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Tour de France, France

Stage 3, La Châtaigneraie - Tours, 212.5K

4 July

The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
The Jolly Green Giant

Stages and Maps, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap

Tom Boonen is clearly a rider who is bursting with confidence, on song with form and having the time of his life! Clad head to toe in the green tunic of points leader, we saw a super strong Boonen blow the field away for a second straight day. At this early stage of le Tour, he is looking tough to beat in the push for the Green Jersey.

This guy is absolutely amazing! Still a wee 25 years old, he is THE man to beat in the cobbled Northern Classics as well as any mass bunch sprint he wishes to contend. I can only imagine what it must feel like to feel his massive 6'4" frame come flying past in the final 250 meters. It must feel like being past by a diesel truck!

And I think the thing I enjoy most about Boonen is that he looks like he is having a blast. I think it's difficult to imagine for most of us what it would be like to be so young and so talented on a global media scale. He can handle himself with all the composure and self assuredness of a seasoned pro in the intense glare of the Belgian media as well as he can look after himself in the psychological battlefield of an event like the opening day sprints of the Tour de France. Not everybody is so equally balanced. We'll see how time treats him, but for now he looks like he will surpass Johan Museeuw as THE classics man of his generation.

Now, the bigger picture of the race.....

I'm a little concerned with CSC spending too much energy this early on to defend the Yellow jersey. Obviously Zabriskie is no candidate to keep yellow all the way to Paris. Tactically speaking, this is where Discovery Channel has the advantage over a team like CSC. Armstrong needs to only get close enough in the opening time trial to fire a couple warning shots across the bow of his opponents. And-I'm convinced that Armstrong eased up as he approached the line in that opening TT so his team wouldn't have the burden of defending the jersey this early in the race, while at the same time striking a serious blow to the morale of all his challengers. But CSC on the other hand (even though they contain one of the biggest favorites in Ivan Basso) has to take what they can get. They are trying to attract sponsorship, they've never had the yellow jersey before, etc... They do not have the luxury of Lance Armstrong and Discovery Channel.

Now with the Team Time Trial on deck for tomorrow, they are a serious contender for victory. Where they could further their stay in yellow. What's wrong with that? Well, for most teams it would be already a successful Tour de France to stay in yellow for the first few days. But, if they have designs on being in yellow in Paris with Ivan Basso in 2 1/2 weeks time, I'm worried they are going to burn all their matches too soon by riding on the front (as the yellow jersey team is expected to do).

I think nobody expected Zabriskie to take yellow on stage 1. Now CSC finds itself in a place they didn't plan on. Now they are using energy that they will need later. And I believe that Armstrong had every meter of that race planned out so he could accomplish just what he wanted: to deliver the first psychological blow and not be burdened with the yellow jersey just yet.

That is the difference between a champion and a super champion.
- The Dust Devil