Silflay Hraka

Tour de France 2006

I haven’t posted my thoughts on the Tour de France in a few days, mainly because the race hasn’t really begun for me. I find the prologue interesting because you get an idea of who the early leaders are going to be and who might do well on the later time trials. The first few flat stages don’t hold as much interest for me, however. The flat stages are usually the focus of the green jersey contenders and I am much more interested in the yellow jersey competition.

Tomorrow’s stage 7 really marks the beginning of that competition. Stage 7 is an individual time trial and there should be a significant amount of mix-up in the general classification standings. Sprinter Tom Boonen is currently atop the GC standings but will probably be wearing a different jersey after tomorrow. My favorite, George Hincapie, is currently 5th in the overall standings but could be wearing yellow tomorrow if he matches his performance in the Tour Prologue. He’s currently 25 seconds out of the lead and should be able to make that up in the 52 kilometers that make up the stage. The riders ahead of him are all sprinters who have spent a lot of energy contesting the green jersey this past week.

Others to watch include Hincapie’s Discovery teammate Paolo Salvoldelli who finished 8th in the Prologue and is number 7 in the overall standings, Floyd Landis who finished 9th and stands at 8 and David Zabriskie. Zabriskie stands at 17th overall but finished 3rd in the Prologue and is a strong time-trialist. Australia’s Michael Rogers should probably be mentioned in that group too. He finished 7th in the Prologue and is currently 3rd in the GC. He could come away in yellow tomorrow.

I’m sure there will be others who help themselves in the stage and I think the top 10 will look totally different tomorrow. I predict strong rides by Levi Leipheimmer, Vladimir Karpets and maybe Bobby Julich. I don’t know if Thor Hushovd can repeat his Prologue performance since he fought so hard for the green jersey all week. Ditto for Stuart O’Grady who rode to a strong 6th in the opening stage of the Tour.

I eagerly await tomorrow’s stage and the mountains that await in stage 10. The competition should be fierce and we should see a lot of surprises. For me, the real Tour is about to begin.

The North Carolina crab industry is suffering. Not because of a shortage of crabs, but rather because it’s cheaper to import crab meat from outside the United States.

Harris also believes that foreign markets are harming North Carolina crabbers. A lot of crab meat is being shipped to the United States from Venezuela, he said. The foreign crab meat is being sold in this country for about $4.25 per pound, Harris said. Domestic crab meat processed in this country sells from $7 to $8 per pound. The domestic market cannot compete with cheap labor prices overseas, he said.

Given that locally-caught shrimp also appear to be more expensive than imported, the trawling industry in North Carolina would appear to be in trouble, and that may be good news for the recreational fisherman.

Less trawling=less bycatch. Less bycatch=more flounder, as well as more of the other finfish species.

I don’t think that the trawling industry in NC is doomed, even with the new regs, but I do see a future where locally harvested seafood is a boutique item, something along the lines of organic produce. Most people will dine on imported Thai shrimp and think nothing of it, and a smaller group will pay extra for the feel-good experience of eating “real” NC shrimp. North Carolina finfish stocks will continue their recovery, and recreational fishermen will be operating in an increasingly target-rich environment.

News-Record.com - Greensboro, North Carolina: : Moonshine over Madison.