[ROUSHAC]

Bernie,

Considering how few Australians were in the TdF this year, BRAVO on their results. Very impressive!!!

This actually turned out to be a good TdF to watch, after a very boring 1st two weeks.

I thought that the peloton was the "culprit" this year. The time they gave to Pereiro and then to Landis on the breakaways was not the brightest of moves for many of the teams. Not to take anything away from Floyd's effort on stage 17, but what was everyone else thinking? I know that Pantani and Armstong both overextended on the same route in 2000, but why not chase him a bit and limit it to 4 or 5 minutes?

It seemed this year that no one really knew who the real contenders were, and so everyone raced to not lose rather than to win (except for Floyd on stage 17). With no defined team leader on so many teams, chaos ensued.

Interesting to think about what might have been as you said. Especially if Basso and Ullrich had not been suspended. What a shame for them, if they are found to be innocent. But who knows at this point? I hate drugs, but here in the US you are innocent until proven guilty, maybe it is different in France. I'm glad that it wasn't me who had to make the decision as to whether or not to allow them to race this year.

It was pretty amazing to see how well CSC and T-Mobile did without them. It would have been a totally different race, and probably much more exciting, if they had been allowed to ride.

It'll be interesting to see how the new medical technology works for Floyd. I'm sure that we all wish him well.

Remember, that Cadel is still a "kid", and will only get better with more experience.

Keep riding!

Cheers!
Dave