Whoever wears the yellow jersey into Paris will definitely earn it as the drama expected in the high Alps didn't disappoint. As Jens Voigt predicted in my interview with him yesterday, Team Saxo Bank came out firing and launched a number of attacks to try and climb onto the podium at the Tour. Schleck's accelerations succeeded in dropping Cadel Evans, Christian Vande Velde, defending Tour Champion Carlos Sastre and Lance Arsmtrong.

But, in clearly one of the biggest highlights of this Tour, Armstrong erased a 30+ second deficit on himself to the Schleck/Contador/Wiggins group and put saved his current second place overall. It was a display of climber prowess that we were used to seeing from the Texan during his record-setting seven Tour wins, but frankly, many had felt that after his performance to Verbier, those accelerations were a thing of the past.

Garmin-Slipstream's Bradley Wiggins continues to look casual climbing with the leaders and kudos to teammates Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie for regaining the yellow jersey group on the climb of the Petit Saint Bernard. Zabriskie is finally regaining the climbing form we saw him display in the 2005 Giro when he rode exceptional tempo for his team leader Ivan Basso.

One negative moment was a horrific crash on the final descent by Saxo Bank rider Jens Voigt. It is unclear what caused the crash, it just looked like his front wheel slipped out on a white center line which can be slick if wet. In this case it was dry conditions so the mystery remains for the rider who is known as one of the best bike handlers in the pro peloton. Personally, I really like Jens. He always has time for my interview requests and give honest, heartfelt if not a bit humorous interviews. The Tour has lost some of its enjoyment for me as a result of his crash and abandon. Heal quickly Jens!

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I talked with Astana director sportif, Johan Bruyneel, before the start of today's stage.

Bruce: what is the strategy for the team in this third week?

Johan: From now on we just want to bring the yellow jersey to Paris. We know it is going to be difficult today and tomorrow.  We expect attacks. A lot of attacks. We will just wait and see what happens and keep our team together and defend the jersey.

Bruce: is everyone working for Contador now?

Johan: Well, we want to win the Tour. Anything else we can get we will try to get itm but not at the cost of the potential of losing the Tour de France.

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I spoke with Garmin-Slipstream director sportif, Matt White, before the start of today's stage and asked him about Bradley Wiggins and the team strategy for the third week.

Bruce: Is Bradley Wiggins climbing better than you expected?

White: Not really. A little bit better, but the level we saw at the Giro he has improved and that was the plan. We had some goals at the Giro. One was to win the team time trial and the other was for him to win the final TT in Rome. We came second in both of those.  After the second week of the Giro we deliberately eased him off so he would be able to perform here and it certainly worked.

Bruce: What is the strategy for the third week?

White: We are not here just to ride.  That's for sure. We have Bradley in third place on GC and we are going to just take that day-by-day. It is the perfect place for us to be.  Last year Christian did a great finish in Paris on his own. He had to play off of other teams. Now we have two cards to play.

Bruce: Wiggins is an exceptional time trialist. With the TT coming up in Annecy in two days, does this put extra pressure on his rivals?

White: It does put a lot of pressure on the other teams because Bradley is one of the world's best time trialers and will be in contention for the stage win in Annecy.  So it does put a lot of pressure on them and give us a bit of a buffer zone on the mountain stages. 

Bruce: How do you prepare Wiggins mentally for what is coming ahead?

White: One thing that is Bradley's forte is his mental strength. You don't win three Olympic gold medals and five world titles with luck. He has a very, very strong belief in himself and it is a new place for him to be in, but one of his big, big strengths is that he believes in himself. What result comes of that, time will tell. But, he has a big faith in himself and he has had that for a long, long, time. You don't acheive what he has achieved with luck.  That is for sure.

Bruce: the team was riding for Tyler Farrar in the sprints and now will be riding for Bradley Wiggins on the climbs. Is this a cohesive team?

White: Tyler is definitely not on vacation in the mountains. He is on survival mode until we get to Paris. All the team is helping out as much as they can. Julian and Tyler are coming back for bottle. We have a very tight team and it has shown here at the Tour de France.

