Why Le Tour?

Right it probably needs to be covered at some point, and, in fairness, it is a question I get asked frequently.
So why the Tour De France?

Well for years and years I have been a keen cyclist, mainly mountain biking with a bit of BMX thrown in. However several years ago the opportunity came up to do an unofficial London to Brighton bike ride to raise money for a church trip to South Africa. Around the same time my younger brother was beginning to get into road cycling, and was starting to watch the Giro D'Italia and Tour De France on Eurosport and where ever else it was on. So I started to get into it, watching the amazing mountain stages and was in awe of the sheer physical effort they put in.
So, as is my way, I went out the week before the London to Brighton ride and bought my self a brand new Carrera Virtuoso, with loads of other kit. It was a good couple of hundred pounds worth, made all that bit easier by the fact I sold it to myself in my capacity as a Halfords employee. Discount galore!!
I then bought an old racing bike off a colleague for about a fiver, did a tiny bit of work to it and sold it to my brother for £25 (OK, OK, that looks bad on the face of it but transportation, labour and other costs incurred made the profit margin very modest!)
So off we set on our epic ride, my only practice had been the 18 mile ride I did the night before (you live and learn!!).
What a ride! Very enjoyable ride with some good friends, it was organised brilliantly with a support van stopping every 15miles or so to give us refreshments, mechanical support etc and a couple of drivers monitoring our progress.
That was the bug biting.
From then on in it was a summer passion when the football season finished.

Then in 2007 it all changed, the Tour De France started in London!!

Tour De France Prologue, 2007, London.
So on Saturday 7th me, my mate Colin and his Dad and mates rode into central London from South East London to Hyde Park. When we got there we found massive crowds and we had to carry our bikes over a bridge in Parliament square to get to Hyde Park bike-park. But what a day!!
The weather was excellent, the atmosphere brilliant and the crowds massive!
This was my first ever live bike race and the buzz was electric. We couldn't get too close to get brilliant pics but managed a few:









Afterwards we rode back out of London having watched Fabian Cancellara power his way to another Prologue victory and Bradley Wiggins get a 4th place finish. Exciting stuff!!
I couldn't wait for tomorrow's stage from London to Canterbury!



Stage 1: London > Canterbury: Sunday 8th July 2007

The excitement!!! I loaded mine and my brothers bikes onto the back of my Seat and we set off to watch the first stage from a special place. We got there nice and early to get a good spot.
Now to most people the spot we we're stood at was insignificant but for me it was incredibly exciting and nerve-racking!
The route took them straight through the borough of Bexley, and more importantly straight along one of the roads which i am responsible for in my capacity as a highways technician!
So the Tour was on my roads!!
Now because I had only started my job that February, i was not massively involved with the pre maintenance meetings and subsequent repair work, however i did get to supervise some of it and help. Ultimately the race could have been ruined if we'd not sorted some bits, especially the severe speed table, junction of Heron Hill and Woolwich Road, Belvedere. Only a few weeks before the Tour came through the speed table gradient was eased to aid the riders and vehicles. Phew!
So to the stage, having witnessed the extraordinary spectacle that is the Tour De France Caravane, and its myriad of freebies dished out, we had the long wait till the riders came through.
The freebies include bottled water, key-rings, hats, pens etc and most importantly free packets of Haribo!






Then the team cars come through, taking the hump at 30-40mph, and watching the car almost take off was entertaining and mildly concerning..........
then the noise level rose, the Peleton must be approaching......
No its a solo rider on the first break away of the day....

Yes its David Millar!! Going for a British Victory on home soil!

In case your thinking I'm standing right in the road, the pavement extends out where I am and there are railings beside me. This enabled me to get some brilliant shots.
The surrounding fans were excited to find out that it was Millar as they were a bit clueless, and looked at me and my brother Jon funny when we jumped around excitedly!!
So now we are just waiting on the Peleton to come through, less than a minute later.
Again my position enabled me to get some good shots of the riders, picking out individuals quite by accident!

First photo is Team CSC chasing down Millar to protect Fabian Cancellara's Yellow Jersey
Red rider above is Geraint Thomas in his first Tour.

So after the Peleton had gone through and the one rider who'd dropped off the back had gone through with all the team cars we started to pack up and head back to the car. Excited and happy and it was barely the afternoon. But the story doesn't end there. Oh no.

So having loaded the bikes back on and headed home we made a few frantic phone calls and checked how far along the route they were. Could we catch them a second time?
By now it was mid afternoon and my friend Colin, whom I'd ridden into London with the day before, was around. Quickly jumping into my car I worked out where we might be able to catch the Tour going through again. The Stage route was in our favour as it was quite windy through the Kent countryside.
So with myself and my brother in the car along with Colin and his then fiancé (now wife) Hannah, I scythed through the country lanes racing to get to the Cote de Southborough a category 4 climb (130m above sea level).
The traffic was getting heavier and heavier as we approached the area so I took the decision to carry on on foot and parked the car on a steep bank by the side of the road (after turning it round so we were facing the right way to escape!).
Carrying on by foot we walked a mile or so with a large crowd of people till we reached the summit (!) of the Cote de Southborough. Within 5-10 minutes Millar popped over the hill with 2 others for company in the break away!
Cancellara and CSC still driving the Peleton on to close the gap. Eventually the stage was won by Robbie McEwan who managed to get back into the Peleton despite having a puncture in Fraser road, Erith!
David Millar moved within 21 seconds of the Yellow Jersey after picking up time bonuses out on the road.
After watching the riders all through we wandered back to the car admiring the view from the Cote De Southborough:

Thoroughly pleased with an exciting days cycling watching. When I returned home I turned on the highlights programme on ITV4 and watched the whole stage highlights, then watched the live part that I'd recorded on my digibox. Low and behold Millars break is on there and you can clearly see me in my Kona Team jersey by the railings. Fame at last! What an awesome highlight to an awesome day!
Even as I write this and go through the photos 3 years later, I have a massive grin on my face. Good times, good friends and good weather. Brilliant!

Unfortunately it would be another two years until I get to see the Tour up close again, but that's a story for another day.......

The beginning of the end.

Sadly three eventful weeks of crashes, Cancellara, Cav, chain-gate, Contador and some cycling has to come to an end. So after failing to topple Contador at the top Schleck trails by 8 seconds going into the time trial.
Historically Contador is far stronger at this than Schleck, so the expectation is for him to extend his lead by anything up to a couple of minutes.

