Armstrong's virtual leadership continued in the following day's Stage 4 team time trial. Team Astana dominated the race and as a result put 5 of its riders in the top 10 of the general classification. Armstrong seemed to have put the most effort by taking longer and stronger pulls compared to Contador and seemed to make another statement as to who's the strongest on the team. The drama then shifted to today's Stage 7 ride into the Pyrenees and the summit of the ski station of Andorre-Arcalis.

Soon after the Tour of California ended, it was time to get ready for the baby and for helping my wife around the house as she was getting increasingly immobile. Then once Siena came, the world stopped (though I was catching Universal Sports' coverage of the Giro thanks to DVR). Now that we've started to come into more of a routine, I'll be back at it just in time for the Tour!

Can you feel the excitement already? This will be one of the most watched Tours thanks to you-know-who and all of the expected infighting between his Astana teammates will make for a Tour just as dramatic as LeMond's 1986 win over Hinault.

...On to July 4th when the Tour starts in Monaco.

Despite the bad weather for 3 of the first 4 days, California once again showed the cycling world that it can indeed put on a great show! Sure, there was the "Lance factor" and while no one can deny that, the race has grown enough throughout the last 3 years that it has fans of its own regardless of who decides to race. But it is the cyclists that make the race what it is and this year's field was the best yet! We had an opportunity to see what a field may look like at both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. Whether for training or for winning, no one had a back seat ride in the peloton. If you wanted to finish the stage, you better be at your best.

We saw an aggressive Rock Racing made up of ex-Tour de France caliber riders animating the race from the very first stage. Regardless of what you thought of Francesco Mancebo before, you would have to give him credit for that gutsy solo break on Stage 1 to Santa Rosa. He courageously took the leader's yellow jersey from a sick Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), who had to pull out mid-stage after winning a stunning Prologue the day before.

Once the dust settled at the Tour Down Under in Australia and the Tour of Qatar and the sprinters had their fix of glory on those mostly flat races, it's time for the big boys to come out and play. This Saturday, February 14th, the 4th Amgen Tour of California gets under way in the state's capital of Sacramento. If you thought last year's field was top notch, that field has nothing on the 2009 list of starters. Not since the LeMond and Hinault days of the Coors Classic or the Tour de Trump/duPont races of the early 90s has a more distinguished field of cyclists touched down on North America. If you are a cycling fan and are anywhere close to California, this race is a must see in person. And if you do go, I am jealous! The last race I saw in person was the 2005 Tour de Georgia, Lance's last race on home soil, so it would have been nice to head out to Cali for this one. But like most of you, I will be glued to the web and Versus.

This year's race will wind its way down to the southern-most point ever traversed by the Tour. Between Sacramento and Escondido, there's plenty of climbing, sprinting and the obligatory time trial to help settle the score. But if 8 days of racing aren't enough, the last stage of the Tour, stage 8, will be anything but a parade lap. In order to facilitate more drama in deciding the overall winner, the organizers have added the biggest mountain ever crossed by the Tour of California peloton. Palomar mountain sits right smack in the middle of stage 8 and climbs to over 5,000 feet in elevation, easily the highest point ever reached by the race. If the leader hasn't been settled by the individual time trial, this will truly be an epic. And as of today, snow still sits at the top. Where's Andy Hampsten?

As VeloNews so well put it, this is the year of the comeback. Besides Armstrong, we have none other than the fine Mennonite himself, Floyd Landis (Team OUCH) as well as Mr. "I did it, but I didn't do it" ala "I smoked but didn't inhale", Ivan Basso (Liquigas). While Armstrong and Basso have already started their season, Landis will debut at the upcoming Amgen Tour of California. There, he will face defending champion Levi Leipheimer (Astana), his teammate Armstrong and a slew of other top contenders.

Landis returns after serving a 2 year ban for performance enhancing drugs during the 2006 Tour de France. While there can and will still be debates on whether he's really guilty, cycling must move forward. Floyd has paid his dues (if he was guilty) and is ready and motivated to launch a successful return. He will ride for Team OUCH, a team backed by his good friend and doctor, Brent Kay as well as the makers of Landis' artificial hip. Team OUCH essentially took over for the former HealthNet team and includes other top domestic performers such as Rory Sutherland, Tim Johnson, Patrick McCarthy and Karl Menzies. Unlike Armstrong and Basso, Landis will ride a non-European schedule clearly still showing signs of distrust towards the cycling governing bodies across the pond.

