Steppe team

The first week of the Tour has been as odd as one might expect given that Lance Armstrong is back and riding for a team of renegades sponsored by a place mostly known for its proximity to the steppe. When Armstrong was just a great story, in the early 2000s, and people like Rick Reilly weren't covering the Tour, there was a delight in following the race quietly on summer mornings. Now, like when your favorite local band goes big time, the Tour is splashed everywhere because of Armstrong's fame. And sadly, the doping-riddled Tours of the past three years are overlooked.

Armstrong, whose brushes with doping strain the credulity of his proclaimed innocence, now rides for the Cobra Kai-like Team Astana, which is sponsored by a state-run company in Borat-land. Alberto Contador, Bobby to Lance Armstrong's Johnny, also has had brushes with doping allegations. As has Andreas Kloeden, the big German who is probably third-best on the team.

Johnny and Bobby went at each other pretty hard this week, which was an unusually eventful first week of the Tour. Armstrong broke away on a relatively flat stage, gained a lot of time on Contador and nearly wound up in the yellow jersey. Contador, the pre-race favorite, wasn't pleased afterward. Then Contador went rogue the other day on a mountain stage and surged past Armstrong, leaving the Texan fuming. It's hard to know what really is going on within the team when Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's old buddy from the Postal Service team, is director. It should make for good theater the rest of the way. Let's hope another doping scandal doesn't derail things.