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93rd Tour de France - presented by

Stage 7, Saint-Grégoire - Rennes TT, 52K

8 July

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Honchar the Head Honcho!

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

Forget everything I said yesterday about what I thought would happen. I don't think I've ever been more wrong in my pre-race predictions ever. I was anticipating an all English speaking affair today, but it turned out to be a Ukraine/German show.

Sergei Honchar mashed his way to the finish turning a bigger gear ratio than is fit for two men to take Ukraine's first, as well as his own first stage victory in the Tour de France. And what a way to do it! By pulling on the Maillot Jaune afterwards! I don't think anybody tipped him as a pre-race favorite.

Levi Leipheimer was THE big disappointment overall losing over 5 minutes. I'm sure we will find out that he has a fever or is sick somehow. And I wouldn't be surprised to see him pull out very soon.

Bobby Julich was another surprise with his crash, slipping on a corner. That will no doubt hurt CSC in the long run. Although I can't really see CSC offering anybody for a serious overall challenge without Basso. Sastre can (on this year's course) hope for stage wins at best.

George Hincapie had a really disappointing ride as well. I thought he would do much better. This TT proved to be a lot more difficult than most had anticipated.

Floyd Landis came through fairly well today finishing 1 minute down, in spite of a flat. He could've surely trimmed that deficit without any problems.

So far, after what we have seen, I think Landis looks like he is going the best of any "real" GC challengers. With another long TT and some mountains between him and Paris I think he can do it. If the mountains started today, Landis could certainly shake Honchar on the climbs. Honchar can, conceivably, hang on for a podium spot. He is a fair climber. We've seen that in the Giro. The Tour is not the Giro though, and he is no spring chicken anymore at 36 years of age. So we will see what happens with him.

T-Mobile (henceforth to be referred to as "ITT-Mobile") is in a sweet position with 4 riders in the top 10 and one of them the Maillot Jaune. Not too bad for a team that lost their hope for overall victory the day before the start!

Take a look at the current top 10. This race is WIDE open. There is really nobody that is an overwhelming, Godzilla stomping through Tokyo, crushing everything in his path-style favorite! Of course, I like Landis, and I think he is the favorite. But I'm not sure how he'll measure up in the greatest show on earth. It's really hard to believe how up for grabs this Tour is. Especially after being trained for the previous seven years that Armstrong was going to win. I would dare to say that there hasn't been a Tour this wide open since pre-Indurain, maybe '87 or '88....?

~The Dust Devil