And what about the Giro? Will the centennial edition of this race be THE race of the year? Race director Angelo Zomegnan's quest to globalize the Giro and compete against the Tour de France's popularity will finally come to fruition thanks to an all-star cast of cyclists. All of the big names, save for Alberto Contador, will ride the Giro, making it the most greatly anticipated Grand Tour of the season.

Besides the two obvious races, Le Tour and the Giro, to keep tabs on, the other big event I can't wait for is the 2009 Paris Roubaix. Will big George Hincapie (Team Columbia) finally win his elusive cobblestone trophy? We in the states are always on pins and needles every year we watch this race and hope that all of the stars do align for the South Carolinian. He's definitely not getting any younger and his current crop of rivals are just as strong, if not stronger.

This process is actually quite simplistic. I have a set of bookmarks in my web browser (Firefox) under the folder labeled "cycling". Within that folder lists my top websites in alphabetical order. My daily dose revolves around clicking on most of these sites multiple times throughout the day. The list is as follows:

Amgen Tour of California, Astana Cycling Team, Bike Radar, Cycle To, Cyclingnews.com, Cycling TV, Daily Peloton, Eurosport, Graham Watson, High Road Sports, LanceArmstrong.com, On Tour With Lance, PezCycling News, Podium Cafe, Team CSC, and Velonews.

Recently, one of my very close friends embarked on a crusade to help a very worthy cause. About 138,530 people in the United States will find out they have leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma this year and a child or adult is expected to lose their fight against these diseases every ten minutes. Lamar Hughes has chosen to be proactive in his endeavor to help the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fight for a cure for these diseases while bettering himself in a search for a healthier lifestyle.

Lamar has joined more than 380,000 former volunteers of Team in Training to help raise awareness and money for research in exchange for training and resources for competing in an endurance event. On May 25, 2009, Lamar will compete in his very first triathlon. But this is not just any triathlon, it is an Olympic distance event that includes a 0.9 mile swim, a 24 mile bike ride and a 6 mile run. To make matters even more daunting, Lamar is 6'3" and 245 lbs of limited aerobic ability. Of course, he's going to kill me for saying that but this fact makes his effort all the more challenging and would be a personal triumph once completed.

Lamar's fundraising goal is to reach $4500 in donations. The concept is pretty simple. His friends and family agree to donate towards a positive cause while he endures months of hard work that culminates into a few hours of pain and suffering. But when the pain ends and the suffering subsides, he will have accomplished two goals. He would be comforted to know that he took a hands-on approach in helping to find a cure for these blood cancers while obtaining a healthier lifestyle for himself and his family.

I have to say that as a friend I am very proud of Lamar. If anyone can set a goal and accomplish it, it would be him. To be able to have the discipline needed to help not only yourself, but hundreds of thousands of strangers who are counting on you is a lot of pressure. But with the help of you and I, Lamar has nothing to worry about.

Would you help Lamar and I raise cancer awareness and donate to a good cause? Please follow this link to learn more about Lamar Hughes and his goals, updates on his training as well as to contribute your tax-deductible donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society today.

Thanks for reading.

To help, please follow the link below:

Lamar Hughes Team in Training Page

Now, unlike ever before, the testing and research capabilities involved with potential performance enhancing drugs have followed pace, or even surpassed, that of the dopers. We hope this creates a deterrent that will make some cyclists think twice before they consider using these substances.

It's unfortunate that Team Gerolsteiner has to suffer the bad press involving their 2 riders' positives. Already leaving the sport at the end of this year, the last thing Hans Michael Holzer needed was bad press related to this. German Stefan Schumacher's positive was no big surprise to anyone but nonetheless sad. We desperately wanted to believe Schumacher just stepped up his game and had the form of his life to win both Tour de France time trials. Sure, it was a huge shock to everyone when he easily beat Fabian Cancellara and other known time trial specialists but we all gave him the benefit of the doubt. We were mistaken. Our trust was abused.