Poor Tom

World Champion Tom Boonen finished the 9th stage of the Tour de France the same way he's finished all the others so far: as a loser. Of course, being a loser in cycling isn't the end of the world, since only one guy can win at a time, but failing to win a single sprint when given 7 chances is pretty bad if you're one of the world's very best in the discipline.


Photo courtesy of AFP
Oscar Freire scored his second stage victory by just barely beating a late-coming Robbie McEwen at the line. Watching the replay on OLN, it's amazing how far back McEwen was when he came around on the left, but he closed the gap and took second place within five meters. Amazing.

Not so amazing was Boonen, as it is clear in the photo above that even Erik Zabel beat him at the line. Dude, Zabel is like 60 years old.