McEwen McSprints and Makes Tom Boonen Look McSilly
Stage 1 of the Tour de France went 203 kilometers from London to Canterbury earlier today. It was a brisk pace of 26+ miles per hour. Everyone expected the sprinters to be active in this stage, but nobody expected it to end the way it did. Robbie McEwen crashed with less than 10 miles to the finish and found himself racing just to catch the back of the pack. When he got back on his bike he said that he had a hard time even moving his leg, and his right hand was banged up so bad that he couldn’t shift his gears. The injuries didn’t seem to make a difference, however, because he caught the pack and then blew them away in the sprint finish. Robbie McEwen ignores serious pain to beat the best sprinters in the world in Stage 1.
Stage 2 actually starts in France. It is another flat stage, so the sprinters will be salivating again. I understand the pain that Robbie McEwen is facing with his wrist. The day after the injury is very difficult. He has the best sprinting legs in the pack, but if he has trouble shifting, he may be beat. Also, expect some of the other big sprinters that were blown away by a hurt rider to go harder tomorrow. They have some damage to their pride to repair. One to watch will be Tom Boonen. He hasn’t won a Tour stage since 2004, and he looked silly against McEwen today. He has been talking for two weeks about his new approach to the Tour, and how fresh his legs are. He definitely has something to prove.
Coverage of Stage 2 is live on Versus starting at 8:30 AM Eastern time.
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