Stage 19: Individual Time Trial: Bordeaux > Pauillac: Saturday 24th

So going into the stage there are many things that could be decided by today's Time Trial.
The yellow Jersey:
If Contador has a bad day, a mechanical or crash then Schleck could steal the Yellow Jersey off him. Unlikely but stranger things have happened. Schleck is not a brilliant Time Trialist (despite being the Luxembourg Time Trial Champion!! Only he and his brother contest that each year im sure!) but has improved since last year where he lost lots of time. Has improved enough?
Third Place:
Yes it is an assumption that Sanchez or Menchov won't be 4 minute 40 seconds quicker than Schleck and steal second but it is unlikely he'll lose that much. So it comes down to a straight fight between Menchov and Sanchez with an outside chance that Van den Broeck will get in the mix a further 1 minute 30 seconds down.
Sanchez took a nasty fall on Thursday so it remains to be seen whether the 'Silent Assassin' can pick him off before Paris.
Lantern Rouge:
Bert Grabsch is 2 minutes off the penultimate place in this years Tour. A good time trial would enable him to lose the unwanted trophy. Wikipedia tells me he was the German National Time Trial Champion last year, and World Time Trial Champion the year before, hmmmmmmm
Green Jersey:
Unaffected by today's stage that will be decided on the road to Paris!
Team Jersey:
Radioshack are 8 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Caisse D'Epargne so unlikely to change the lead.
White Jersey:
Young rider jersey is held by Schleck (his last year in it at 25 years old). Gesink is 6 and a half minutes down on him, Schlecks for the taking this on.
As usual the Time Trial is run in reverse order, meaning Grabsch goes first. And prompty sets the fastest overall time (Duh!)
Today will be an opportunity for some pride to be salvaged (Team Sky I'm looking in your direction!) and for others to ease their way through to prepare for tomorrows sprint.
Grabsch time is beaten by Tony Martin, who held the top spot in the Prologue for most of the day.
He can be pleased that none of the 26 people above him were faster, and he has shed his Lantern Rouge position, he was 5 minutes quicker than the guy above him!
Tony Martin only holds onto the top spot for a few riders before Spartacus (Cancellara) beats it. He's not World Time Trial Champion for nothing you know!
Cancellara powers over the line in a fraction over 1 hr (stage distance was 52km so that's, erm, 52km/h then!) beating Tony Martin by 17seconds! By the way 52km/h is 31.2mph!! Awesome!!
As the rest of the riders cross the line Cancellara's time looks increasingly safe, especially since the conditions are deteriorating.

David Millar crosses the line 4 minutes 20 seconds over Cancellara's time, a good ride from the broken and bruised Garmin rider.
Geraint sets a blistering pace through the checkpoints 4th at the first, 5th at the second and eventually coming in 3 minutes and 33 seconds down on Cancellara. A very respectable time that puts him easily in the top ten currently. Winds beginning to pick up as well.
Wiggo's out of the start gate and making smooth progress, third fastest at the first check.
Second check shows he's slowed up a bit down to eight fastest.
Wiggo comes in and has crossed the line 5 seconds faster than Geraint! They lie 9th and 10th and with the wind picking up they are likely to stay there! Go Team Sky!
Manchov, Sanchez, Contador and Schleck are all out on the road chasing down the time gaps.
By the first check point Menchov has already overtaken Sanchez for third place, its looking a bad day in the saddle for Sanchez, his 21 second lead gone in just 18km. Poor Sammy.
Schleck approaches the first checkpoint, 23 minutes 10 seconds, 39 seconds slower than Menchov, but no ones bothered about that, they are looking for Contador..........
who crosses the 6 seconds SLOWER than Schleck
Yes 6 seconds slower
Contador now has a 2 second lead, Schleck is having the Time Trial of his life!!
Game On
Menchov thunders over the line 13 seconds slower than Geraint, a brilliant ride and 11th on today's stage has surely secured him 3rd place. He was so quick he over took Van den Broeck in the finishing straight. He started 3 minutes ahead of Menchov!!!!!
Sanchez wheezes over the 2m minutes slower than Menchov, he looks exhausted and gutted, so close yet so far.
Just Schleck and Contador left out there and Contador has had to put the hammer down. Schleck is pushing him all the way. Contador is beginning to panic a little and is showing the strain. Will he crack?
No. The next checkpoint has him up by 4 seconds on the day, giving him 12 seconds overall. Has Schleck set off too fast?
Schleck looks tired and like he has given it his all as he crosses the line in 1 hour 7 minutes and 10 seconds, 6 minutes 14 seconds slower than his team mate Cancellara.
Contador has done it!
He crosses the line in 1 hour 6 minutes and 39 seconds. He finishes up 39 seconds ahead of Schleck, 31 seconds gained on the stage.
39 seconds rings a bell though, where have I seen that before...................stage 15 per chance.
Incredibly Contador has won the Tour by the exact margin he gained back and over Schleck on the slopes of the Tourmalet on Stage 15 in the Chain-gate saga.
Seriously you couldn't write this stuff!
Amazing! In my book that makes Schleck the winner if you follow the logic that Contador shouldn't have attacked. Oh well I'm sure that debate will rumble on and on whilst Schleck has that rarest of things in cycling; the moral high ground!
For excitement today's stage has epitomised the Tour as a whole, twists and turns to the end. Can the final stage sprint offer the same excitement?

Stage 20: Longjumeau > Paris Champs-Elyesees: Sunday 25th

As is tradition, the stage starts with lots of photo opportunities, the Yellow Jersey's team with champagne, the Jerseys together, Team Jersey winners together etc.
Lance Armstrong seems to be in the spirit of things when his Team Radioshack come out wearing special black and yellow Livestrong Jerseys to celebrate their team win and Armstrongs Livestrong Cancer foundation. A noble cause to highlight the estimate 28 million cancer suffers worldwide.
Except the Commissaires don't see it that way. Orders are given to change back into their normal jerseys and the stage is delayed by 15 minutes as this happens.
Lance resists but eventually has to change, Lance 0 Commissaires 1
Once again the Commissaires use the opportunity to flex their muscle to show the Peleton who's boss, this time it's a cancer charity feeling the brunt. Well done you must be so proud our yourselves you blinkered, moronic imbeciles. That's one thing I've not enjoyed this year, but enough on that.
Quaffing of champagne and jersey swapping over the real business of hauling in the inevitable break and launching the sprinters gets under way.
Today's stage is the shortest in the Tour at 102km. Once over the line it will bring up a not insignificant 3642km over 3 weeks. That's 2185miles in 20 days (109 miles per day, the equivalent of London to Bournemouth everyday!!)
More Radioshack problems, the Commissaires (argh just go away already!!) aren't happy with their race numbers, they've had to stop to pin them on. Mean while the Peleton slows to allow them to catch up.
Schleck and Contador have a little lark around on the front with a pretend break away and then Schleck has a mechanical and has to swap bikes. Contador waits for him. Oh the irony!!
Anyway as per normal not a lot happens until they hit the cobbles and loops of the Champs-Elyesees
Finally some action! Into the first lap a mini break away goes off the front, 6 riders looking to spoil the sprinters party?
This one is soon reeled back in but another goes with 10 men in it. The mini breaks are eating up all the intermediate sprint points available meaning it will go down to the stage win to decide the Green Jersey!
The break get 25 seconds clear of the hard chasing Peleton, lead by Cav's HTC team, who also have one man tactically in the break.
3 laps to go and the gap is falling, it's going to be a sprinters day surely?
Yup with 6km to go on the final lap the whole field is together again.
Team Lampre are trying to get Petacchi to the front and Cervelo are moving Hushovd up but HTC are keeping control for now.
Its all going to come down to the last sequence of turns the quick left right. Get in a good position through them and you have the advantage. Team Sky have come to the front Geraint and Wiggo doing good pacey stints on the front for Boasson Hagen.
Going into the final corner each of the top riders has their lead out man ahead of them to slingshot them to the finish.
Hushovd goes followed by Petacchi, Cav starts to accelerate on the outside......
Cav pulls clear with 15m to go.

