Who needs sprints anyway?

Hey, I thought the Tour of Qatar was supposed to be all about the sprints? What gives? Roger Hammond won today after jumping away from a break-away group and holding on by just 1 second. Hammond was in the rare break away that was going to stay away from the peloton and knowing that Tom Boonen was with him and that he'd have no chance in a sprint finish he went for it with 3K to go. Smart tactics by Hammond's team Cervelo (a new team this season that lured away current tour de France champion Carlos Sastre from his old team CSC, which is now called Saxo Bank. Man, if only this stuff were harder to keep a track of).

So Boonen, now 6 seconds back from Hammond, will have to wait another day to take the Gold Jersey (unless Cervelo has some trick up their sleeve). Maybe Tuesday's stage will finally bring the sprint fireworks I've been expecting.

In other Cervelo news, CyclingNews reported that a snow storm in Spain threw a wrench into Sastre's plans to fly to the United States.

"When I woke up there were 50 centimeters of snow." He said he left on time, but the traffic en route had caused severe delays. Sastre finally arrived at the airport when the plane was still parked, "but the doors were already closed."

Sastre is just one of a bazillion big names coming to the states for the Tour of California. This race is quickly becoming one of the biggest on the calendar. OK, OK, it's way early in the season and means a lot more to Americans than anyone else. But I'm just blown away by how many of the top dogs will be attending this year (even if most of them will be going through the motions and not trying to win). With the Tour de Georgia in limbo and the Tour of Missouri still in its infancy, the TOC is easily the top race in the U.S.

I'm in the midst of moving but as I get more time I hope to go over some of the interesting things to look for going into the TOC. (Stuff like Lance saying he'll work for Levi and whether that will be like when Levi "works" for his teammates, see Vuelta '09. And whom among the returning disgraced riders will place highest? Landis? Basso? Hamilton? Or will it be Millar! OK, he returned some time ago. And in a race sponsored by a company that sells EPO, will anyone get caught doping??? And much, much more!).