Farrar gets his "W"

CEBU, Philippines - After two frustrating years in the Tour de France, Tyler Farrar has finally got the win that was due him. This, after being labeled as a, "…super, good sprinter but he's not at the level as (Italian Alesandro)Petacchi and me" by the best sprinter of the Tour the past 3 years, Brit Mark Cavendish.

Maybe because of the dangerous job that they do, bumping elbows to elbows at 65kph with a two-wheeled vehicles with a less than an inch wide tires, most sprinters are loud, abrasive, emotional and above all they don't lack in confidence. Cavendish is exhibit #1.

Farrar, however, isn't built from the same tree. He presents an inner calm, that sometimes I mistake him as too soft to be a sprinter. His calmness is worn in his left forearm in a tattoo written in Pali, the language that Buddha used to preach, saying, "May all be happy". On his other wrist is tattooed, "inner peace" in Tibetan calligraphy. When he loses in sprints, as he almost does against Cavendish, he never seemed upset. The reason he says is that what he does is a passion, not full-time devotion, whatever that means. His experience when he was 13yo when he visited Nepal probably affected his way of seeing things.

Farrar is the 10th American rider to win a stage in the Tour de France and the 2nd sprinter after Davis Phinney in 1986, the 2nd rider to win stages in the three Grand Tours (Girod'Italia, Vuelta a Espana and the Tour) after teammate Dave Zabriskie and the first American to win on the 4th of July.

In 2008, his father, an orthopedic surgeon, was riding his bike to the hospital to perform surgery when he was hit head on by a car. He survived and became a paraplegic but the disability didn't prevent him from hand-cycling and skiing.

Then just two months ago, he lost his neighbor, good friend and training partner, Belgian WouterWeylendt crashed and died in the Girod'Italia. Wouter's death left him devastated that he left theGiro and stop riding for a while. The "W" sign he made after he crossed the finish line was meant for "Wouter", not the "W" associated with a win.

Farrar and his rival sprinters will have fewer sprinting chances this year and it was good that he got his win this early.

Stage 4 predictions

The last 2km of this stage features a 10% climb, which makes Phillipe Gilbert the hands down favorite. The stage 1 winner, Phillipe Gilbert is untouchable in steep, uphill sprints this year. Other favorites include Cadel Evans, Alexander Vinokourov, Frank and Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. – THE FREEMAN