. I will however miss being in the booth with the best commentators in the business. Instead I will have my hands full out on the course running down all the interviews. In all seriousness the reason to tune in to every moment is to see Lance Armstrong race again. Lance never raced the Tour of California because its inception was the year after he retired. It was Floyd Landis who won that inaugural edition and it has been Levi Leipheimer winning ever since. But seeing Lance racing again is as near to a miracle we may ever see in bike racing. And if he is at his best what a great race it will be. Which brings me to my predictions.

The pre-race hype will be a whirlwind surrounding Lance, Floyd, Ivan Basso, and Carlos Sastre but none of these men will win. It will be Levi Leipheimer who wins completing a delicious hat trick. In 2009 Levi is coming off his best grand tour ever. He was second at the Tour of Spain this past fall, only a few seconds slower than his teammate Alberto Contador. And I have a sneaking suspicion that Levi is still stinging from his non-participation in the 2008 Tour De France. Through no fault of his own Levi’s team Astana was left out of the Tour under very curious circumstances. Year in and year out Levi is awesome in the early season and this year he has a serious axe to grind. He seems to be at the height of his powers and the race course favor his talents even better than years past. So while Lance will be the focus of nearly all the hype Levi Leipheimer will quietly go about the business of destroying the field. The Lance factor (you know…when all of his rivals fall to pieces) will not come into play until a little bit later in the season. For now Levi Leipheimer will be the man.