Although he won the yellow jersey yesterday, Andy Schleck owned it for only a day. from the 26-year-old Luxembourg rider. As I stood at the finish of the individual time trial in Grenoble, he approached. The crowd around me turned into a cacophony of fists and smash bats, and a chat of “Maillot Jaune, Maillot Jaune” began. Unlike other sporting events that are strictly partisan, the tour fans are agnostic. A Basque fan clad in orange will cheer as fervently for Schleck as he will for Sammy Sanchez, or at least nearly as much. This is not Red Sox/Yankees. For me, it's a revelation.
–Dave Cox is on a behind the scenes tour of the Tour de France with Boston-based adventure travel guides