The Tour Wraps Up

And we get our early mornings back until next July. What a race! Even the last stage, traditionally a procession through Paris, had its drama: Baden Cooke beat his fellow Aussie Robbie McEwen by about two inches to win the green jersey competition for overall best sprinter. Lance Armstrong joins the elite company of Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, and Indurain to be the only cyclists to win the Tour de France five times. And Tyler Hamilton gets our coeur de lion vote as the most courageous rider, winning one stage, coming in second in the last time trial, and finishing fourth overall despite breaking his collarbone on the second day of the race.

Maybe we aren’t the only critters to be inspired by the Tour: Pica just saw a white-tailed kite drafting a southbound train, the wind of the train helping the kite to hover motionless against the southerly wind.