Sunday - Stage 9

Stage 9, the final day in the Pyrenees, turned out to be an uneventful stage. It contained a long and difficult HC climb but ended with a 70 km downhill ride to the finish. Such a long ride to the finish is a pretty big deterrent to attacks because it's so easy for the peloton to make up the time lost on the downhill run. The only big attack occurred at the very beginning of the race when a large group of riders made the break. Lance didn't like the numbers of riders allowed to leave and AG2R, the team defending the GC, didn't seem to be doing anything about it. So Lance took matters into his own hands and went after the breakaway single handedly. With Lance's attack, the peloton was instantly put in motion to stay on his tail, and they quickly brought the breakaway back into the pack.

This is where Lance shows his true leadership. Contador would have never thought about the size of the breakaway and how that might cause a bigger time gap than could be accomplished by a smaller group of riders. The more racers in a group, the more people there are to share the work load and the faster the breakaway can go. Lance's Tour experience has taught him that this can be a real danger and he wasn't going to allow it to happen. I think Contador still has a lot to learn about the Tour if he wants to become one of the all time repeat winners, and Lance is the one he should be learning it from. Respect the Tour, Contador!

No GC changes on the stage and tomorrow is the first Tour rest day.


1 - NOCENTINI Rinaldo - TEAM AG2R
2 - Alberto Contador - TEAM ASTANA - 06" seconds behind
3 - Lance Armstrong - TEAM ASTANA - 08"
4 - Levi Leipheimer - TEAM ASTANA - 39"
5 - Bradley Wiggins - TEAM GARMIN - 46"
6 - Andreas Kloden - TEAM ASTANA - 54"
18 - Cadel Evans - TEAM SILENCE-LOTTO - 3' 07"
36 - Big George Hincapie - TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC - 5' 25"
39 - Fabian Cancellara - TEAM SAXO BANK - 5' 37"