2008 Tour of California

I’m not going to put any links in this post. I’m waiting to watch the time trial on Versus tonight so I don’t want to hit the official page, any of the team pages, or Velonews and have it all spoiled for me.

What a great race so far! Cancellara is hanging right in there, and being only a few seconds behind Leipheimer means he’s a stone’s throw from the lead. Levi couldn’t shake him on the mountain stage on Tuesday, but has at least twenty seconds on the man going into the time trial.

I think George Hincapie has to be one of the most aggressive and talented riders on the bike today. He keeps going for it, but it hasn’t been in the cards for him yet during this tour. Well, he has a new team and a whole season to grab some wins. I’d love to see him crush the field in the TT. Now that would be cool...

It’s also great to see Mario Cippolini back on the bike. Rock Racing is just his type of in-your-face team. I have to hand it to Michael Ball—he’s giving a lot of great riders a second chance at redemption. And you have to love the team uniforms! I also like the team cars. While everyone else putters around in Subarus and the like, Rock Racing rolls with black Cadillacs.

Team Astana looks strong and dominant. Bryuneel definitely seems to have transplanted his U.S. Postal/Team Discovery brain into the old Team Astana. Even though the TDF is trying to keep them out of the Tour, it’s going to be hard if they keep racing like they do.