CAV WINS THE STAGE FOR THE SECOND YEAR RUNNING!!!

Another emphatic victory for Cav!! The Manx Missile was unstoppable as he shot through from behind Hushovd and Petacchi. 5 stage wins this year and second place in the Green Jersey are a huge coup considering he had such bad form in the first week. With 15 stage wins in the Tour to his name he is easily going to get up there in the most ever stage wins top 10 if he carries on sprinting like he does! Unstoppable!!
The Manx Missile has had a really mixed Tour and still come away with 5 stage wins and almost got the Green Jersey. He's got to be happy with that, it's been emotional for him.
So to round it all up:
Team Astana's Alberto Contador takes the Yellow Jersey from Andy Schleck by 39 seconds.
Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank takes the White Young Riders Jersey.
Anthony Charteau takes the King of the Mountains Polkadot Jersey.
Alessandro Petacchi takes the Green Jersey.
Lance Armstrong's Radioshack Team take the Team Jersey.
Mark Cavendish takes the most individual stage wins with 5 this year.
Sylvain Chavanel rounds off a successful Tour for the French by taking the Combative Jersey for the most attacking rider.
Wow what a Tour it's been, full of excitement, controversy, thrills and spills, and thankfully thus far untainted by drugs speculation mid tour, although Armstrong and Petacchi have court summons to attend to........
Bring on next years Tour, I'm going who's up for joining me.........

Tension on Le Tourmalet.

Previously mentioned a few posts back was the idea of a 'brown jersey' competition for the worst/unluckiest rider in the Tour. It was an idea from the women's Tour where it exists already, maillot malchance.
Well my older brother came up with some more ideas for jerseys, so i thought I'd share his ideas.....
.........and claim the credit!

Maillot Brun/Malchance: Given to the unluckiest rider
Nominations: Lance Armstrong/Robbie McEwan

Maillot roue de la fortune:
Best bike part related incident.
Nominations: Rui Costa (see earlier post)
Andy Schlecks chain for coming off and costing him the Tour.
Sylvain Chavanel for two bike swaps on the cobbles costing him the Yellow Jersey.

Maillot Plume: Best animal intervention:
Nominations: David Millar for crashing due to a dog
Team Astana for almost running down some sheep on Col du Tourmalet

Maillot Combattant: Most aggressive rider
Nominations:
Rui Costa for brandishing a wheel
Mark Renshaw for head-butting Julian Dean
Julian Dean for elbowing Renshaw

Other possible jersey's are the Maillot Richard Tete: jersey for the dumbest spectator incident (mainly relating to the incident mentioned below)
The Maillot Meconnu hero: the unsung hero jersey, I definately nominate Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara for this!

Anyway the Maillot Richard Tete holder is Robbie McEwan for this reason: (quote from Procycling site)

"Being in the gruppetto?" he asked rhetorically. "[On Stage 12 to Mende] I was with one other bloke – that's not a gruppetto. F***king alone every day, I've hardly been in the gruppetto. [Stage 12], it was me and Bert Grabsch for 120k, just two of us.

"I've had two bad crashes, lost a lot of blood in the first one because I severed a small artery – the UCI anti-doping people said they could see it in my blood profile that I'd lost a hell of a lot of blood. After that, I was given a tetanus vaccination at the hospital which I told them I didn't need; they slid it in there without me knowing, which gave me fever for four days, so I'm absolutely f***king terrible just as I started to feel better.

"That dickhead jumped out in front of me and ran into me after Stage 6 – that's when I hurt my back. Since then, it's just been suffering day after day, trying to make the time limit. When it's flat, I've been trying to sprint, but maybe sprinting at 70, 75 percent because my whole right side's blocked; my hip, my leg and my back are all black and blue. So it's been far from enjoyable."

As you will have read before I am a great advocate of the job these guys do day in day out. This year seems to have been especially tough for the Peleton.
Anyway onto stages 17 and 18

Stage 17: Pau > Col du Tourmalet: Thursday 22nd

You get the feeling that the organisers had planned it to all come down to the final mountain stage. As a fitting tribute to the centenary of the Pyrenees, Andy Schleck needed to make the most of the Col du Tourmalet ascent to get the yellow jersey back and put time into Contador.
However before that there was the small matter of the Col de Marie-Blanque, a 9.3km category 1 climb (7.6%) and the Col de Soulor and 11.9km climb at 7.8%, also category 1.
The stage ends at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, a Hors category 18.6km slog @ 7.5%
So a tough day ahead for the Peleton, not a nice day for the remaining sprinters, who must surely be yearning for the flat stage tomorrow. A difficult day for those carrying injuries as well with a lot of rocking about on the bike on the mountain ascents.

The stage starts with a nice change in the weather, wet and cold, after days of sun and heat, this could be seen as welcome......unless you have to descend from 2 category climbs in it!
It remains to be seen whether Denis Menchov will be descending like an old lady on a shopping bike ala last year or whether he's improved and can stay up right. If his form so far is anything to go by he'll be fine. Definitely need to keep an eye on that battle between him and Sammy Sanchez for 3rd place.

On another note the King of the Mountains will be decided on today's stage, a straight fight between two Frenchmen, Christophe Moreau, the oldest man in the race at 39 (yes even older than Lance!!) and Anthony Charteau.

