As the 2008 Tour de France approaches its conclusion I don't see how we could have asked for much more. With seven overall lead changes to this point, more than half a dozen men in serious contention late into the event, spectacular sprint performances by Mark Cavendish (he won them in a wide variety of ways), and a sprinkling of doping scandals, this race has delivered. Yes, I meant to say that. The doping scandals were a positive. The way they played out has convinced me that cycling officials, at least in France, are determined to follow through on their commitment to drive drugs from the sport. That's good because the pain we've gone through will only be of value if we accomplish something as a result. Once again, here's to clean athletes!

It's been oddly satisfying to see cyclists appear truly spent after difficult stages, or to watch them have bad days. I believe most fans, particularly those who are cyclists themselves, find these moments of vulnerability compelling. I'm confident that every clean cyclist in the race appreciates seeing that their colleagues are mortal.

From an American perspective, The Tour is still not getting much coverage. Other than brief updates about stage wins or overall standings, the only mainstream coverage I've seen has been about the doping busts. It's too bad that the media focus is only on the negative, but unfortunately that's not surprising. Among other things like the public's inexplicable craving for bad news, this is an indication of where pro cycling stands in the picking order of sports in America. The British Open Golf Tournament, Wimbledon, and Major League Baseball have all received far more coverage over the last three weeks. Olympic preparation, off season basketball transactions (around here the Utah Jazz are king), and anything grid-iron related (American Football is king on the sports scene in this country) are all also getting far more press than cycling. Oh well. Those of us who are cycling fans have unprecedented access to information about the sport even if most Americans don't yet appreciate the intricacies of this sport.

As I've said before, I'm cheering most loudly for the members of teams who have put longitudinal drug testing in place, particularly those who are publicizing their results for public and peer review. For this reason I like seeing Carlos Sastre and the Schleck brothers currently near the top of the standings. Christian Vande Velde's performance has been very exciting. I don't know of anybody who predicted he was capable of such a performance. It was encouraging to see him rebound on Alpe d'Huez after a tough outing the day before. The strong performances of so many French based cyclists also makes me happy. I particularly enjoy watching cyclists who wear Credit Agricole gear animating the race and winning stages. The reasons for that bias will become obvious if you visit my Web site.

So it's with great anticipation that I await the final time-trial. Again, what more could we ask for. Going into that critical stage this race isn't over yet. While I believe that Cadel Evans is still the most likely winner, Carlos Sastre still has a fighting chance and there are a couple of other cyclists who might be capable of pulling off a great finish. Given all of the stunning developments and surprising performances we've seen so far, anything is possible.

I've been traveling extensively throughout this race but I've managed to see most of the action along the way. By the time the final two stages are run I'll be in the heart of the Southern Utah desert at Lake Powell (a location that played an important role in my two cycling novels). From such a remote location it will be a minor miracle if I can see televised coverage, and it might be impossible for me to get Web access (I've never connected to the Internet from that location before, but the world is changing so maybe it's possible now). I'll do my best to secure both in order to make one final post as the race wraps up. Until then, thanks for reading!