Let's Get It On!

Now or Never, Baby: yep, it's the time trial today, and the GC, or at least most of the podium, is mostly gonna be decided here, especially if all the contenders can stay glommed together in the Pyrenees. Obviously hosed: Rasmussen, dear little Sastre (who still managed 4th, or 3rd (sorry Floyd!), last year, thank you very much!). Obviously stand to benefit: Levi (damn Bruyneel, can you possibly demoralize the boy any more by constantly musing on how much he sucks--why not just hand over the crown to Contador and quit publicly mourning your glory days to the detriment of your squad, already?), Kloden if he can keep pounding his coccxyx into submission, Cadel. Obviously bummed: me, 'cause Dave Zabriskie isn't here to take it as he ought to be from missing the time cut the other day. Aw, heck! Wildcards: we love Iban Mayo, who's been so slobbered over lately by the press I continue to fear he'll fall out of merely mediocre in the time trial to a downright choke, Vino for deciding if he can't have the GC he'll take or at least put some pain in any stage he can, and remember, he took the sprint to Paris rather recently so I discount him for nothing. Makes me twitchy: Alejandro Valverde. Special wind tunnel tweakage, yap, yap. Intensive time trial training, yap. Anyone else starting to get that same itchy feeling I had when Heras & Basso suddenly became time trial specialists? Not that I'm suggesting anything about Valverde, who, along with his dog Piti, has an unblemished reputation. I'm just sayin'.

Loser Prediction of the Day: yes, I would've predicted a breakaway for yesterday, so yes, I'm going to go over the edge if heaven forbid I turn out to be even denser than Al Trautwig, and today, I know I ought to pick Cancellara who will probably take it, but still, in a rare inclination towards mercy, I'll toss some points and some love to Shameless St. Millar Defender for the boy's incredible discretion the last couple of days in not crying about his own doping travails during the Rasmussen hoo-ha, and choose Millar, which likely actually still has the added benefit of ensuring that, like all my other picks, he won't win. Allez allez!

Don't Step on My Blue Suede Shoes: as if anything could look crappier for the offensively-timed 'revelation' that is the Rasmussen Danish worlds/Olympic team bans over his evasion of off-competition doping controls in June, a US mountain biker and his doctor pal are accusing Rasmussen of trying to get the MTBer to transport bags of unapproved oxygen-stoked veterinary blood substitutes in a SIDI shoe box through nefarious trickery in 2002, thwarted by pouring the stuff down the toilet in shock and disgust (because mountain biking is clean, I presume) and leading a ticked and dopeless Rasmussen to go postal over the wasted cash. Oh my word--even this boy is doping himself like--well--a T-Mobile rider, the sport is finished! Pleasingly, though, ASO and UCI have decided to turn on each other instead, with ASO accusing UCI of influencing the leak in prime time with the Chicken in the maillot jaune to destroy the Tour (hilarious enough with Christian "Dick" Prudhomme always quick to fry any rider, like Floyd, on no evidence), and UCI outraged that their integrity (has anyone previously thought they had any?) would be questioned and threatening to sue. What the hell is it about cycling that it is so compelled to eat its young?