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Bart Knaggs is one of Lance Armstrong's closest friends. He is currently working on helping to put together Lance's new professional team for 2010. Look for information on that development near the end of the Tour. I asked Bart about how he felt Lance's 2009 Tour was progressing. He is pictured here with his daughter Caroline.

Bruce: Lance looked a bit vulnerable on the Verbier stage. Was that just a one-day thing or was his form a bit off?

Bart: I think he is getting better week by week by week. I think if the Tour had been three of four weeks further away he would be better still.  I think the shoulder hurt, the broken collarbone.  You forget that you come back to 90% pretty quickly. To get back to that 99-100% take racing; it takes time for the edge to get sharp. I think that is what we are seeing.  He is just not quite right on the edge when he wants to be.  But, he will be better day in, day out from here to the finish, too. 

Bruce: Lance has stated that he can't win the Tour and will be working for Alberto Contador. Is he really going to work for Contador?

Bart: I think you are going to see Lance recognizing team strategies and hierarchies and the way cycling works.  First and foremost the objective of this team was always to win the yellow jersey. I think he very good about what he has done. I think he would like to be a little sharper sometimes. In one year to come from where he was to where he is and to be one guy, who is your teammate, out of first place is impressive.

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I shot some photos early in the stage.

Here is the original two-man breakaway. In the front is Katusha's Vladamir Karpets with polka-dot jersey wearer Franco Pellizotti.

In recognition of his crash, here is my last photo of Jens Voigt in the 2009 Tour de France. He will be sorely missed.

Team Astana was on the front for the first climb and descent setting tempo for Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey.

Lance leads Alberto who seems a bit distracted at 35+ mph.

Stage 9 winner Brice Feillu leads Garmin-Slipsream's Bradley Wiggins and Martijn Maaskant.

The Garmin-Slipstream team announced its 9-man roster for the Tour de France.  Not surprisingly, Christian Vande Velde will lead the squad.  He finished fourth last year and looked very good doing it.  The only question will be can he regain the fitness necessary to be competitive after a serious crash in the opening stages of the Giro? Recently, at the Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) he looked like he is on the way back, but there is some more fitness needed to contend for the overall. Luckily, Christian knows how to make it happen.

The team will also include Bradley Wiggins who came within one second of winning the final TT at the Giro. Besides being counted on to place highly in the time trials he has lost a reported 9 pounds(4 kilos) and will be a key support role for Vande Velde in the mountains.  The multi-Olympic gold medalist will also be part of the leadout train for Tyler Farrar.  Bradley will be earning his money at the Tour.

David Millar and Dave Zabriskie are included on the team for their time trialing abilities. The team time trial on stage 4 is a goal for the squad and they have the horsepower to win it. Also, look for Millar to go for stage wins in a small breakaway on the flatter stages.

Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin are included for their climbing abilities and to support Christian in the mountains. Ryder played a key role in the Alps at the 2008 Tour and Dan Martin is one of the up and coming stars in the pro peloton with some outstanding performances in hilly stage races last year and this spring.

Tyler Farrar was one of the revelations of the Giro.  He sprinted to several second place finishes behind Mark Cavendish. While he didn't get a stage win, he showed that he was ready to mix it up in the finale and had no fear in doing it. He could definitely win a stage of the Tour.

Julian Dean is the final cog, after Bradley Wiggins, of the Farrar leadout train. Look for Wiggins to go from 1km to about 600m with Julian taking it from there to about 200m. This train, which was new for the Giro, had lots of practice in Italy and is ready to launch.

Danny Pate also has immense time trialing skills, but as he proved on the stage to Prato Nevoso in last year's Tour he can sense an opportunity for a stage win and go for it. He was oh so close last year.

The Garmin-Slipstream team is a well-balanced squad that includes riders for all the tasks necessary to be competitive in the mountains, flats and time trials. Good luck boys!

Bruce

One of the unfortunate side affects of the economic downturn is that burglary is on the rise. Dave Zabriskie returned from his excellent second place from the Amgen Tour of California(AToC) to find his home in Salt Lake City cleaned out. A week before the start of the AToC, three-time Canadian Olympian and now Team Bissel director, Eric Wohlberg, returned from racing in Argentina to find his place had been broken into. This past Thursday, top Master's rider, Billy Innes, had his two team bikes and several wheelsets taken out of his garage.

