First Forray into the Blog-o-Sphere

Here goes . . . random observation today is the big S signing a certain team and rather rider to a contract for 2010.  You may remember the days of Super Mario, but unfortunately, signing with Specialized coincided with a decline in his performance.  Mario got press, but not in a lasting and big way.  The dude is still, cool, though.  Nothing like a cocky big strong Italian to keep things lively.

Since then and most recently, Boonen, the Schlecks, and some dude name Cancellara have had success.  But Trek was the proven bike, due to the Lance factor.  Now, it seems the game has changed.  It's all about July.  Don't kid yourself, comparing the TdF to any other bike race is like comparing the Super Bowl to Monday Night Football.


Back to July and what could be in seven months.  Thinking about it made me consider another dominant athlete who was able to dispatch all comers.  He was strong.  He was cool.  He was Belgian.  He was (and is) Filip Meirhaeghe.  Rough last name and also rough exit from mountain bike racing:  Tee'd up to win the 2004 Summer Olympics, Filip was busted and admitted to using EPO.  He faded into obscurity in my brain until this week's signing jogged something.


Could the Tour podium be Specialized's curse of the bambino?  Alberto is the strong favorite this year, but doping allegations are rampant.  It would be nice to see Specialized first on the podium and hopfully the Filip Factor doesn't come to play.