The early break is allowed to go and Team Sky have two riders in it!! Boasson Hagen and Flecha. Well done Team Sky so good airtime awaits IF it can stay away, which is unlikely.
Sammy Sanchez takes a big smash and looks to be out sparko! Could this hand Menchov 3rd place?
The Peleton slows to allow Sanchez to ride back (Contador take note, that's the way it's done), he appears to be winded but still functioning, just grimacing a lot.
Due to this the break away gets up to 9 and a half minutes on the Peleton.
By the summit of the Col de Soulor the break is beginning to get reeled in. Interestingly the King of the Mountains points only go to the first 8 riders so the break will eat them all leaving the standings as they were.
Astana are driving hard on the front, some mountain sheep scramble up and run across the road, almost catching the riders unaware. That could have been dangerous especially for Contador, seems his luck was in today.
The break away hits the slopes of the Tourmalet and Boasson Hagen is swift unhitched. He's done very well considering he's a sprinter by nature. Good tour for him thus far. The Peleton is reducing the gap down to 4 minutes as they ascend the mountain.
Schleck is driving the Peleton on using his Saxo Bank team mates to great effect. Cancellara is absolutely giving it everything, so much so that when he peels off the front he almost comes to a complete standstill on the road. LEGEND.
The Peleton has been decimated by the pace and is scattered over the mountain. Its now just the leading few riders for the last 11km of climbing.
Bang! Schleck gives a spurt of acceleration and Contador follows him, everyone else is blown away.
Just Schleck and Contador locked into a duel up the Tourmalet.
The last of the break away are caught by the leading duo. Schleck still upping and changing the pace as they climb through the clouds (literally).
Further down the slopes Sammy Sanchez has hauled is bruised and broken body up to Menchov with the help of some team mates. The battle for 3rd is alive again.
Schleck is continuing to ride varying tempo's as Contador dutifully follows him up the mountain. Schleck is staring at Contador and saying things to him, are mind games coming into play, is he goading him?
Contador attacks!
Obviously something Schleck said rattled him, Schlecks back on his wheel with a few seconds though and normal service resumes.
A tired looking Contador is holding onto Schlecks wheel whilst Schleck ups his pace again.
Schleck emerges from the mist and cloud to see the finish line. Contador doesn't really contest the stage win, and rightly so, he's done no work today.
A valiant effort by Schleck but Contador still holds an 8 second lead.
Sammy Sanchez comes in 5th and has managed to take another 8 seconds advantage over Menchov, magnificent riding considering he was horizontal early on. He increases his lead by 21 seconds over Menchov.
Menchov comes in along side team mate Gesink, with Radioshack's Chris Horner coming in just behind after an excellent ride to put him 10th in the GC. Nicholas Roche is also right up there, as is Van Den Broeck.
Even Armstrong has had a good day, coming in 17th just 4 minutes down on the two leaders.
The Brit's fair less well however.
Wiggo comes in 88th 23 minutes down and Geraint 114th 29 minutes down.
Cav comes in 165th near the back and David Millar dragged himself across the line second from last 32 minutes after the leaders. One rider pulled out early on in the stage so only 171 remain.
The King of the Mountains jersey was won by Charteau as neither of them scored any points today!
A calm sprinters stage tomorrow, we get to see just who's made it over the mountains and still has enough left to sprint!

Stage 18: Salies-de-Bearn > Bordeaux: Friday 23rd

The Tours most visited city also signals the end of the mountains and the beginning of the sprinters dual.
A flat stage with no hills and two sprint points, most likely to be taken by the inevitable break away.
The early break goes and only 4 riders are in it, no one particularly note worthy.
David Millar spoke to the press earlier, currently lying 161st out of 171 riders he's had a torrid Tour:
"It's horrific, I've hated it. It's been miserable. I just want to get to Paris. Once I get to Paris I'll enjoy it, but at the moment it's just been excruciating. I am in no physical shape for Saturday's time trial. I'll do it at 100% but there won't be a result, not a hope. Finishing here is the number one goal, in whatever state that is."
The break have a 3 minute lead and its staying around that.
Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are out on the course today, not sure why, but the only thing interesting in the bulk of today's stage. No ones even crashed today!
50km to go and the TV cameras are on Cav who's in a jovial mood as he pretends to crack a whip at the Peleton to hurry them up. Guess who my moneys on for the stage win then!
Contador has had to change bike due to a mechanical, now why couldn't that happen in the time trial tomorrow?
Schleck has been to the doctors car for some treatment for, ahem, saddle sores! Ouch!
Reda of Quikstep abandons leaving 170 riders, from the 196 that started (one dropped out before the Prologue!) 26 couldn't take the pain!
Daniel Oss has broken off the front of the break, as the gap is rapidly reducing. The sprinters want this.
Wiggo is doing a stint on the front for Team Sky's Boasson Hagen. HTC, Lampre, Milram and Cervelo are all jostling around the front end ready for their respective sprinters to be led out.
Just inside the last 2km Oss is swallowed up by the Peleton, he'd been away for 176km of the days 198km, a cracking effort by the young rider.
Petacchi, Dean, Hushovd, Cav and Boasson Hagen are all around the front, not many team mates or lead out men left. How Cav must be missing Renshaw in a situation like this.
At 275m to go Pettachi bursts out of the pack swiftly followed by Cav.
Cav's power takes him past Pettachi, and past the other sprinters to take his 4th stage of the Tour and his 14th so far in his Tour career.
Victory for Cav!
Dean takes 2nd, Pettachi finishes 3rd ahead of McEwan in 4th and Boasson Hagen in 6th. Hushovd finishes a lowly 14th thus taking the Green Jersey competition down to the Champs-Elysees.
The rest roll in en-mass (139 riders including David Millar all get +0 seconds)
Wiggo and Oss roll in a minute late after expending their energy earlier and Jesus Hernandez rounds the bunch off 6 minutes later.

So just the time trial to come and then the roll into Paris and there's still all to play for in the Green Jersey, Team competition, GC and battle for the podium.
Final words from stage winner Cav
"I wasn’t sure if I was going to even start the stage. I’ve been sick the last four days with bronchitis – actually, there are a hell of a lot of guys in the peloton with the same thing so I’m not only one. But I finally had the fever yesterday and I was dead last night and never thought I could start today. We decided, ‘Oh, okay I’ll go. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t…’ Even during the stage, I was speaking with Brad [Wiggins] and he said, ‘Are you sprinting today?’ And I told him, ‘Yeah.’"
"when I saw Pettachi go, I thought b****cks I've left it too late again"

The time trial awaits and all will change, trust me!!

Chains, chances and cowardice.

Today is the final rest day so it's time to recap the previous two stages and look forward to the final few days of the 2010 Tour.

Stage 15: Pamiers > Bagneres-de-Luchon: Monday 19th

When you look at a profile of this stage you begin to wonder if doing the Pyrenees towards the end of the Tour was designed to inflict as much suffering on the tired riders as possible. Yet this stages is easier than tomorrows on paper.
A leisurely category 4 climb 30km then a sprint point get the riders off to an easy start. Then come two of the legendary Pyrenean climbs, Col de Portet-d'Aspet (Category 2, 5.8km@6.8%) then a descent to base of the Col des Ares (again a category 2, 6.1km@4.7%). This is followed by a sprint point (as if a sprinter will be out front by then!!) and finally the formidable 1755m high Port de Bales followed by a rapid descent to the finish.
Any time gained on the final climb, which incidentally is Hors Category (toughest 19.3km@6.1%), will almost certainly be kept to the finish (barring crashes etc)
The usual break away attempts are reeled in before they get too far, even Contador and Astana make a cheeky attempt but Saxo Bank reel them in before the first climb.
Amongst the first over the smaller climb are Hushovd and Petacchi, both battling hard over the sprinters Green jersey and after the maximum points at the fast approaching sprint point.
Ironically enough they mop up the King of the Mountains points by being first over, not that they have many to add to.
At the sprint point Petacchi and Hushovd aren't up the front, instead Pineau, King of the Mountains contender takes some points, in a bizarre reversal of competitions. Maybe he was a bit miffed at them taking points in the climb earlier!
Final a break away succeeds and pulls out 1minute 50 on the Peleton. No GC contenders in there, only name of note is Thomas Voeckler, French Champion and previous yellow Jersey wearer in 2004 for 9 stages!
They continue to put time into the Peleton, 7minutes 15seconds up by the summit of the Col de Portet-d'Aspet, and 11minutes by the early slopes of the Port de Bales.
Saxo Bank, with Astana in close attendance, put the hammer down on the lower slopes as the gap to the break starts tumbling.
As the break hit the 10% gradient section Voeckler kicks and surges away. He holds a six minute gap to the Peleton at the summit, the win is as good as his now.
Further down the slopes Schleck takes the chase and Contador, Menchov and Sanchez follow. The group are taking it in turns and working well to reel in the escapees.
Schleck is sitting behind Contador in the midst of the group when Contador looks over his left shoulder and Schleck blasts past him on his right, catching him out completely.
Immediately gaining several metres on the pack only one person follows the acceleration, its and Astana rider but it's Vino not Contador. Yes he's got the gap!

