h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Accompanying Lance Armstrong on his record-sixth cycling trip was one Sheryl Crow, recording artist. Let us just say she is a comely lass, and Lance showed intense dedication, energy and spirit during the Tour De France, despite being spat upon and taunted by some of the hundreds of spectators along the route.
I feel certain that the post-race shower (and hot tub soak) were especially....uhhhhh.....enjoyable, if not inspirational.

Congrats on Lance's win, again

I still maintain that Ulrich is the better rider techinally and phically he just doesn't have the mental strengh and team around him that Lance has.

However badly the crowd treated Lance, and I say disgracfully treated; Lance has to bear some responsiblity for his bad press. His trainer is being procesuted in Italy as part of the drug clamp down, and Filippo Simeoni is a star witness who Armstrong has called a liar, and so Simeoni is suing him for slander. So when simeoni tried to escape at the end of the race Armstrong out of a personal gruge made sure that his attacks amounted to nothing. Armstrong may not have taken drugs, (actually he is the only rider in the field who was allowed at one point to take EPO becuase of Chemo) but his actions in relation to this drugs trial are shameful. There are also runors that he tried to get Simeoni dropped from his team.

I'm very annoyed about the TDF at the moment cause of the coverage on British TV.

In 93? when Greg Lemond retired, american TV dropped its TDF coverage and for 2 years at least me and my dad over compuserve provided race reports and coverage. A few years ago, Channel 4, who show the cycling on terristial TV, bought the rights to England Cricket and have been shoing that instead. For the 1st year they showed the tour late night whihc was fine for me, then it moved to very late night on ITV, bearable, nows its stuck on digital ITV2 with just 4 monday night catchup roundups.

At the moment I'm not buying a digi-box just for 3 weeks of tour, most of the other channels have very little I want to watch and frankly the BBC's 10 New digital channels adverts (over a year after they were realsed) turned me away from the idea cause the adverts were obviously misleading and incorrect. Now all I have is BBCi sports and 4 hours of highlights

Anyway, I've been working on a Tour De France entry for the guide and should have something around next week

that would be great !
from my pre-race notes : there are some 5000 cyclists, coaches, trainers, advert truck crews, mechanics, cooks and media in some 1500 cars, trucks, trailers and motorbikes, plus helicopters flying about.
some 35 teevee 'nets, 400 newspapers and dozens of radio reporters that daily set up in a nearby school or other building--ot they put up a tent in a field.