Sprocket dance

Seeing Lance Armstrong in a Team Astana uniform is like seeing Daniel LaRusso joining the Cobra Kai. Team Astana, owned by government-run entities in Borat's homeland of Kazakhstan, was booted from the 2007 Tour for doping . In the circus-like world of cycling, Lance Armstrong joining a team once laden with dopers hardly merits as news. Astana now includes a Star Wars cantina-like cast of characters--Alberto Contador, the young superstar, Andreas Kloeden, the Austrian who used to wear white-rimmed shades while riding, and Levi Leipheimer, the bald American with a funny name. Though Astana can hardly pay its riders the squad is considered the favorite in the Tour, which started today in Monaco. Adding to the madness is that doper Alexandre Vinokourov is hoping to return to Astana (the team, not the capital) in time for this year's Vuelta a Espana.

I've decided to root for Christian Vande Velde, another American rider with a European name, who gets written up in Chicago papers a lot because he's from Lemont, Ill. Vande Velde's team, Garmin-Slipstream, has stringent doping controls and was formed as a response to the scandals of the past couple years. I also will enjoy the commentary on Versus by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. In these crazy cycling times, they're about the only two people we can count on.