Stage 21- The End

The Stage 20 race to the top of the bald mountain didn't turn out to be as exciting as the race organizers had planned. Their intention was to turn the race upside down and really shake up the standings but it didn't quite happen that way. Don't get me wrong, it was an exciting Stage with plenty of breakaways, attacks and the kind of drama that makes the tdf such a great race, but there just wasn't the shake up the organizers were looking for. The first three riders to finish were the top three in the General Classification; Contador, Andy and Lance and that was that.

The Final Stage of the Tour is more for show than anything else as far as the GC is concerned, but can still be an important Stage for the sprinters. Mark Cavendish who had already won 5 Stages was looking for his 6 Stage win of the Tour and the opportunity to take the Green Sprint Jersey away from Thor Hushovd. And Thor just needed to finish in the top 16 to maintain the Green.

As the riders approached the finish, Team Garmin Slipstream made a push for their guy Tyler Farrar to win the Stage, but then who showed up to spoil the party? You guessed it, Big George Hincapie and he was riding for revenge. Extremely pissed about Garmin Slipstream's having taken away his opportunity to wear Yellow, George started the lead out for his teammate Cavendish, and rode like a man possessed. His attack was so powerful, it pushed Garmin back into the peloton where Farrar was only able to claim a 3rd place finish. Mark Cavendish won the Stage by a wide margin thanks to Hincapie's big push and Thor finished safely in 6th place keeping the Green Jersey.

The final standings for the GC looked like this...

1 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA
2 - Andy Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 4' 11"
3 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 5' 25"
4 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 6' 01"
5 - Frank Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 6' 04"
6 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 6' 42"

Now that the Tour is over, how did Lance do?



Watching Lance speak, I got the impression that he was relieved for the podium finish but not really happy with his personal performance. It's obvious from the tdf, Marathons, Triathlons and women that Lance is a competitor. And competitors are rarely 100% satisfied with their performances. The good news is, that's what drives them, and Lance will use surely use this as fuel for his return to the Tour again next year.



In my opinion, Lance did a phenomenal job. From his age, to his return to the Tour after a 4 yr retirement, to the fact that he broke his collar bone just 12 weeks prior to the Tour. He has done a lot for the sport of bicycle racing and much more for cancer research. The guy is an indomitable force and just his presence made this year's tdf something special. I don't think we should expect anything less for next year so let the count down begin.





Flash Countdown

Stage 18 - Thursday - Time Trial

The Time Trial is over and once again there has been a big shuffle in the leader board. Contador put forth an amazing effort and won the stage over the fastest man alive, Fabian Cancellara. Lance, Andy, Kloden and Wiggins all rode great as well, but it is Lance who has advanced himself into 3rd place overall. With only one real stage left on Saturday, Lance is looking good for a podium finish in Paris.

Here's the standings...

1 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA
2 - Andy Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 4' 11"
3 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 5' 25"
4 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 5' 36"
5 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 5' 38"
6 - Frank Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 5' 59"

Breaking News

Lance Armstrong will race the 2010 Tour de France!

Stage 16 & 17 - Tues/Wed - The Alps

The 96th running of the Tour de France has been impressive on many fronts, but none as impressive as Lance Armstrong. Lance has used the Alps to put on a clinic for the rest of the riders, which is amazing considering his departure from the sport for four years. I can't think of a single athlete who left their sport at the top of their game and then returned to compete almost exactly where they left off, especially after a three year hiatus. It's simply amazing.

I know what you're thinking...Lance couldn't hang on Stage 15...lost more time on Stage 16...and was dropped on Stage 17...what's so great about that?

Lance has admitted that he isn't as young as he used to be and can't match the explosive sprints of the younger mountain climbers. But he hasn't given up, when the attacks come, Lance lowers his head and works at his own pace to slowly but surely drag himself back into the leaders group. Granted, he had a bad day on Stage 15, but he was back in true form for Stage 16. When the big attack came on the second climb of the day, the leader group was blown apart and Lance was dropped as well. It looked like the 7 time TDF winner had had enough, but not so. He kept on his own pace while leading the remains of the peloton up the mountain. He was just bidding his time waiting for the moment to attack the small group in order to pull himself back into the Yellow Jersey group. Lance waited for a steep section of the climb prior to launching his attack. By doing so, it would be much more difficult for the others to follow. The tactic worked and Lance was able to leave the others in his wake, and bridged the 30 second gap on his own. Unheard of! As he joined the Yellow Jersey group Andy Schleck looked over at him and you could just see the look of "Jeez, where the heck did you come from?" across his face. Priceless!

And then came Stage 17, brilliant racing by the ultimate domestique! Contador has a substantial time lead over the other Astana riders which makes him the natural team leader. In order for the team to win, they must protect him and that's exactly what Lance did. The biggest threat to Contador is Garmin Slipsteam's Bradley Wiggins. After Stage 16, he was sitting comfortably in 3rd place, but being an excellent Time Trialist, Bradley was the biggest threat to the GC. When the explosive attack came on the final climb, Lance amongst others was dropped. But here's where it got tactical. Lance had the power to pull himself back up, albeit at a slower rate, but with Wiggins on his tail, doing so would favor Wiggins. And believe me, once you drop the Wiggins, you never want to see him again. So Lance was forced to sit on Wiggins tail and let him do the work. Unfortunately, this created a pretty big time gap between Lance and the Yellow Jersey group, but there was nothing Lance could do to stop it without jeopardizing Contador's lead. So Lance continued to look for the right opportunity to attack Wiggins and then the moment came. Lance attacked with a vengeance. Wiggins didn't stand a chance. The attack was so strong that Lance was able to bridge a minute and 20 second gap up to his teammate Andreas Kloden prior to the end of the stage.

Lance may not finish in Yellow this year but Wow!, what an athlete. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Time Trial.

