Spartacus

Fabian Cancellara sure is good in the time trial and he proved it once again yesterday. When he's on no one can top him in the time trial. And he looked pretty on. The short prologue didn't really reveal too much since it was so short, but there were a few things I noticed.

1) Levi wants this one bad. Did you see him practically foaming at the mouth right before starting? The guy was so psyched up and huffing and puffing I thought he might pass out and fall off the edge of that little starting ramp. All in all, he still seems like the favorite to win to me (not something I'm used to thinking when it comes to Leipheimer).

2) Lance Armstrong got 10th in a race he keeps saying he's not trying to win. Yep, 10th. Now I know there's a difference between getting 10th to start the year in California and getting 10th at the Tour or Giro (where guys have focused their whole year around that one day). But still, 10th. Wow. Maybe it was that fancy ride of his (that got stolen!).

3) While you can't win the ToC on the first day, you might be able to lose it. Floyd Landis came in tied for 89th out of 132 riders and put himself in an almost 20 second hole. Less than impressive. Tyler Hamilton only did a few seconds better but had already said he's pretty much not trying to win the general classification. Kim Kirchen of Columbia Highroad finished in the 50s, but teammates George Hincapie and Michael Rogers are right there in the mix. I have a feeling Rogers is going to be strong this week.

4) What's with all the life stories and attempts at comedy in the race coverage when the riders have already started? I get that Versus wants to set up all the story lines, but when you've only got two hours on TV can't you cut that stuff down to half an hour instead of an hour? And why were the announcers talking about Landis winning the Tour de France and his dramatic comeback without mentioning that he failed a dope test on the very day of that dramatic comeback and had been stripped of that Tour de France victory? It's just weird. I mean they said Christian Vande Velde finished fourth at the Tour de France last year (because Bernie Kohl who finished fourth later got busted for doping at the tour).

And when they did mention Landis' doping history they said he was banned for "suspected doping." Suspected? I thought once the B sample confirmed a positive test from the A sample you were no longer suspected of doping but were instead busted for doping. Now, I get that Landis is really likable and has spent millions trying to discredit the results of the dope test and anti-doping process. And after reading his book and Lance Armstrong's War I can't help but root for him a little myself. But lets not just whitewash his past. I'm not saying Landis has to come clean and talk to reporters every day and have HBO sports profile him like David Millar, but the commentators shouldn't gloss over things if they're going to talk about his performance at the 2006 Tour de France.

Now I don't favor a lifetime ban on dopers. I feel like two years is probably just about the right amount of time. If you get caught when you're old and should have known better, it ends your career. If you get caught when you were young and stupid, it probably takes away two of your best years but does allow for a second chance. I've done really stupid things in my life and I like second chances. I think we'll never know the real story about Landis. I do think he cheated, but I think things are not so black and white and that there was more to it than that.