reason prevails in france, zirbel prevails in fitchberg, chaos prevails in kazakhstan

the score on friday:

tour organizers--1

tour competition--1

tour fans--1

fantasy league players--1

.....

the classic "everyone wins" scenario. well, there might be some bruised and battered egos here and there, mais que sera sera, oui?

.....

and elsewhere...

local hero tom zirbel is at it again, this time with a 23-second lead after a wet 14.3 km time trial in the four-day race. this follows his starring role as the ultimately heart-broken leader of the nature valley grand prix. hopefully, tom won't be reprising this role, but with FOUR kelley benefits riders filling out the top-5 after stage 1, and with sprint bonuses abundant, it's going to be a real team effort, whatever the outcome.

best of luck to tom and all my friends at the bissell pro cycling team; likewise, good luck to my friends at kelley benefits, too. i love cycling like this.

.....

will it be a bloodless coup at astana? has the lance contingent already been woken up and told to go the the airport, honduran-style? in an international replay of the locally-famous "loyalty ploy," soon-to-be born-again speedster and drug fan alexander vinokourov has announced that he is prepared to regain control of his baby, and is fit to be a good daddy once again. and he has the love, money, and support of the kazakh minister of everything relevant.

i DO enjoy the man's cycling style; it's not surprising that his social and business skills in of the same vein.

next year's gonna be interesting, clearly.