The leader board is much different after Stage 17:

1 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA
2 - Andy Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 2' 26"
3 - Frank Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 3' 25"
4 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 3' 55"
5 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 4' 44"
6 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 4' 53"
13 - Carlos Sastre - TEAM CERVELO - 11' 39" (last year's tdf winner)
22 - Big George Hincapie - TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC - 25' 38"
32 - Cadel Evans - TEAM SILENCE-LOTTO - 37' 06" (GOODBYE)

Stage 16 - Tuesday - into the Alps

No racing yesterday as the riders enjoyed the final rest day of the tour. But today is a different story. We've finally made it to the Alps! Two massive climbs today, an HC followed by a category 1, and two fast and technical descents. No one descends like Lance, so if he's not called to help protect Contador and the lead, I'm looking for Lance to be aggressive today.

Tomorrow's stage should be just as exciting with four category 1 climbs and a cat 2 mixed in. The climbs won't be as high as Stage 16's but will definitely allow for plenty of attacks.

Following Thursday's Stage 17, will be the individual Time Trial over a relatively flat 40km course. Another discipline that favors Lance's powerful engine.

Friday's Stage 19 may turn out to be a race for the Sprinters, but Saturday is the MacDaddy climb of the Tour, Mont Ventoux. The riders legs will be dead after 100 miles of racing before the Mont Ventoux climb even starts. The finish will be a long 15 mile uphill battle to the top of Mont Ventoux (6273 feet). No rider has ever won this stage twice and Lance gifted the win to Pantani in 2000. Will it be Lance's turn this year? Will this be the climb that ices the Tour for Lance or will Contador still be on top?

The excitement will lead us right into the Champs-Elysees for the final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday. Let the drama begin!

Stage 15 - Is Lance done?

Has Lance conceded the Tour de France to Contador? From his comments after the steep climb to the finish on Stage 15, that may be the case. Once again, on the way to the top, Alberto Contador sprouted wings and left the others in his wake. Not even the young Andy Schleck, a mountain specialist, could catch Contador.

At 37, Lance may not have the legs he used to have. He couldn't answer Contador's attack and then couldn't answer the attacks that occurred after Contador flew the coup. However, during the end of race interview, Lance didn't seem to upset by the realization that Contador would be the Team leader. Lance said he would be happy to assist Contador in any way that he could and was also happy that Astana was sitting in first place. I didn't see any animosity or bitterness from Lance in the least.

Even with Levi's departure, Astana still sits in an excellent position overall. And with a distinct Team leader, they may be unstoppable. Should anything happen to Contador...a stick in the spokes, suffocates in his sleep, slips off a mountain, etc, Armstrong will be right there and ready to take over.

On a serious note, you never know when the strange can happen. During Stage 14, members of Team Garmin reported being hit by BB gun fire. And being a fan isn't any safer. A woman watching the Tour was run over by a police motorcycle and killed. Someone should have told her that it's safer to watch the Tour from the side of the road.

Here's the new leader board:

1 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA
2 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 1' 37"
3 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 1' 46"
4 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 2' 17"
5 - Andy Schleck - TEAM SAXO BANK - 2' 26"
6 - NOCENTINI Rinaldo - TEAM AG2R - 2' 30"
13 - Big George Hincapie - TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC - 4' 05"
14 - Cadel Evans - TEAM SILENCE-LOTTO - 4' 27"

Stage 14 - Saturday - I'm Firey Hot with Anger

Stage 14 was billed as a race for the sprinters but turned out to be so much more. An early breakaway developed which contained one man of interest, big George Hincapie. George was 5 minutes and 25 seconds out of first place before the start of the stage but not really considered a GC threat so was allowed to escape with the breakaway.

The breakaway succeeded and big George ended up gaining 5 minutes and 20 seconds on the rest of the leader board. This translates to George missing the Yellow Jersey by 5 seconds! Five measly seconds separates George from what could have been only his second ever Yellow Jersey...an achievement of a lifetime...something you gear your whole career towards...the list goes on, this was important.

If it was just 5 seconds, I think George would have been OK with that, but there's more. George's time advantage was run down by the other American Team, Garmin Slipstream, who had nothing to gain and nothing to lose by doing so. With 10km to the finish, Garmin moved to the front of the peloton and closed down a 6+ minute advantage held by the breakaway. Garmin essentially said that they didn't want George Hincapie in Yellow.

George was crushed. You could tell by the end of race interview, that this upset was a devastating blow to him. And 12 hours later, today's pre-race interview showed no real difference.

An American Team Garmin has cheated another American out of the opportunity to wear Yellow.

In my opinion, this was a poor decision by Team Garmin. At no cost to them, they could have assisted one of the Tour's most endearing riders for a day in Yellow. This is George Hincapie's 14th Tour de France. He assisted Lance Armstrong in every single one of his Tour victory's and assisted Contador in his Tour victory after Lance's retirement. George's dedication to the sport is unparalleled, and if you ever have the opportunity to give someone like this a "Thank you" for the years of service dedicated to the good name of the Tour, you should do so. Especially if it's no skin off your back.

Team Garmin chose poorly or more properly Team Garmin's Race Director Matt White chose poorly, and I plan on letting their sponsors (Garmin, Felt, Slipstream) hear about it. Matt White needs to go and if Team Garmin's sponsors aren't happy then Team Manager Jonathan Vaughters won't be happy.


More about George Hincapie if you are so inclined.

So the leader board changes just a bit and here we are...

1 - NOCENTINI Rinaldo - TEAM AG2R
2 - Big George Hincapie - TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC - 5"
3 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA - 06"
4 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 08"
6 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 46"
7 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 54"
18 - Cadel Evans - TEAM SILENCE-LOTTO - 3' 07"