Let's face it. Any burglary is bad. But, when it involves cyclists and their bikes it really hits home. I guess it is just a sad fact of these times that we need to be extra-diligent and supremely vigilant in protecting our own valuables, but also watch out for others valuables as well. When one of our friends gets ripped off, we need to keep our eyes peeled for any bikes or parts for sale, especially on the Internet, that seem suspicious.

There are a few silver linings here. The guys who burglarized Eric Wohlberg's place got caught breaking into another house the next night.  Salt Lake City Police have arrested two suspects in the Zabriskie robbery and Dave and his wife Randi have gotten some of their stuff back.

Unfortunately, Billy's two 2009 team Specialized S-Works SL2's w/Sram Red components and several wheelsets(Zipp 404's, Zipp 900 and Zip 808) have still not been recovered.

Again, there are several things we can all do to keep burglaries to a minimum. Keep your houses, garages, cars, etc. locked at all times. Use your home burglary alarms. Keep your eye out for suspicious items for sale in-town and on the Internet. Also, keep your eye out for suspicious behavior such as a 6-foot man riding a 50cm bike.

It's tough out there and it is not clear when it will be getting better anytime soon. Be careful out there and keep your eyes peeled.

Bruce

Returning to his Salt Lake City house on Tuesday after taking second place in the recently concluded Amgen Tour of California, Dave Zabriskie and his wife discovered that their house had been burglarized and over $150,000 worth of electronic gear, cycling equipment and memorabilia had been taken. Here is a chance for you all to help out and find the scumbags.  Below is a list of sum of the items taken.  Please keep your eyes and ears open for any leads:

• Black 2008 Subaru Outback, Utah license plate A189NC

• Black 2006 Toyota Scion, Utah license plate 094VWM

• Giro d'Italia race medal (approx. 6" circumference)

• Olympic Seiko watch

• Beijing Olympic ring (silver) with initials "DZ" engraved ($4,000)

• Felt Olympic Time Trial bike, plus 12 other bikes (combined value of $100,000)

• Cervelo (black/red) bike frameset - team issued ($5000)

• Tag Heuer watch ($6,000)

• Bose speaker/receiver system ($15,000)

• Sony 52" flat screen TV ($4,000)

• Two Apple MacBooks and one Apple Mac desktop, plus hard drive ($8,000)

• A pair of Space legs, a recovery compression system for legs ($5,000)

• 7 Marvel sideshow statues ($11,000)

Check out the link at: http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/dave-zabriskies-utah-home-burglarised-20546

Man, that's cold.

Bruce

For the third year in a row, Levi Leipheimer owned the Solvang individual time trial cementing his lead on the overall title.  A three-peat looks more and more likely even though the time gaps between Dave Zabriskie(Garmin-Slipstream) and Michael Rogers(Columbia-High Road) are only 36 and 46 seconds, respectively the next two stage, while difficult, will not be decisive. For Leipheimer it was, yet again, confirmation that he is the strongest rider in the race. But, for Dave Zabriskie, who finished just second seconds behind Leipheimer, it was the ride that we had all been hoping he would finally perform at the Solvang TT.

Zabriskie was on the podium at the first ever AToC, but in the last two editions, he has come into the event with high expectations, but no brass ring. In 2007, an ugly crash on the race's first stage put paid to his chances whereas in 2008, an intestinal bug robbed him of the power so necessary to do well in the race of truth. Temporarly setting the course record, the Z-Man finally delivered the goods and was clearly pleased with his efforts bringing his son with him on the podium.

The big question of whether Lance would get the green light to go full gas was answered in a chat with Astana Team Director Johan Bruyneel. "He will go as fast as he can.  It is going to be a very good test for him.  It is a long time trial and it is more than three years since he has done a long time trial so it is basically discovering a lit bit the feelings again. We don't know what to expect."

