Only Three Days Left in Le Tour So It's a Good Time to Clean Up

Today, Stage 19 of Le Tour de France, is one of the last two opportunities for Mark Cavendish to win a stage and overtake Eddie Merckx's record. Eddie will still hold many other records in Le Tour - he was a much more rounded rider than Cavendish is - but Cav can surpass him in sprinting. It's been a real joy to see Cav back on the course again. Cycling tends to be a sport for the young and usually riders will peak and then retire in their 30's. Cav is now 36 years old and probably thinking of retiring again. I don't think he enjoyed his two years off, though, so he might push retirement off for a bit longer. Perhaps he'll become another Alejandro Valverde and ride into his 40's. 

Today is a long stage, but not much for topography. There 
are certainly ups and downs, but the big peaks are now 
behind us and ahead of us shines the beacon of Paris. 
The boys only need to survive another three days to 
wrap up this year's Tour de France. 

Today's stage is perfect for the sprinters, We're back on the flats, heading towards tomorrow's second Individual Time Trial. In the standings, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates/UAE) is firmly in the Yellow Jersey and barring catastrophe, he'll be at the top of the podium in Paris. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick-Step/BEL) wears the Green Jersey and might cement that farther today and Sunday. The Polka Dot jersey for King of the Mountains is actually also Tadej Pogacar's, but in the standings you can only have one placement, so Wouter Poels (Bahrain Victorious/BRN) gets the Polka Dot designation. 

There are four unique jerseys worn by the leaders in 
Le Tour de France. From L-R, White for best young 
rider under age 26 on January 1st in the year 
following the race. Yellow, the current General 
Classification leader computed by time. This is 
a race decided by seconds of time. The Green is 
for the top Sprinter as determined by various 
points awarded throughout each stage and who 
passes through those areas first. It also is computed 
by the time of each rider as they pass the finish line. 
The Polka Dot goes to the King of the Mountains. 
It's computed similarly to the Green, but on the 
slopes of the Alps and the Pyrenees (with small 
points on smaller hills before the big ones). 

The White Jersey for "Best Young Rider" actually also goes to Tadej Pogacar, but he can't wear three jerseys, so Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma/NED) gets to wear the White in the peloton. Finally, the team in front currently is Bahrain Victorious/Bahrain, and for most aggressive rider, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ/FRA) has the designation. So these are the top placements as we move into Stage 19. Will they be the same tonight? Only time, distance and muscles will tell. 

Let's take a look at the full route map once again. That 
long straight line from the South heading North is 
what we're riding today. There's a little hook at the 
top of it where the time trial will be held tomorrow. 
Then the riders head to airplanes and are flown to 
the outskirts of Paris for their finishing day's 
race around the "Champ" on Sunday. 

I'm tackling my space today. I can't stand the fact that I have so much on the floor and not in the drawers and cupboards where they need to go. I also need to do grocery shopping and make another batch of Alkagizers to carry me into next week. I'll have to carefully figure out my schedule since Wednesday, my usual day for shopping, etc., will be taken up by my next tattoo session. 

I truly hate housecleaning, but putting things away really 
isn't housecleaning, it's just putting things away. I need to 
clean out drawers, put things into them that I actually 
want to keep, and toss things I don't want/need any more. 
I want things neat and clean, and I'm not really happy 
with my room right now at all. 

So, as we head into the final three days of Le Tour, and also the final three days of The Open Golf Tournament (what used to be called the British Open), I'll be working with the TV on in the background. I'm determined to make some progress on cleaning today - it's getting out of control. Have a wonderful and fabulous Friday and I'll be back tomorrow for the Individual Time Trials and a look ahead at Paris.