Wrest-day wrap-up

Rest day today and the riders can finally take a day off to "recharge their batteries" before the final week.

Scores are now in for the stages 14 and 15 and those pesky Bile Beans are still at the top of the minileague.

Now my team is down to just 7 men and Harrison's boys are snapping at my heels, with what I think is still a full squad. There's still all to play for going into the final week, not to mention those end of tour points, which are worth quite a bit.

In other cycling news, the Tour of California finished yesterday. It was HTC-Columbia's Mick Rogers what won it with a strong ride, which suggests he might be a handy FTDF pick if the price is right. Also on the podium as best young rider was Liquigas rider Peter Sagan, (no relation to Carl Sagan). He's only in his first year as a pro, but already has some impressive wins. If he rides the TDF, he could be another fantasy-team-tip.

I have to admit, that I wasn't really that bothered about the TOC. Following this young upstart of a race, seems a bit disloyal with the Giro going on at the same time. Thanks to the TOC, the likes of Cav and the Schlecks, have not been around to liven things up even more in Italy. I don't think it was just me that wasn't taking the TOC seriously either. Judging from this photo, neither was Steve Cozza - I reckon the wind-resistance from this facial-hair combo would cost him about a minute over 40km, but it's certainly popular with the ladies.

It was a rest day for me today as well - cause I've got the day off work like - but just as the riders still do a few kms on a rest day, I though I better keep in form by typing a few paragraphs. It's not all blogging for me though,  I actually managed to ride my bike today........ I set off in the trusty PanceWagen and  hit-up the 1996 Olympic MTB course over at the Georgia International Horsepark. It's pretty cool, especially if you've got some decent tunes on you're ipod, instead of whatever crap this dude was listening to.

MTB courses have sure come a long way since 1996 and despite my current lack of form, I made it round a flowing course with hardly a foot down. I suspect if I tried to ride the recent World-Cup course at my old stomping grounds at Dalby Forest I'd end up on my face in no time. There were a few sketchy moments over the granite sections, but the trickiest obstacle I had to contend with is pictured below. It may look like a carlessly discarded inner-tube, but actually it's a snake, which I nearly ran over after coming round a corner.

I'm back at work tomorrow and they'll be back racing in the Giro, with a nice little mountain time trial. As if the gradient wasn't enough, the top section is on dirt roads, just to make it extra-unpleasant. 12.9km may not sound far, but expect more "epic" rides from the GC contenders over this stage. I'm hoping for rain. That should sort the wheat from the chaff.