"Maybe he feels good in the beginning and blows up.  We don't know.  We are really going to play it by the feeling and see how far he can get.  But, at the same time we know that there are a handful of riders here who are in really good shape and they are going for the win.  I don't expect him to be in the very front.  Somewhere between fifth and tenth would be a very good result." After yesterday's stage, Lance told reporters that he would most likely lose about a minute to Levi in the TT. Lance ended up 14th, 1'16" back of Leipheimer.

When asked about how he felt Levi would perform, Bruyneel replied, "Well, Levi has won the time trial the last two years and he wants to win again. The main goal is to defend the lead and if we can get that we will be happy."

Levi's better half, Odessa Gunn, was in Solvang to support her man.  I asked Odessa how she felt Levi would perform. "This is one of his favorite days. Certainly in the race, but in general. He loves this stage. He loves this town. He loves time trialing."

And how does Odessa give her support? "Staying out of his way. Because I have this uncanny ability to always ask him the wrong question at the wrong time.  So, I just keep my distance and say good luck."

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Race Notes

When Levi crossed the line, he held up three fingers signifying a three-peat. It was unclear if he was

talking about his third straight victory in the Solvang TT or his third overall win.

Dave Z heading out of the starting gate. He is the picture of concentration.

It's Back!!!!!!!!  Lance's stolen TT bike was found in an alley in Sacramento sans wheels. City of Sacramento officials brought the bike back to the team for the TT.

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Pollution, heat, humidity and a difficult course all conspire to make both the men's and women's Olympic road races potential death marches of the highest order. Add to that the fact that every country is sending their best athletes to Beijing(well, duh, it is the Olympics!) and 'epic' is the only word that comes to mind to describe the events which will unfold this weekend.

On paper, the Olympic Road Race course looks pretty darn tough.  The men will climb over 11,000 feet and the women will climb over 4000 feet meaning that it is highly unlikely that a sprinter will be wearing the gold medal in either event. And the teams seem to agree with only a few of the them bringing anyone with fast twitch muscle fibers.

Actually, the course is split up into two distinct parts.  The first section, which both the men and women will ride, is about 55 miles of mostly flat riding, designed by the Chinese to showcase some of their national treasures such as the Great Wall.  The second part of the course is a 15-mile loop which contains about 1500' of climbing most if it coming in a 6-mile, 1250-foot climb. Following the ascent is quick down and up and then a long, gradual 8-mile descent back to the finish line.  The men will complete seven laps for a total of 150 miles; the women will do two laps on the circuit for a total of 75 miles.

The US Men's team is headed by now 5-time Olympian George Hincapie who is joined by Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie and Jason McCartney. George, Levi and Christian will be the designated leaders with Zabriskie and McCartney riding in a supporting role. The US Women's team includes two-time Olympians Kristin Armstrong and Dr. Christine Thorburn who will be joined by first-timer Amber Neben.

Both squads are definitely medal-capable especially if they ride as a team. It is difficult to put personal ambitions aside especially since the difficulty of the course will clearly make this a race of attrition. But, teamwork will be key especially if the heat and humidity are oppressive and the designated leaders need a lot of water to stay fresh.

In the men's race, Spain looks to be the biggest threat. They are sending a hugely-talented squad which includes Alejandro Valverde who just won the Classic San Sebastian, Tour winner Carlos Sastre, Giro winner Alberto Contador, Tour green jersey winner Oscar Friere and Sammy Sanchez. Italy always seems to ride well in big races and they can't be counted out especially with defending Olympic Champion Paolo Bettini and one-day specialist extraordinaire Davide Rebellin. The tiny country of Luxembourg looks very good with the Schleck brothers and Kim Kirchen all who rode well in the mountains of the recent Tour.

In the women's race, Germany is always powerful with defending Olympic Champion Judith Arndt and Ina Teutenberg.  Holland with Marianne Vos brings a strong team as well as the Swiss and Great Britian.

The men's race is Saturday, August 9th the women's race is the next day on the 10th.  Look for both competitions to be action-packed once the races hit the finishing circuits.  The pollution coupled with the heat and humidity will make it prohibitive to attack before that.

Bruce