My dad can beat up your dad

During one of the commentaries on the tour, someone remarked that Ekimov is 40 years old.

Four-ty

Thats like, older than me. And I'm feeling pretty durn old these days. I hobble out of bed the day after a 2 hour mountain bike ride. I groan and my knees crackle when I get up out of my chair. I'm cranky and kids these days annoy me.

But Eki is timeless. At 40, he is racing the tour for like the 37th time, on the (arguably) best team in the business. He's smart, has earned respect in the peloton, and can still place in the top of a time trial. Thats some awesome shit. Eki is nails.

I think he retired once. But that didn't last long. I can't remember the details. I'm sure Lance offered a nice come back bonus. But I bet the spirit of competition is what really called him. Some guys just can't get enough.

So of course, I had to figure out who the other old dogs in the tour are. Here's a sampling of what I found.

While Eki can almost make the Euro-mullet cool, Laurent Brochard reminds us that its really pretty silly looking after all. I could talk about how Laurent is 38 years old and is still a rider to watch, especially in breakaways, or his Festina suspension...blah blah blah....but all I really want to do is share these lovely pictures of him I found. I had a hard time choosing which ones to post so I hope you enjoy them.

Giovanni Lombardi is 37 years old. But frankly, he looks a little older than that to me. He should take that Real Age quiz thingie. Maybe those years pulling the Saeco train caught up to him. Lombardi has spent his career pulling sprinting legends Cippolini and Zabel to numerous victories. He was brought over to CSC as a "bodyguard" for Basso. He must be feeling a little lost right now.

Speaking of Zabel, the durable Erik Zabel made my old guy list. He's only 36, but in sprinter years, thats like being 50 or something. Plus he races everything, all year round. Erik has raced for Telecom since the beginning of his career in 1993. This year he traded in pink for blue and switched over to the Milram team where his duties are selling German buttermilk and leading out Petacchi. There's always something a little sad when a vet player switches teams at the end of their career. I'd love to see Zabel win a stage, but looking at the sprint results so far, it doesn't look so likely. Still, I'm rooting for him on each gallop. Go Erik! Go Buttermilk!

Why is Levi here? Well, because I downloaded pics of him, certain that he too was an old guy. Turns out he's not. He's only 33. He just looks really old.