A no-name Tour de France gears up

2006 Pakistan vs. England ball-tampering row ends in a draw Contrast this generation gap in cycling with the predictability of Wimbledon, that wonderful institution that ends on the weekend the Tour begins. No matter how many seeded players are announced as "out" on the BBC, some familiar names are always "through to the next round," the veddy English phrase that never fails to delight me. Even with retirements and upsets, Venus and Serena Williams slugged away Thursday and reached the women's final, and despite the drizzle of southwest London on Wednesday, Federer and Nadal punched through their quarterfinal matches. Next year there will be a retractable roof over the center court at Wimbledon, but the drippy skies and the voice of doom over the loudspeakers, announcing the dismal forecast to the sodden outer courts, will... [read full story]