Relative Something

I didn’t really anticipate that the Tour de France would be able to pick up the excitement where the World Cup of football is leaving off, but with the latter not even over yet, and the former just in its 3rd day, le Tour is grabbing all the attention today. Yesterday was some serious carnage for the superstar contenders for the overall ‘General Classification’ as pretty much all of them crashed on one of the rain slicked descents, a few of them more than one time. Some of those guys have suffered some very painful injuries. If they want to stay in the race, they are going to need to survive today’s Stage 3, which may be the most brutal of the non-mountain days, encompassing those dreaded cobble stones. If it is raining again, it will be wicked.

Word being reported in explanation for the large number of experienced riders hitting the pavement in the same spot is that there was oil mixed with that water on the road. It was a spectacle. If you didn’t see any of it, be sure to check out video feeds on versus.com. And whatever else you do, make sure at least one of your eyes is checking out today’s stage on either the television broadcast or the online feed. They often say that the Tour can’t be won in this first week, but it can definitely be lost. Whatever happens, the eventual GC winner will need to have some good luck today to allow them to be in the best position, and best health, to attack the rest of the group when they eventually reach the mountain stages.

Given all of that, which is truly more than enough for any sports fan, the first World Cup semi-final of 2010 is also happening today. The Netherlands vs. Uruguay at 1:30 CDT. If ever there was a day for me to call in sick…