STAGE SEVEN

Why, oh why do we pick on poor Erik Dekker? Well, because it's fun. Let's also say that he really is a terrific rider. He's the Dutch champion and he specializes in short sprints. It's just that road racing is quite his thing, but he consistently gets on the bike and rides the Tour. And then terrible things just seem to happen to him. He has won four stages in his career, three in one year (2000). In all honesty, we both really like the guy. He competes, and that's really all I can ask for.

But, really, the jokes really are irresistable. Only Dekker could lead a breakway for most of the day and lose 13:49, finishing dead last. Unlike Petacchi, Dekker will find a way to finish.

I also feel bad I didn't mention Boonen yesterday. After all, the guy did win the stage. So, in order to avoid the same mistake: Filippo Pozzato! It was a very opportunistic breakaway, one that was set up entriely by the furious pace set by CSC. And once again, it was Piil managing to get in on a breakaway. I have no idea how they score combativity, but if Piil isn't #1, the system is simply wrong. It doesn't look like he'll ever be rewarded for his hard-charging style in this year's Tour, so he'll have to settle for the thanks from two cycling fans with too much free time.

Nazon and Kirsipuu's failure to get any points is huge. That's now two straight days of nothing for Nazon, and Hushovd is back into the top five. The top four are seperated by a mere 9 points, so Hushovd sitting back of O'Grady by 25 is that line between contention and non-contention. Once again, bad luck finds Hushovd. He wins the sprint from the peleton, but the breakaway group cost him the large point bonuses. Without that group of seven up front, Hushovd not only wins the stage, but the final chart looks like this (what they actually got in parenthesis):

Hushovd 35 (18)
Sunderland 30 (17)
O'Grady 26 (16)
Zabel 24 (15)
Boonen 22 (14)
McEwen 20 (13)
Hondo 19 (12)


With those results, Hushovd would be within 18 points of O'Grady and only 7 points behind Hondo (instead of 17). He'd be back in the thick of things. Here's those adjusted standings without a breakway group:

O'Grady 131+10=141
McEwen 130+7=137
Hondo 123+7=130
Zabel 122+9=131
Hushovd 106+17=123


Sometimes, life isn't fair. And why was Hinault, a Credit Agrciole rider, in that breakaway at the end? To punish his teammate, desperate for points? Why a break that close to the line when it would only hurt the sprinters? If Hushovd loses the Green by less 7 points, he should have the right to punch Hinault in the face.