Congratulations to all the Tour de France riders that made it safely to the finish line in Paris today. I was very happy to see Cadel Evans finish second behind Alberto Contador and only eight seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer. I had the great pleasure of working with Cadel (and the entire Predictor-Lotto team) earlier this season on how to incorporate Training Peaks software to manage his training and race data. Training Peaks also had several other finishers in Paris today and it has been a dream come true for me to work with these professionals.
This year's Tour will certainly be remembered for all of the doping turmoil and less than honest play by several riders. However I do take satisfaction in knowing that cycling is holding itself to the highest of standards. Unfortunately, if other sports implemented the same stringent rules as cycling I'm sure we would see the same, if not more scandal at major events. I'm proud that cycling is taking such a hard stance on drug use, and I'm also proud to work for Training Peaks which is a part of the anti-doping program for several teams and national federations.
Now that the 2007 Tour is over I'm already looking forward to the '08 edition:
-Will Michael Rogers make a strong comeback after having to drop out this year due to a crash.
-Will Cadel be able to move up one more spot and take the top podium spot in '08
-Will Levi continue his impressive improvements and be able to win the Tour
-How far can super Spaniard Contador go? Will he win five more Tours? He is only 24 years old.
-Will T-mobile remain in the sport after so many setbacks. T-Mobile deserves a huge thanks for all of their anti-doping efforts and support of cycling in general (PS. I also have T-Mobile cell service so I'm a proud customer too:).
-If T-Mobile does stop supporting the team I would love to see Michael Rogers become teammates with Cadel Evans. That would be an amazing Aussie duo!!
Ciao.
Dirk
