Elizabeth’s Journal

Excited about the Tour de France

I am so excited about the individual time trials—and who will ultimately win the yellow jersey—that will be held on Saturday for the Tour de France. This has been so fascinating this year; last year was the first year I watched any of it, and that was only because of Dale. I had absolutely no idea what it was all about—I thought it was a bunch of cyclists racing over many days to see who could finish in the least time. The fact that they race in teams, not as individuals; that there are actually many different “winners”—four different jerseys to be won (yellow for the overall winner, green for the sprinters, polka dot for king of the mountains—I think?, and white for the best young rider); that part of one’s strategy might be to lead a breakaway for a while because that gives publicity to your sponsor . . . I had no idea about any of this, and certainly no idea about domestiques or team racing. Also, part of what makes it fun is the incredible quality of the OLN (Outdoor Living Network) coverage and commentators. One of my favorite things are the promos with Bob Roll—I laugh every time. Lance Armstrong’s site has lots of interesting columnists and information.