what a disappointing year for america’s team discovery in the tour de france 2006! as of stage 11, big george hincapie sits 23 minutes behind the lead, who happens to be his former teammate, Floyd Landis (wearing the maillot jaune the beginning of Bastille Day); paolo salvodelli (due to injury, riding with stitches in his head from a bad crash the other day) and benjamin noval, both good climbers, withdrew.

sigh. sigh, again, for the brilliant johan bruyneel, who’s going to have a lot to discuss with discovery team about their future.

sigh, again, for big george, who just doesn’t seem to know his own legs without lance to drive him. well, floyd went through that last year.

c’mon guys, get your act together. at least finish well, if not at the top of the game. 7 years of good luck may be just a tad bit too much to live up to.

meanwhile, we have an american in yellow riding his first yellow bike, and he well deserves it! Plus, Levi Leipheimer redeemed himself with a magnificent ride through the Pyrenees, even though he lost the stage by mere split seconds, and brought himself back up through the rankings from lower third to top 20.