CYCLING: Tour de France, Stage 16

This year the Tour de France has lost much of the luster it gained over the past decade. Hardcore cycling fans like my uncle Bob still tune to OLN every morning to watch the peloton. But I've barely followed the slim nightly highlights on SportsCenter myself. However, all that now changes as I make the 16th stage of the Tour de France today's one to watch.

Naturally, the loss of interest is primarily due to the retirement of 7 time champ Lance Armstrong. Following the Tour de France has meant following Armstrong. He's simply the quintessential American success story and we can't get enough. But I think there's another reason for the fallout. Most average fans see cycling as a "doped-up" sport. And the Tour de France didn't help itself when 9 riders, including all Lance's big also-rans, were kicked out of this year's event following evidence of widespread doping mere days before the 2006 Tour began. Gone are the guys like Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso who couldn't keep up with Lance even while using Ivan Drago style drugs. Hopefully, this is a positive step. But there's still a perception these guys will do anything to win.

The best news is that another American is poised to win the race. Take that, you Frenchies! Floyd Landis of Pennsylvania wears the leader's famed yellow jersey with only 4 days of actual racing left. As opposed to the dominance shown by Armstrong, Landis has yet to win an individual stage. But he's been very consistent and regained the overall lead in the mountains yesterday. Landis is ahead of 2nd place Oscar Periero of Spain by a slim 10 seconds.

My pick: I HAVE NO CLUE. Today's stage is called Bourg d'Oisans - La Toussuire and it's the 4th of the 5 days in the mountains. This is where Lance was always at his best. So far Landis has been strong on climbs too. Here's hoping he further separates himself from Periero and wins a stage too.



Today's sexy female athlete is an old standard who also knows something about racing, Danica Patrick, looking great at the recent 2006 ESPY Awards.

UPDATE: Floyd Landis had his worst day of the Tour so far. He struggled in the mountains and now rides in 11th place, over 8 minutes behind new race leader Oscar Periero. This may be the strongest case for a TOTW jinx yet. I guess I'll just leave the bicycles alone for the rest of the year. It shouldn't be that hard!