Ok, I get it.

Last year when Le Tour occurred, I was still a relative newb to the world of cycling, much less the world of racing. I knew one name (Lance Armstrong) and knew which team he rode for (Radioshack). I also knew of some other teams (Saxobank, Astana, Rabobank) because we sold Specialized and Giant bikes (sponsors of said teams).

Oh, and I knew Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck because Specialized sent us big cardboard cut outs of them with waggling tongues on their tri bikes.

We put a mustache on Contador. He looked much better.

But the drama and excitement? The cat and mouse game? The history behind rivalries and the dedication and drama and pure bad assness behind Le Tour? It was pretty much lost on me.

Not this time.

One year is all it took to morph from Pro Tour Neophyte to VeloNews/RoadBikeAction/Road Magazine reader, cyclingnews/velonews.com junkie, and all around addict of bike racing.

That being the case, this year's tour is seen through much different eyes. I not only remember what happened last year ("the chain incident" "the headbutt incident" "the voigt-on-a-teeny-bike incident"), I can relate that to what it means for this year (Schleck is piiiiiissed, Renshaw will reign it in a bit, Voigt is The Man). I can root for the underdogs (GO VOECKLER!), curse the villains (Do I even need to say a name here?), and await the next amazing Voigt Quote of the Day, even when that quote is simply him snarling angrily into the camera after crashing out for a second time prior to getting back on the bike and shattering the peleton on the final climb.

And after my whole life of being in the dark, cold, lost, wandering, not even knowing what I was missing, I can finally say that I get it. I get why the Tour de France (or LE Tour de France) is the most epic, amazing, fantastic race of the year. Sure, the Classics are thrilling, and the Giro is insane, but the Tour is where you can see real, true, calculated, team coordinated racing. Brilliant attacks, unlucky crashes, team efforts (and sacrifices), all come alive for three weeks of racing throughout the most gorgeous scenery ever captured on a television camera.

So, who are MY picks for the tour? So far I think Cadel Evans looks the best, and I wouldn't mind seeing him win (even though he's going to cry and cry on the podium). I love how he not only stayed with Contador on today's surprise attack, he gapped him on the descent. His team has been riding amazingly smart, and so far, luck has been on his side as well.

Sanchez would be another cool pick, mostly because of his somewhat Cinderella story status in that his team is probably the weakest of the Pro Teams.

Voeckler would be awesome, but I don't see it happening. I DO think and hope for a podium finish for him, though. His team (Europcar) is going above and beyond anyone's expectations as well.

The Schleck brothers have both gotten on my nerves this year, not so much for creating their own team, but for the arrogant air surrounding their team, the air that they were going to be unbeatable in pretty much every race they targeted for the season. No matter what those reasons may be, that is clearly not turning out to be the case, and they have made tactical mistake after tactical mistake in several key races (including this Tour). So while I think that both of them (Frank looks better than Andy right now form wise) have a very very good chance, I won't be disappointed if neither get the win.

Contador can explode on tainted meat. His little dig at Sanchez today was crappy. He can eat it.

But I do want his bike. That thing is hot.