Paris ( to Nice) in the springtime

Ah, the freezing temperatures, the slick cobblestones, the driving rain, the peloton pile-ups - this must have been the thinking when it comes to waxing rhapsodic over Paris (to Nice) in the spring.

The spring classic kicked off yesterday with a four-kilometre prologue and, naturally, the big news was that Lance Armstrong chose it as his debut for the 2005 race season.

But fans hoping for a blistering performance from the six-time winner of the Tour de France (or as former road racer and OLN commentator Bob Roll kept insistently calling it, the Tour day France) were in for a disappointment.

Looking slightly pudgy (but that could have been the way his jersey bagged out in front), Lance leisurely turned the pedals to come in 140th. But then, as he told the press after, he was just there to race a bit and get prepped for his seventh Tour win. Lance, who spends most of his time between Spain and Austin, TX training, complained about the cold and said within seconds of leaving the starting gate his fingers were numb.

In-Form rider Jens Voigt won the prologue in five minutes and 15 seconds.

Coverage may be found here: http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/7656.0.html

http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=7655
http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=7639

Perhaps what was most amazing about all this was Canadian viewers were actually able to see the prologue televised. Normally, OLN only feeds the cycling to its American audience. It's not clear from the TSN/OLN.ca schedule whether we'll continue to receive Cyclysm Sundays, as the program is called, here in Canada. But let's hope. The American schedule for the races is here: http://www.olntv.com/htmlpage.asp?htmlid=24