2006 tour de france Wearing Yellow

The best placed finisher in the TdF who is riding the tour today is American Bobby Julich, a teammate of banned Italian Ivan Basso with team CSC. Julich came in 3rd in 1998, the year of the Festina Affair. Some of the favorites that year were either kicked out of the race or simply quit out of protest of the way the matter was handled by the French Gendarmes. And though he seldom talked about it, it paved the way for his magnificent finish. In spite reaching as high as second overall during the race, Julich never got to wear the yellow jersey.

Since that magical July of 1998, the next five years were times he'd rather forget. HE was so disappointed that he retired at the end of 2003.

But he got a call from Bjarne Riis that restarted his career. So the dream of wearing the yellow jersey, which is still one of the unaccomplished dreams of Julich, goes on.

But just what is it like to wear the yellow jersey?

If there is a rider in the TdF today who has the most experience in wearing the yellow, it is George Hincapie. Hincapie was part of all seven victories of Armstrong, so he should know. Because of time bonuses in stage 1, Hincapie was able to pull back Thor Hushovd and moved past the Norwegian by 2 seconds in the overall to wear yellow. While wearing yellow gives the team sponsors maximum media exposure, it also is tiring to the rider. While everyone hurries to go back to the hotel right after the stage finish, the yellow jersey has to go to the doping control daily, participate in the podium ceremony, and sit through interviews with the media. It may seem like a small price to pay for the honor of being the leader of the race, but when you're first priority is recovering and getting ready for tomorrow's race, every minute counts.

The attention that the yellow jersey can give to a rider can disrupt a rider's post-race routine. This can contribute to a delay in recovery and increased fatigue. So if Hincapie wants to wear the yellow jersey in Paris, wearing it now can be more trouble than its worth. That is why giving back the yellow jersey to Hushovd is just tactical. Hincapie needs all the rest he needs to accomplish his mission.

Winning the TdF is not about how fast you can climb, time trial or sprint. It is about who can recover well after a super hard effort.

Lance Armstrong has perfected the formula of recovery after lots of hours in the office. Surely, it must have rubbed on his teammates, especially George.

David Millar, who was suspended in 2004 for doping, won the 2000 TdF prologue and was the World TT champion in 2001. Last Saturday, this former TT meister and now "clean cyclist" could only place 17th, 14 seconds behind winner Thor Hushovd.