Yet another busy weekend around here with the official opening of spring training, coupled with a pair of Flyers' games, the NBA All-Star weekend as well as the typical rumbling and grumblings on the Philly sports scene. Surely, the Phillies and the beginning of their title defense in Clearwater, Fla. is the biggest bit of news in these parts, but that doesn't mean the world stops just for us.
Oh no. Not at all.
While the greatest basketball players on the planet have all converged in Phoenix, Ariz. for two days of parties and exhibitions, a little farther north a consortium of the greats in another sport will take over the great state of California for the next week.
And when we say the best in the sport, we mean many of the best over the past decade.
Yes, it's the Tour of California, the biggest bike race in the United States which began with a prologue stage in Sacramento on Saturday and will end in Escondido, a town just north of San Diego, on Sunday. Along the way, spectators lining the course will see the best field ever assembled for a bike race in the U.S.
The best?
Absolutely. Look, the greatest-of-all-time hook is one that is thrown out far too much these days. As sports fans and Americans, we're prone to hyperbole. However, it's difficult to argue with the riders saddling it up this week in California. The only way it could get any better is if Miguel Indurain or the man himself, Eddy Merckx decided to make comebacks.
The talent includes three different Tour de France champs, 16 different Tour de France stage winners, 11 world champions, eight Olympic medalists, and every American champ going back to 2003 as well as every winner in the first three years of the event.
Star-studded to be sure. But frankly, the Tour of California is the first real test for a couple of riders making their returns to the sport. Yes, Carlos Sastre, the defending Tour de France champ is in the race. So too is 2008 Olympic gold medalist Fabian Cancellara, along with a veritable who's who of cycling.
But the riders drawing the most attention in the Tour of California are a couple of guys who haven't raced a full season since 2006, and that year didn't really end too well.
Yes, Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis are back.