Still hoping Home town rider/racer Ryder Hesjedal can make a good showing despite nursing sore ribs and a bruised back and neck. But he's grateful he's made it through the first nine stages.
Well, today is the first big test for the general classement guys. If anybody is weak or hurting, there will be no place to hide on the Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden.
Contador beaten, wow! Not much time lost for him, but still, he's way off his usual form. I don't think I've ever seen him like that.
I think Evans was a bit surprised (maybe also a bit annoyed) as it was clearly his tactic to sit on Contador's wheel as he and everyone else knew that Contador would have to go with the Schlecks because of the time he lost already. After Frank broke I think Evans was banking on Contador doing the bulk of the chasing and by the time he realised he'd have to do the work himself Frank had got a good lead, probably more than Evans wanted (though I'm sure even a second would be more than he wanted). I don't think the stage tonight ends with a climb and that there is a fair gap between the last climb and finish, which probably means we won't see anything major from the general classification riders. However, once we hit more mountain top finishes it will be interesting to see if Contador was just having a bad day or if his falls and Giro have sapped him a bit too much.
Yeah, today looks like a breakaway stage, although I think it's not impossible for some of the minor GC contenders to take back a little time on the descent (it's practically all downhill after the Aubisque) and certainly there's a chance to lose a lot of time for people who get dropped on the climb. If the breakaway doesn't have a big lead on the peak, maybe Gilbert for the win.
Glad Thor won, still new to the racing scene, but I became a fan of his back in 2009 when he went out and did the hard yards to win the green jersey. Today's stage should have plenty of fireworks from the GC riders. It will be interesting to see how that goes, especially with Contador.
Losers today: Schleckies for being cowardly little shits who make the race boring Winners today: Evans, Basso, Contador for not losing time to the Schleckies and Samu Sanchez for taking back a little time and of course Voeckler, who I've always liked but who now gives me a sick feeling in my stomach, because I don't believe in miracles anymore. Non-pharmaceutical miracles that is. If it's too good to be true, it's probably doping, in cycling.
I wouldn't say Contador is a winner. He was clearly not at his best, all he could do was following. He showed he was weak. Doping is everywhere in cyclism since a long looooong time, it's naive to think it's over and that only a few are doped. I'd rather say that Voeckler found the recipe the others were already using.
Technically they did lose 2 seconds to Andy. But it was surprising Contador did not attack once, even Evans attacked and he is the GC contender who least needs to do so at this stage. I can only remember one instance where he was the first to go after a move and it was the very first one. Maybe he's saving himself, there is a rest day on Monday so he might hit the Alps with a bit more force. Especially as one rider has already been kicked off the Tour this year for failing a dope test and the fact that there is that very nasty, dark cloud still over Contador from last year. Still don't understand why it hasn't been sorted out. Imagine what a farce it would be if Contador does end up winning only for the cycling body to have to strip him of it in a month's time.
Well, I don't want to be too negative, certainly hats off to Voeckler for still being in that position. Can you imagine the chaos on Alpe d'Huez if Voeckler is still in yellow before stage 19. I rooting for him just to see that happen. And if he keeps that 2 minute advantage to Evans, he's a favourite to win the whole thing, which would be beyond incredible.
Exciting stage. I thought nothing would happen today, but this is great stuff. Contador is back, and Voeckler again incredibly strong. eta: wow, another attack. Schlecks beaten? Voeckler too. eta2: what an interesting result. Massive win for Hushovd again; Contador is back and Evans the strongest he's ever been. Voeckler still looking good, but Andy is in trouble; Frank's looking better. If Evans can just hold on in the Alps, he could really win this.
I nearly missed the first attack as I didn't expect anything serious either. Big winners today are Evans, Contador and Sanchez. Big losers are Basso and the Schlecks. People said they didn't attack enough, maybe it was because they didn't have it in them? Contador is still a bit behind but his team has done absolutely nothing so far while Trek, BMC and Europcar have done the hard yards. He might not have as good a team as those ahead but fatigue might even it out. Another good win by Thor. He might no longer be really able to seriously challenge in the spirit finishes but he's shown courage to get his two wins this year.
Wow, what a stage, fuck. What drama, Andy doing a Landis, Evans pulling at the front, even Leipheimer attacking. And Voeckler just hanging onto yellow. The great champion cracking. Incredible.
Massive attack by Andy and he has gained back just about all his time. Evans gained a second or two, but Contador cracked and lost a further 1 1/2 mins. I don't understand why no one helped BMC after Andy attacked. Contador and Sanchez had people and their teams didn't do anything until Andy was 3+ minutes and climbing. They had to know they didn't have the legs to make up 4+ minutes. Those two have probably cost themselves a chance at the podium. Great chase by Evans, he just about halved Andy's advantage by the end by himself over the last 15Km. However, this effort might prevent him from winning given the tough stage tomorrow. Problem is as shown today is that the other contenders can't help and that means he has to fight with both Schlecks who are younger and better in the mountains. I'm really hoping he can keep them within 1 1/2 mins, any more I don't think Evans can chase down that.
Evans played it perfectly. He had no choice but to chase himself when all the other couldn't (Voeckler, Sanchez, Contador) or wouldn't (Frank, Basso). Letting Andy go was a gamble, but not unreasonable in hindsight. He doesn't give a shit about L'Alpe d'Huez (well, he probably does, but he doesn't have the legs to win it), the only thing he has to do tomorrow is not let Andy go and avoid losing more than a minute to Frank, then pull back the minute he's down on Andy in the TT. Easier said than done, he thought he could do it in 2008 too... But he's one of the winners of today's stage.
I think Basso is mostly at his limit too. He had a hard crash before the Tour which apparently fucked up his preparation or something. He's doing all he can under the circumstances. Maybe he could've done more, but Evans was going pretty fast anyway, so why waste his energy? Maybe he's going for the stage win today.