Crunch, back wheel hops up in the air.

The sheer force of the attack has caused Schleck's chain to jump off. Contador seizes the opportunity and Menchov and Sanchez join him in accelerating past the unfortunate Schleck.
It takes to attempts to put the chain on properly and once again Schleck is on his way, adrenalin coursing through his body, anger stoking the fire of injustice deep in side.
Contador, Sanchez and Menchov are really putting the hammer down. They get up to 30 seconds ahead of Schleck.
Meanwhile Schleck is riding like a man possessed, scything through the riders who passed him, Armstrong is left looking very pedestrian as Schleck sprints past him and the rest of that group.
Schleck begins his descent, dropping like a stone down the mountain, overtaking motorbikes and anything in his wake. Gaining 10 seconds on the group ahead, it looks like he might breach the gap but the group ahead are taking turns to work and the gap begins to stretch.
Schleck is descending without help chasing the group and ultimately begins to slow his pace.
By the time he crosses the line he's lost 39 seconds to Contador, the Yellow Jersey is now Contadors by 8 seconds.
Contador steps up to the podium to collect his Yellow Jersey to a deafening chorus of boos.
Schleck passes him on his way up to receive the White Jersey and whispers something in Contadors ear.
And there is the origins of what became known as 'Chaingate'
So what's the big deal?
There is an unwritten rule in the Tour that you don't attack the respected Yellow jersey position if they have had a mechanical incident, puncture or crashed.
If you look back to the reign of Lance Armstrong, this was shown with him waiting for his arch rival Jan Ullrich when he'd crashed over some barriers on a descent. The favour was returned by Ullrich the following year after Armstrong went down having caught his handlebars on a fans bag.
Its a question of respect, sportsmanship, and decency.
You are not expected to stop dead merely to not take advantage of the Yellow Jersey's misfortune.
Contador broke that rule, smashed it to pieces.
He then had the audacity to claim he didn't see Schlecks problem. Video replays show him watching Schleck intently, as he has done for days, he knew exactly what he was doing.
His lies only further isolated him from the public, and Schleck, forcing him to issue a hasty apology over YouTube. The tainted Yellow Jersey now in the hands of a rider feeling a little bit guilty and embarrassed having been 'forced' by his team to apologise as a PR damage limitation exercise.
Schleck has the moral high ground, is a likeable racer and a genuine guy from what I've read.
Contador is equally as genuine but has a ruthless streak, is a competitive racer and the best in the world. He knew that he was suffering when Schleck attacked and he knew he needed as much time as he could get to stay ahead.
For me Schleck is riding better than Contador, and Contador chose the cowards way to the top, kicking a man while he's down.
Whether Schleck can put enough time into Contador to get the Yellow Jersey and keep it to Paris is debatable but I am routing for him all the way. At least it will prove there is a sense of justice in sport. Maybe.
The whole incident has split the Peleton and many view it from the other perspective as that's just the way it is. The sport of cycling has enough of a battle to win over the public after years of drugs and doping controversies, sticking to the traditions and unwritten rules bring it an air of decency and gentlemanly conduct. To lose that would tarnish the sport in my opinion.
Anyway tomorrow is another day and another mountain......

Stage 16: Bagneres-de-Luchon > Pau: Tuesday 20th

Today's stage sees the Peleton ascend immediately up a category 1 climb, the Col de Peyresourde (11km@7.4%) the descending into the valley and straight up the Col d'Aspin, another category one (12.3km@6.3%).
They descend down the other side to the foot of the Col de Tourmalet, starting the 17.1km Hors category climb (7.3%) up to the Jacques Goddet memorial at the summit.
At 2115m above sea level it's the highest point on the Tour and they are due to finish at the top on Thursday stage. Goddet was the Tour director for many years and set up the famous French sports paper L'equipe.
Then its a rapid and technical descent to the start of the Col d'Aubisque a punishing Hors category climb of 29.2km (4.2%) but with false descents and technical sections.
Finally its a rapid 62km descent down to Pau, 210m above sea level.
Yesterday saw a Team BMC rider withdraw halfway through the stage and today saw a Rabobank rider and
Team Footon-Servetto's leader Iban Mayoz withdraw. The rider fractured 3 ribs in a heavy fall yesterday, was already suffering slight pneumonia and a haematoma to the skin covering his right kidney.
Possibly the unluckiest team, they lost one of their quicker riders in a nasty crash in the Prologue in Rotterdam, another to a crash on the descent of Morzine, and another suffering from strong bronchitis.
Who said professional sports men weren't tough!!
Anyway onto the stage:
Wiggo, Armstrong, Sastre and Vino get into an early break up the first climb and pull out half a minute on the Peleton, extending to a shade over a minute by the first descent.
Jens Voigt has a nasty looking crash on the descent, could be a Tour ender that one!
The Peleton, with Team Astan on the front, begin to reel in the break away by upping their pace.
The results of this leave a string of riders all over the Col d'Aspin. its going to be a very long day for some riders.
At the foot of the Col de Tourmalet Armstrong and Casar are the only two riders clear, everyone else having been swallowed up by the hard charging Peleton.
Several other riders bridge the gap from Peleton to break away Cunego, Fedrigo and Moreau amongst others.
After descending the Col de Tourmalet the break away are up to 7 minutes ahead of the quiet and calm Yellow Jersey group.
Moreau picks up some valuable King of the Mountains points, taking the competition down to the final climb of the Col de Tourmalet tomorrow. Could the oldest man in the tour,at 39, take the King of the Mountains Jersey at the last minute?
As they descend towards the finish in Pau, Barredo, involved in a fight early in the tour, breaks and goes for the solo win from 42km out. Slowly he extends his lead then sees it reduced quickly and is caught with 1km to go.
Its going to be down to a good old fashioned sprint between the escapees after all that. Has Armstrong got the energy or will Cunego steal the stage win?
Armstrong kicks late but has nothing left and Fedrigo takes the stage win ahead of Casar with Armstrong in 6th.
6 minutes and 45 seconds later the Yellow Jersey group rolls in, Wiggins and Geraint amongst them.
The majority of riders roll in en-mass 34 minutes and 48 seconds later with the last rider officially being Britain's Jeremy Hunt 172nd
So an uneventful stage for the Yellow Jersey and GC contenders, Armstrong denied his swansong and a well deserved restday tomorrow (well today in real time) for the riders.
So lets see where the Brit's are
Wiggo: 21st: +17 minutes, 44 seconds
Geraint: 60th: +1 hour, 33 minutes, 12 seconds
the remainder are all over 3 hours down,
Steve Cummings: 152nd
Cav: 154th
Millar: 159th
Daniel Lloyd: 163rd
Jeremy Hunt: 165th
The Lantern Rouge is Bert Grabsch 4 hours down (give or take 5 minutes or so).
Unseen on the TV footage and commentary Jens Voigt had a nasty accident on the first descent of the day, as one of my favourite riders and a real character I thought I'd include his thoughts on it....
”I'm doing 70km an hour on the first descent when my front tire explodes. Before I hit the asphalt I actually manage to think that this is going to hurt. Both knees, elbows, hands, shoulders and the entire left side of my body were severely hurt. My ribs are hurting but hey, broken ribs are overrated anyway. Fortunately, I didn't land on my face this time and I'm still alive. I was however offered a ride on the truck that picks up abandoned riders but I'm not going to quit another Tour de France. Now, there's a rest day and Paris is not that far away,”

These guys are real men, hero's. This has been one of the toughest Tours in recent memory and yet they ride on with all manner of injuries. Nutters!

