Loving the race, but have been disappointed the announcers don't always give us the names of the little towns they are flying over. Do the websites give more detailed maps? I missed Thursday's race and wondered if I'd seen part of the route.

On olntv.com, they have maps of each stage.

I'm also thrilled for George Hincapie. He seemed to be almost stunned that he had won!

I can't imagine how scary it must be, if they had time to think about it, to ride through those crowds of spectators.

We Tivo each day's coverage on OLN from 8 to 11, and so we have seen most of the race. One of the more exciting stages for us was Friday (I think) when Chris Horner from the US came very close to winning. If he had only had a few more seconds lead before the sprinters reached him...

In June 2004, Chris rode in the Wachovia bike race in Philadelphia. The morning before the race, a bike shop advertised a ride with him. Well, for some weird reason, my husband was the only person who showed up, so he rode for a few hours with Chris Horner (including going up the famous Manyunk wall where Chris nicely waited at the top for DH to catch up.) He was very nice, talked a lot about the life of a professional cyclist, and how hard it is if you have a wife and kids.

It was a fun experience for my DH and we continue to follow his career.

We've been watching OLN every morn. The last two days the spectators were very unruly. They acted like they were at the running of the bulls. One emptied a bottle of water on a racer's back, another gave a push on the rider's fanny, one ran in front waving a Columbian flag.

I think the actual picture comes from FranceTelecom, and this year they're not putting in the little banners with the names of towns and other things of interest--too bad. Also, the picture/audio quality hasn't been too good the last several days, even from the announcers' both--wonder why.

hopingtotravel,

I took me a while to find the good maps pm the olntv.com web site. You have to go to Current Stage,then click on About this Stage. That's what brings up the maps. You can also find them at

cyclingnews.com

I can't even imagine what it's like to ride through that sea of humanity; parting the waters, as it were. Frightening and dangerous!

Bravo George! What a well deserved accomplishment!

The crouds seem to be worse every year as more people come to see the tour. I guess its just part of the race to the riders. i have to admitt it was funny when some idiot running too close to a rider got run over by one of the camera motor bikes.

On OLN this morning, they said that there were supposed to have been something like 500,000 spectators in the last 15km on Sunday. After the stage it took the rest of the day and all night and part of Monday for them all to get down the mountain, with a constant line of traffic.

Thanks Jean. I think Thursday's stage (which I missed) may have been one I meant to see.

After watching the Pyrenees, my husband admits he would like to go back to France sometime!

A very impressive lead coming out of the Pyrenees - 2:46. Barring any major tragedy, he's going to be very tough to beat.

:)

I loved the ladies in Briançon (?) dressed in regional costumes. They looked just like live santons.

Today the spectators were so civilized (from the last two days)

Except for the one who gave one rider a bloody nose with those long clapper things!

The last 10 kilometers of Stage 17 provided us with some amazing cycling.

Bravo Team Discovery and all the competitors in the break-a-way.

What a great ride for Lance today!

And I felt so bad for Rasmussen. He has raced consistently well and today must have been his worst nightmare.

There is an editorial in the LA Times today, "Lance's Last Ride",wondering how many of us will watch next year. One phrase sticks in my mind,"Americans who wouldn't know a peloton if it ran over them knew Lance Armstrong". That was me until I started watching the Tour because of Lance. I grew up in Britain and knew about the Tour, but really never paid attention until Lance came along.

Not sure I can get up at 4:30am tomorrow, but I'll try. And I'll smile, laugh and cry.

Was that (Rasmussen's ride) not the most painful thing ever?

Still, he accomplished his goals; a stage win and King of the Mountain (provided he makes it to Paris tomorrow).

Congrats to Lance on win #7! I haven't been following it very much but I want to watch him ride in Paris tomorrow. Maybe I will see some places I recognize.

I can't believe tomorrow will be the last time to see Lance and his team riding into Paris drinking champagne. I'll be going through TdF withdrawl for about a week!

You can send Lance a note of thanks at [email protected]. I did, thanking him for his courage, his spirit and for being the kind of athlete my grandkids can look up to.

Does anyone know approximately, what time, Lance will be riding into Paris tomorrow? (L.A. time)