money in the bank....

Today Michael showed a lot of class. Prior to this stage and this year's le Doyenne, Michael Boogerd seemed to me like an opportunistic rider. The 1999 Amstel Gold race was victory that seemed a bit weak. The inability to take a pull, as per team orders, didn't show me a brave rider. The year when Erik Dekker won there were shots of Erik arguing with his manager. He showed the class of someone who wanted to win while putting in his fair share of work.

In this year's Liege, Michael attacked and tried to win. Even though he didn't win, he still came out looking like a winner.

Today's win by Menchov was truly exciting. As I rooted for Denis to win, I knew it was really rooting for team Rabobank and Boogerd who had put in so much hard work for his team. Awesome pulls on the final climb and riders dropping off like flies. Each time a climber would drop off, my question was "who is at the front?". Each time the answer was "Boogerd". What a ride today.

Mention must also go to Denis for his aggressive riding. Often, Menchov will follow wheels and let the race sort itself out. Michael Rasmussen also showed a lot of class in today's stage. He gave up his GC hopes and probably KOM jersey hopes to ride tempo for Menchov.

With Rabobank's riding today, Menchov is definitely a contender for the podium. And, as they say, or as one of my former teammates used to say, today's work was definitely putting money in the raboBank.