Every second counts........maybe

Having left the pain that was the Alps behind them, the riders transition across to the Pyrenees in the last few days of week 2.
So far by the end of stage 14 today, the riders have been in the saddle for a minimum of 68 hours, covered 2728.4km (1695.4miles!!) and ascended to heights over 2000m above sea level.
The distance is the equivalent of cycling from London to Bucharest, the Romanian capital!
That's quite some achievement in my opinion!

Stage 12: Bourge-de-Peage > Mende: Friday 16th

A nice mixed stage with some category 3 climbs, some category 2 climbs, some sprint points, finishing in a short 3.1km category 2 climb with a gradient of nearly 10% in places.
Early breaks are reeled in quickly and young Geraint Thomas hits the deck but dusts himself off and carries on.
A break of 18 riders goes clear, none particularly significant to the lead, with the exception of Vinokourov, Astana team mate of Contador and ex-doper.
As they hit the final climb the bunch are more or less all togother, with Vino and one or two others out front still.
Halfway up the climb Contador catches Schleck napping and accelerates up the steepest section chasing Rodriges who broke away. Pulling away from him he takes on Rodriges in the sprint to the finish overtaking Vino but ultimately losing the stage to Rodriges.
Schleck comes in 10seconds later, meaning Contador has trimmed his lead down to just 31seconds.
Also amongst the Schleck group were Menchov, Sanchez and Gesink all in the top 10 in the GC
Wiggo comes across the line in 14th in the next bunch losing 31seconds on the stage winner.
Geraint comes in 5minutes after Wiggo and Cav and Millar come in together over 12minutes after the leaders.
Not a good day for Schleck, Team Sky, or the Brits.
Ironically enough the Garmin sprinter Tyler Farrar, who was involved in the incident that got Mark Renshaw expelled, retires from the race through injury picked up early on. He broke his wrist on stage 2 or 3!!
Sami Domoulin failed to even start the stage withdrawing citing fatigue after the previous days stage.
Tomorrow is a bit of an easier day with nothing more testing than a couple of category 3 climbs, dare i say it a sprint finish for Cav?

Stage 13: Rodez > Revel: Saturday 17th

Next year I think they should introduce a jersey for the unluckiest rider (as they have in the womens Tour, the Malchance jersey). Maybe make it brown (like the AG2R Mondial teams shorts)
Anyway this years runaway winner would be Lance Armstrong, strengthening his hold on the jersey by crashing in the neutral zone today.
The 'neutral zone' is as it sounds, the zone from the start town out to the wider roads where racing is prohibited by virtue of them having to follow the referees car.
Unlucky Lance!!!
Anyway onto today's stage the breaks come and go as is the norm.
With 8km to go a group splinters off the front with a minimal lead. In there is yesterdays escapee, Vinokourov, and Nicholas Roche sport the beautiful team colours above. The Peleton is closing them down at pace with the sprinters teams on the front.
Cav's HTC team are doing the lion's share of the work with Lampre assisting along with Milram.
Vino breaks off from his fellow escapees and powers to a resounding victory, hopefully not drug fuelled this year!!
The Peleton is winding up for the bunch sprint and Cav takes a useful 2nd place ahead of Petacchi and Boasson Hagen. If you take Vino out of the frame that's a remarkably similar top three to previous sprint stages.
The Brits Geraint and Wiggo roll home in the Peleton and the others filter in later, having done their relative domestique duties.
Only one withdrawal on the stage from the Cofidis rider Taaramae. 175 riders remain for tomorrows stage.

Stage 14: Revel > Ax 3 Domaines: Sunday 18th
Welcome to the Pyrenees!
Todays stage starts slowly and ambles along nicely with sprinters points up for grabs early on.
From the second sprint point 102km in the road slopes gently upwards, building up to the uncategorised (very very steep) ascent up the Port de Pailheres.
Now in terms of steepness its a 30km climb from 400m up to the summit 2001m an ascent of 1600m!!
Savage is an understatement!
From the off a break goes away and is reduced from 12 to 5 riders, including Geraint. They get up to 4minutes over the 'Peleton', rising to over 10minutes once Radioshack slow the chase.
Why, well its all about the team competition, Radioshack lead but their closest rivals had a man in the break so were chasing it till he dropped off......
As they approach the climb the break is being reeled in by Team Astana, a 5minute gap won't be enough to see the break survive.
Halfway up the climb Geraint slips off the back of the breakaway, won't be long before the pack swallows him up. Noble effort Geraint, some Sky coverage at last!
Mean while the soldier that is David Millar slips off the back of the Peleton. Hang in David, you can do it!
Schleck takes the unusual step of returning to the team car to collect food and water, an odd move by the Yellow Jersey rider, one can only assume he is going back for some advice......
Christophe Riblon has moved clear of the break away group, as they approach the summit.
Wiggo gets dropped before the 'Peleton', what's left of it, reaches the summit and then descends like a man possessed to get back in touch.
Riblon hits the final climb, having dropped his one remaining rival, and has a gap of 2 and a half minutes.
Previous winner Carlos Sastre has broken from the Peleton to try and bridge to the leader Riblon. Gaps are appearing everywhere.
Vino then tries to bridge to the Sastre group and Gesink gets dropped off the Peleton as a result.
The battle for the 3rd place is hotting up with Samuel Sanchez and Denis Menchov matching each other's accelerations. Jurgen van den Broek is still in the mix as well.
Attack by Contador! As Vino slips back into the group Contador strikes out with a fierce acceleration, matched by Schleck all the way. The catch and pass Sastre like he's on the brakes!
Menchov and Sanchez accelerate and catch the sparring duo of Contador and Schleck.
Attack by Contador again matched by Schleck. Menchov and Sanchez yet again catch up in their own personal duel.
Schleck is almost at a standstill waiting for Contador to make a move. Virtually in a track stand position (balancing so as not to put a foot down but virtually static) they eyeball each other before Contador attacks and Schleck once again sits on his rear wheel.
Amazing stuff, by now the 'Peleton' of leading riders has overtaken them whilst they mess around.
These two just breeze past them all again, effortlessly and almost mockingly.
Menchov mean while has made a break for it at the front, pursued by Sanchez who is reeling him in slowly.
Riblon crosses the line for a brilliant solo win. He broke away very early in today's stage so a gigantic effort and brilliant stage victory for him and France.
Menchov and Sanchez cross the line together, gaining themselves 14seconds back on Contador and Schleck.
3rd place will have to be decided elsewhere, definitely a battle to watch though.
Menchov has been more aggressive than I've seen him at previous Tours, maybe the Silent Assassin (as he is known) has found his voice? About time after falling off a lot last year. That job is Armstrong's now. As a previous Giro d'Italia winner he's promised much but delivered little in previous Tour's.
Schleck and Contador finish in the same group with Schleck out sprinting them to the line. Trying to gain seconds or merely to show that there was plenty left in his legs?
Wiggo comes in with one other rider, 5minutes down. Its been a tough old day out there for the Brits. Geraint comes in with the bulk of the field, 15minutes after Riblon, and Millar comes in fractionally in front of the 'Autobus' (that's the group with all the sprinters and non mountain people. It chugs along at a slow pace and is always a large group. Safety in numbers). All the other Brits finish safely in the group Autobus 37minutes down on the day.

