Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

The route for the 2009 Tour of California is out.

The new route sticks to some of the classic course, but is longer than years past.

Route Announcement

The 2007 Tour de France Route has been unveiled in a posh ceremony in Paris. To no one’s surprise, the Tour will start in London with an 8km prologue. David Millar is licking his lips at the prospect of winning this first stage. The rest of the Tour is what is being called a classic course.

Team CSC is disappointed that the Team Time Trial is not included on the agenda this year, as they would be able to take advantage of the event much more than any other team. Team CSC: No Team Time Trial in the 2007 Tour

As with last year, the Amaury Sports Organization video team created a buzz. Last year the Tour retrospective seemed to forget the winner of the past seven editions of the Tour. This year they did show Floyd Landis on the video, but they added a “cracked glass” effect over the awards presentation. Not being able to see this video, I would imagine that the effect would be both shocking and funny. The cracked glass effect is ham fisted when compared to last year’s more subtle omission of Lance Armstrong. No journalist or cyclist in attendance needs to have the overbearing symbolism of the cracking glass over Floyd Landis in yellow be hammered over their head. The news pretty much has made its rounds all over the world so even in the farthest reaches of civilization people must have heard about the Tour scandal. But the Amaury Sports Organization is hurt and they need to vent. What better place to vent than your second biggest party of the year when you have everyone’s attention. “Hey everybody, guess what Floyd Landis tarnished our reputation! Look at the cracked glass that shows how we feel about this. Isn’t it cool?”

I can only imagine the look on the video editor’s face when they asked “could you put a cracked glass effect over that portion?” “We really need to emphasize how we feel about this situation, otherwise everyone will wonder what we think.”

I wonder if Industrial Light and Magic was involved in the video production to give a more realistic effect to the cracking glass. If they were then maybe there would be a guest appearance by Jar Jar Binks somewhere.

The 2007 Tour Poster is a bit of a dud. Last year’s poster with the six hands grabbing the Yellow Jersey to form France was brilliant. It captured the feeling of the 2006 Tour with a large number of contenders ready to take over. Perhaps the 2007 poster should be a drop of urine forming the shape of France? The globe with the land masses forming a cyclist seems a bit rushed. Why is Australia fully formed and every other land mass isn’t. North America makes the back of the cyclist. Does that mean that the US is the backbone of cycling? Who knows, but the symbolism in the globe seems rushed and not quite thought through.

Stay tuned for some further analysis into the Tour route. Just who will be the favorite next year? More importantly, which top contender who is cleared of doping charges will be invited to race next year? Basso, Ullrich, Landis?