I've been getting myself into the Tour de France. Here's what I'm thinking. Stage 3's breakaway that stayed away for 200k was wonderful to watch - a great change from Stage 2's long breakaway that was caught with about 2k to go. I loved seeing Chavanel desperately try to stay away, but alas. I'd like to see him involved in more breakaways. Ditto for Feillu, the tiny guy who almost took yesterday's stage with great acceleration, but was caught and passed by the Dumoulain.

I don't really have favorites, but I would like to see more of Kim Kirchen, who did well in stages 1 and 2 under tough circumstances. I'd also like to see a couple of awesome bunch sprints to see Hushovd and McEwan hit some absurd speeds. And of course the mountain stages should be exciting, because it's a chance to see some really interesting riding - suffering up hills, screaming descents, and course layouts that will tear the pack to pieces. 200k flat stages are a bit boring to me - hence my always rooting for the breakaway.

Also, doping. Here's the thing. I just don't care. Officials being assholes is more damaging to the sport than dangerous tradition. Hopefully this tour won't see teams getting booted all the way through the race, hopefully it will be sensible and stable.

My favorite bar, Lakeside Lounge, shoes Versus coverage between 5 and 7. I'm hoping to be able to make it there a couple of days a week to watch the coverage. I've found some streaming online content, which is good if I miss the end of a stage (cause come on, the end's the most exciting. As track sprinter world champ from the 1980s said of road racing, "I don't know why you guys take so long to get to the last 200 meters.") but kind of a pain - no Phil Leggett, and crappy quality making it difficult to geek out over bikes. So Lakeside is preferred.