Tour talk -- Spoiler alert

[loopybunny]

BTW this was Levi's comment on twitter afterwards: "Felt like a kite out there today, had to use my super strong upper body to fight the bike. #sarcasm."

Heard an interview with him on Bicycle Radio a year ago and they asked him how much he could bench press. He responded, "Is that the one where you lift the weights over your head?"

He also said he doesn't do any gym work on his upper body. Or really any gym work period. I think the only upper body workout he gets is picking up his little dogs and his bikes.

[channlluv]

You'd think Lance would hook him up with that Core Performance workout he does. It's pretty awesome.

Roxy

[Trek420]

I think the only upper body workout he gets is picking up his little dogs and his bikes.

I think picking up one of his bikes is barely a wrist curl

[denda]

What did you think about Radio Shack's jersey "stunt" today?

[pll]

What did you think about Radio Shack's jersey "stunt" today?

It was very clumsy in its execution. They could have cleared the jersey change with the race organizers. Could have also done special jerseys with the team colors (just different print), if the jersey color mattered in the rules. They made me roll my eyes.

[Zen]

What did you think about Radio Shack's jersey "stunt" today?

Since you asked...

[Veronica]

I really liked the jerseys. I thought they were classy and I liked their names being on them. I think Lance truly is into his cause and getting his message out. Cipollini used to come out in weird costumes all the time and just got fined for it.

Veronica

[Zen]

But it is (supposed to be)TEAM Radio Shack, not Team Lance

[redrhodie]

Sadness. It's over. Goodbye, Paris.

[Veronica]

But it is (supposed to be)TEAM Radio Shack, not Team Lance

And what logo do you see here?

Veronica

[berkeley]

But it is (supposed to be)TEAM Radio Shack, not Team Lance

But Radio Shack and Livestrong are partners - you can even donate to Livestrong in Radio Shack stores.

I don't understand any negative sentiments against a charitable organization but I guess it takes all kinds.

There was something seriously funny about watching professional bike riders fiddling with safety pins on the side of the road! lol

[ny biker]

But it is (supposed to be)TEAM Radio Shack, not Team Lance

Honestly, there would be no Team Radio Shack if Lance had not come out of retirement. Just like there would be no Team Astana if Vino hadn't decided to take charge and get his friends to start a team. But now that they exist and are having a good season, I hope they're able to continue for a while. They have some very talented young riders in the pipeline.

I did think TRS should have known enough to get permission to change the jerseys, but I guess since they've done it before (as have others) they figured they would just have to pay a fine and be done with it. And if you can hit another rider with your front wheel and not be DQ'd, then who would expect you'd get kicked out of the race for changing your clothes.

I read that the UCI is donating the amount of the fine to a cancer-related charity.

I was so bummed to be watching the news on TV this morning instead of Phil and Paul.

[Eden]

I really liked the jerseys. I thought they were classy and I liked their names being on them. I think Lance truly is into his cause and getting his message out. Cipollini used to come out in weird costumes all the time and just got fined for it.

Veronica

They did the same thing last year - different jersey on the last day - had big yellow bands on it or something. They got a fine and that was the end of it. I think Lance just paid it and felt it was worth it for the publicity (as Cippo did often - and his TT costumes were just plain outrageous for the fun of it rather than to make any specific point....). I don't think they expected it to be such a big stink this year. I thought the jerseys were nice too and I think the organizers were a bit uptight today.

3 cheers for Petacchi! He had such a bad run of luck for a while - broke his kneecap, lost his place with his *amazing* lead out team because of doping allegations (from which he was eventually cleared), bounced around to several teams and never really had the same phenomenal success he had for so long. I figured he was probably done - too old to contest the young pups in the sprints anymore, but he showed a lot of grit this year. I was stoked to see him win the green.

[Skierchickie]

I thought the black jerseys were great - way better than their regular ones. Very cool. I think I like them better than any of the other kits in the tour this year.

I didn't actually hear Lance talking about Lance - I heard him talking about cancer research, which was the clearly stated goal at the outset with Team Radio Shack. It was about raising awareness.

I know a lot of people don't like him, and you aren't required to, but who has done anywhere near as much to promote awareness of the U.S. cycling program? Or won as many TDFs? People who never knew bike racing existed are into it now. How is that bad? Personally, I have a lot of respect for him.

On another note - I thought Contador & Schleck's fake attack on the peloton today was really cool! I didn't like Contador, but he's grown on me since The Incident the other day - if Andy can forgive him and be buddies with him, who am I to hate the guy?

Go Andy! Just WAIT until next year!