Port de Pailheres

So after all that the top two remain the same, 3rd and 4th remain the same but clawed back some time.
Wiggo drops to 18th place, Geraint is in 58th place and the Lantern Rouge is Anthony Roux.
More mountains tomorrow and the next day..........and the next day!
In fact they are due to climb the slopes of The Tourmalet mountain twice in successive stages, but that is for later.......

Aint no mountain high enough.....

So here we are the first real Alpine stage and the hardest to boot. With it being the centenary of the race going to the Pyrenees the mountain stages are favoured towards that them rather than the Alps. However this is still a formidable place to ride. Hopefully the riders will have taken advantage of the rest day and be ready for high tempo, high drama mountain climbing!
The rest day claimed several riders who spent the day assessing their injuries and deciding to slip out whilst they could. 5 failed to start Tuesday's stage:
Vladimir Karpets withdrew after cycling the last 6 stages with a broken hand. He said it was getting harder to grip the handlebars as the roads got steeper!
Roger Kluge of Milram is out with a broken hand as well, sustained in a crash on Sunday.
Simon Gerrans on Team Sky also pulled out after breaking his arm in a crash on Sunday, 7km into the stage. He then rode the remaining 182km up the mountains with said broken arm!
Tough guys these pro cyclists!!


Stage 9: Morzine-Avoriaz > Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne: Tuesday 13th
Stage 9 sees the riders do battle on the slopes Col de la Madeleine the hardest climb in the Alps this year. To give you an idea of just how brutal it is the riders have to ascend 1600m up in 25km to and altitude of 2000m above sea level.
The early break away was reduced down to 5 riders and by the time they reached the Col de la Madeleine they had a 5 minute advantage over the ever stretching Peleton.
With 40km to go Armstrong gets dropped and one by one the GC contenders get left behind. Novarro of Astana sets a quick pace and only his team mate Contador and Andy Schleck can match it.
Andy Schleck is in fine form sending wave after wave of attack at Contador. Samuel Sanchez makes the junction to them only to be dropped with another Schleck attack. Then it happens again, poor Sanchez is just tapping out a rhythm whilst Contador and Schleck mess around ahead of him.
With the break away extending their lead over the Yellow Jersey to nearly 8minutes they start the 30km descent. Contador and Schleck agree to work together and set off down the mountain at speed.
Sanchez is the solo chaser, pedalling furiously to try to catch Schleck and Contador.
Armstrong and Basso cross the summit and begin descending, no sign of Cadel Evans yet or any of Team Sky.
With 3km to go the break away is nearly 9minutes and 30seconds ahead of the Yellow Jersey.
They group of 4 (Moreau dropped off) as it is now begin to size each other up for the upcoming sprint.
Ahead of them are a few corners then the last corner before the line.
Unbeknownst to them Schleck, Contador and Moreau are closing in at a rate of knots.
Coming into the penultimate corner Schleck dives up the inside much to the other riders surprise.
Alas the break away riders out sprint Schleck and Contador, with Sandy Casar taking the win ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego. Samuel Sanchez threw his all into chasing Contador and Schleck but is paying the price. The poor lad looks exhuasted as he cruises over the line solo 52seconds behind.
Armstrong and Basso cross the line 2mintues and 47seconds after Casar, and Wiggo 5minutes
The Yellow Jersey of Cadel Evans crosses the line 8minutes down. Exhausted and emotional the weight of the Yellow Jersey was borne heavily by Evans who relinquishes to Andy Schleck.

In last place was Britains David Millar, 42minutes down having been out on the road for 6hours and 20minutes.
The reason why was revealed later, riding with ripped intercostal muscles round his ribs, his body was over compensating and the left side of his back was causing him pain, in turn over stretching his left thigh. So with the whole of his left side severely weakened he hit the Col de la Madeleine, the scene of his only retirement from the Tour in 2001. Already 30minutes down before the 25km climb and with 80km remaining, Millar found a second wind and dragged himself up the climb and hurled his broken body down the descent to finish the stage, remarkable given his condition and the fact he'd been riding solo for nearly 6 hours.


Stage 10: Chambery > Gap: Wednesday 14th
Happy Bastille Day everyone! Despite the usual plethora of French riders breaking away to gain vicotry on their most famous of days, this stage was last claimed by the froggies back in 1995! Will their luck be into today?
Standing in their way will be 3 big climbs, the toughest of which is a category 1 Col de Leffray a 7km with a 9% gradient.
After several failed attempts a four man break goes clear, joined a bit later by two more riders as they approach the Category 1 climb. With a 14minute lead over the Peleton in places the break away seems certain to stay away today.
With the spectacular final descent under their belts the escapees begin to attack each other. Sergio Paulinho of Radioshack claims the satge win by the width of a wheel rim from Vasil Kiryienka.
The peleton cruised in 14 minutes behind with the exception of Nicholas Roche. The Irish rider made a jump with a couple of km to go and pulled out nearly a minute on the Peleton, enabling him to leapfrog a few riders including Wiggo, and claim 15 place in the GC. Shrewd riding indeed.
David Millar finished at the back of the Peleton, happy to have an easier day than yesterday!

