New Lanterne Rouge

Our new back-of-the-pack Tour de France rider who we are following is Iker Flores, who rides for the Euskaltel-Euskadi team led by Iban Mayo. He now assumes the position of the "Lanterne Rouge" of the great Tour de France train.

At the left is a photo of Iker from last year's Tour de France, serving as a good domestique for his team leader Iban Mayo by giving him his front wheel after a crash. Er, maybe both wheels.

According to the Daily Peleton, "his brother Igor was the Lanterne Rouge in Paris a few years back. Of course, Iker is an attacker who you can bet will be off the front in the mountains. Also interesting to note that all riders are still in the race... nobody has abandoned yet, which is a huge change from a year ago."

This morning's medical communique indicates that Iker has hip and right knee injuries, possibly accounting for a bad time in the team time trial.

Hmm, I like this! I just started a new blog dedicated to the Tour de France Lanterne Rouge....
I'll probably post most of my Tour de France stuff over there in the future, and stick more to triathlon-related stuff here.