G'Day Mate!

courtesy Roberto Bettini

Rocket Robbie McEwen claimed victory in stage 5 of the Tour, just edging out Tom Boonen at the line. Boonen was streaking toward the line as fast as ever, but McEwen successfully latched onto the bigger man's wheel and flew past at just the right moment. While Boonen still holds a firm grip on the green jersey, McEwen has shown that he can keep his phenomenal form all year.

In other Tour news, The Boss tried to make a very nice gesture today by refusing to wear the yellow jersey in honor of Dave Zabriskie, who crashed out yesterday during CSC's barely-second place team time trial effort. Though he signed in wearing his Discovery team jersey, the race organizers stopped the peloton at kilometer 0 and forced The Boss to put on the maillot jaune due to sponsor expectations. Though it didn't work out, it was an extremely sportsman-like gesture. Would Lance have done the same for someone like Ullrich or Vinokourov---someone not from the US? Perhaps, since in the past Lance has waited for rivals to catch up after falling or having mechanical troubles during key stages.

Kind gestures aside, Lance remains in the yellow for another day as the Tour heads into stage 6.