Tour de France...

Each year, in July, I am reminded that there is no better multi-stage sporting event than the Tour de France. You could watch it just for the scenery, which is always absolutely stunning. You could watch it for the anguish of the crashes, the adrenaline rush of the sprints on the flat stages, or the agony of the climbs in the mountains.

Then there are the subtleties and intricacies of the strategy and tactics, and the races within the race: The Yellow Jersey (GC or General Classification - the overall race leader), the Green Jersey (Best Sprinter), the Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains - the race's best climber), and the White Jersey (Best Young Rider - the highest-ranked rider aged 25 or younger). [For a simple explanation of some of this stuff, click HERE.]

And, of course, there is the human drama - the tension between teams, or sometimes within teams, and the intense suffering that each individual must bear in his own way. If you've tried to ride any distance at all on a bike, you realize what great athletes these guys are. This year's Tour de France will cover nearly 2200 miles in 21 stages. Today alone, they will ride 140 miles in the Pyrennes Mountains of Spain and the Principality of Andora.

There is one other aspect of the Tour that makes it great for me - the commentators. I like to watch the live coverage in the morning (which I record on DVR to watch later) rather than the "Americanized" prime time coverage on Versus because there is nothing better than Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. Between them, they have nearly 60 years of experience in professional cycling with Liggett having done TV commentary on 33 Tours de France.

Yesterday was the perfect example of all of these things. David Millar, a Scottish rider on the American team Garmin-Slipstream, got into a long breakaway (an individual or small group of riders that breaks away from the main field - the "peloton" - and then tries desperately to cling to whatever advantage they may have obtained). Millar was part of a group of four riders that managed to gain a 3 or 4 minute advantage on the field, but, as often happens, three riders fell back into the peloton. Millar, courageously, rode nearly 25 kilometers in the lead, alone, in the rain, on a stage that ended with an uphill climb.

[Photo courtesy of VeloNews]

Phil Liggett described Millar's ride as only he can:

"The rain is dancing on the pavement, and Millar is dancing on his pedals… "

"David Millar is the loneliest man in all of Europe right now."

"Millar’s legs are going to burn like a bonfire when he turns on to the slopes (of the final climb)."

Millar's legs did burn like a bonfire at the end. He was caught with less than a kilometer to go before the finish. But the images of the day, Millar's effort, and Liggett's commentary all combined to make the day one of the many memorable ones of the Tour de France.