Today’s brilliant move by a rider pursuing the Hawaiian-print “la dolce vita/stop-and-smell-the-flowers” jersey came as the race barreled up High Street.

Charles Schleck — the long-lost, black-sheep third sibling to Le Tour de France stars Andy and Frank — pulled out of the bike lane and stopped, popping a few coins into a newspaper box and then stood perusing The Register-Guard.

When the day was over, he had taken the “dolce vita” jersey from Rascali.

Pulling on the jersey, he told reporters: “It is such a beautiful day today. I think what allowed me to overtake the great Rascali is that I didn’t just read the news. I read ‘Ziggy,’ and did the ‘Jumble’ — the whole thing, too, even the hard ones with five letters. And then I sat down on the curb and read that Bob Welch column explaining how he got a new kitten. ”

* * *

(DISCLAIMER: It should go without saying that all of the photos we present here in our coverage of Le Tour de Milk Crate are actual candid photos of actual innocent bystanders spotted in Eugene. No dramatizations or setups have been used, heavens no.)

Catch up on all of this year’s nonsense.