Stage 11: Sisteron > Bourg-les-Valence: Thursday 15th
Robbie Hunter withdraws from the race before the stage start, after breaking a bone in his elbow after a fall yesterday.
The first Brit to leave the Tour this year is Charlie Wegelius, after coming down with a stomach bug and unable to keep any food or drink in he has been withdrawn.
Now safely out of the Alps, this stage had sprinters written all over it.
Come to think of it every stage has sprinters and riders written all over it:
Still you know what I mean.
As per usual the early break went away but there was no chance the sprinters teams would let them stay out all day.
Saxo Bank have the Peleton stretched out as the crosswinds and headwinds wreak havoc. Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara once again doing the lions share of the work to keep Andy Schleck safe up front.
With 20km to go the Peleton haul in the remaining two from the early break and normal sprinting service is resumed as HTC head the pack.
With a few hundred metres to go Mark Renshaw is leading Cav out perfectly with Garmin coming up on the outside. Julian Dean the lead out rider for Tyler Farrar of Garmin shifts his weight towards Renshaw who responds by thrusting his head towards Dean. Four times this happens as Dean visibly leans on Renshaw and changes line, then they realise their respective riders.
Cav powers to a comfortable victory, his 3rd stage of this years Tour and his 13th Tour stage in total.
Behind him Renshaw sees Farrar coming up and shifts to block him and slow him, cynical and deliberate, no doubt seeking revenge for Dean's interference a moment before.
And thus the furore began.
The commissars decided that Renshaws actions were unacceptable and he was declassified from the results immediately, then they decided to expel him from the Tour entirely.
To quote the chief commissar moron, Jean-Francois Peschuex
"We've only seen the pictures once, but his actions are plain for all to see. This is a bike race, not a gladiator's arena."
Now don't get me wrong, Renshaw was out of order for blocking Farrar and that deserved a fine or declassification. But to throw him out, incidentally the first rider in 13years to be thrown out, for his reaction to a dangerous move by Dean, is a massive over reaction.
Its no secret that the comissaires don't like Cav, that was evident enough last year when he was penalised for shutting out Hushovd when it was the course that narrowed and Cav stayed on line. His declassification from the stage cost him the Green Jersey and it looks like the ruling today may well do the same.
The power tripping commissars obviously watched the replay on a fuzzy hand held TV somewhere because they seemed to have missed the infringement by Dean and run out of batteries to watch it a second time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L8VLgLX7AM

It remains to be seen what impact it has on Cav's Tour.
Tomorrow its a bit of a curve ball, normally an easier day between the Alps and Pyrenees, its set to be a tough one with numerous climbs scattered through the day. Maybe sees some major losses by the already suffering GC contenders who aren't called Schleck or Contador. Maybe the commissars will step in and go on a power trip again? Who knows?

Up, up, up and away.....

So yesterday was our first rest day in this years Tour, and a chance to reflect on the previous two stages in the mountains, especially stage 8.

Before I get onto the excitement of stages 7 and 8 a small addition to stage 6.
Unbeknownst to me, partly because I basking in the glory of another Cav win, was the fight that occurred after the main bunch crossed the line. It would appear that some where in the depths of the stage Spanish rider Carlos Barredo and Portuguese rider Rui Costa had a coming together, difference of opinion or perhaps it was the Spanish rider pointing out his countries superiority in the World Cup. Either way it resulted in a ruckus that wouldn't have been out of place in a WWF ring (yes I am aware it's WWE these days but I'm old school....)
Costa, in the blue corner, was clearly so aggrieved he took his front wheel out and attempted to fix it onto Barredo's head. Unsurprisingly after cycling for 227.5km he didn't manage to muster much strength and Barredo hit back with a left right combo and a mêlée ensued.
The Tour often throws up beautiful photos taken in the right place at the right time. This brawl proves that:

Photo: © Roberto Bettini

Stage 7: Tournus > Station des Rousses: Saturday 10th
The usual break away strikes out after a few km, with King of the Mountains, Jerome Pineau, out for maximum points over the days hills. Surprisingly most riders managed to stay upright and the main excitement was to be found in the yellow jersey, Fabian Cancellara, yo-yoing on and off the back of the Peleton. With several category 2 climbs on the route its no surprise to see him lose touch and find his yellow jersey threatened. With this knowledge Sylvain Chavanel, whom Cancellara reclaimed the yellow jersey from days earlier, set off from the front of the Peleton in search of the early break away members.
And he found them.
And overtook them all.
In a truely sensational ride he rode his way back into the yellow jersey he'd so cruelly lost on the cobbles.
A ride made all the more impressive when you consider he spent two weeks of April in a coma after fracturing his skull on the cobbles of the Paris-Roubaix race. Thats April THIS YEAR in case you were wondering!! I doubt even Cancellara is begrudging him his moment of glory.
As for the plucky Brit? Unfortunately young Geraint Thomas had a bad day on the hills and came in on his own at over 5minutes behind Chavanel.
Wiggo faired better and came in with the other GC contenders 1minute 47seconds behind Chavanel.
With Cancellara and Geraint suffering today, Cadel Evans moved up into second place. A genuine GC contender he only needs a minute and a half over Chavanel to claim the yellow jersey.
As we continue to head upwards stage 8 sees the true Alps come into play.
Two snippets for you to end on, they climbed nearly 1000ft today, and Stijn Vandenbergh is the first to be eliminated for being outside the time limit!

Stage 8: Station des Rousses > Morzine-Avoriaz: Sunday 11th
With a rest day fast approaching, stage 8 gives the riders an chance to give it all in the knowledge that they can rest and recuperate for longer. In theory.
In practice it was business as usual, with a slow speed crash disrupting the Peleton in the early km's. The King of the Mountains, Jerome Pineau was effected, as was Lance Armstrong, and Cadel Evans although not seriously.
Then Armstrong hit trouble at the exit from a roundabout and once again was on the deck.
I'm beginning to wonder if he's going to get a job as a Highways inspector after his retirement, such is his tendency to inspect the roads up closely, my job is not safe!!
Anyhow his team picked him up and paced him back to the Peleton, just in time for the category 1 Col de la Ramaz.
Only for him to be involved in yet another crash that forced him to stop and get off briefly.
Once in a stage is unfortunate, twice is unlucky, three times is a hint! One has to feel sorry for him though, whatever your views on the man, none of these were his fault and its a sad way to lose time in the Tour.
So with the finish at the top of the category 1 Morzine 1796m above sea level the main contenders start the gruelling 14km ascent together (800m altitude gain).
Wiggo manages to hold on to the pack until 3.6km to go but gets unhitched and is left to fight his way up the mountain solo.
With 1km to go the attacks started to come but the real one of note came at 700m to go.
Andy Schleck burst out from the middle of the group and accelerated up the road. Contador tried desperately to stay with him but couldn't and it was left to Samuel Sanchez, the Olympic Champion to challenge Andy for the win. After some trading of places Andy managed to time his burst to perfection and claim the stage win and put time into Evans, Contador and other GC contenders.
Chavanel suffered on the mountains and enabled Cadel Evans to claim the yellow jersey.
With a tough mountain stage out of the way, the Brits did not fair very well.
Wiggo dropped 1minute 45seconds on Andy Schleck, putting him 2minutes 45seconds behind the yellow jersey of Cadel Evans.
Geraint Thomas had a torrid day in the mountains, coming in 27minutes and 49seconds after Schleck, putting him down to 69th, 30minutes and 51seconds off the yellow jersey he was so close to a few days previously.
An honourable mention to Charlie Wegelius, who came in 6minutes 30seconds down on the leader, well ahead of Armstrong and lies 83rd currently.
David Millar has not enjoyed the mountains and subsequently lies in 117th nearly an hour down on the yellow jersey. All the Brits are still in the race though.
No retirements today and no one eliminated either.
181 riders go into the well deserved rest day.
Its been an exciting first 8 stages, no doubt stage 9 in the Alps will provide some drama then it's up to the Pyrenees to change the race!