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93rd Tour de France - presented by

Stage 2, Obernai - Esch-sur-Alzette, 223K

3 July

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
McJet the Money Man

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, Stage List, Stage Profile, Photos

If I were a betting man, which I am not, in the first week of the Tour I would have my money on McJet. He is as sure fire a bet for a victory as there is in a sprint finish. And the way Tom Boonen is riding, Robbie should manage to bag a few more stages before the TTs and the hills come around.

Tom Boonen is looking like a rookie. Yesterday we saw him coming to the front WAY too early with a few hundred meters still to race and looking around as if to say "Whoops". The Boonen of April would've simply rode away from the bunch if he found himself in the same situation. Not so in Le Grand Boucle. The competition is stiff and everybody is out for blood.

Speaking of blood, an impressive showing by Thor Hushovd today coming back from his bizarre accident with a giant green hand yesterday that almost lopped his arm off to take back the yellow jersey today! I knew he wouldn't go down without a fight. You don't get knocked out of the Tour easily. In most cases, as with Hushovd, if you've got an objective that you've spent the better part of a year building up to, you're not going to let go of it without leaving some claw marks.

Tomorrow should mix things up a bit with a hilly run into the finish in Valkenburg. You never know though. The sprinters can do amazing things when they can sniff out a possible victory. I don't think it's quite ripe for the bunch to let a breakaway go yet. That'll come later in the race when things are more sorted out and everybody is more tired. If somebody does manage to get away, they will earn it. I'm inclined to think that it will end in a bunch sprint though.

The DD's pick: Robbie McEwen.

~The Dust Devil