Interactive Learning Moment - on stage 3 Team Columbia and Lance Armstrong put the hammer down in the crosswind and took 41 seconds out of all of Lance's contenders for the yellow jersey. These precious seconds were the difference for Lance between the podium and fifth place.

Follow the Leader Moment - the stage 4 team time trial course in and around Montpelier was a twisty, turny, technical affair. Several teams such as Skil-Shimano and BBox Bouygues Telecom saw their TTT trains derailed by one, very fast, decreasing radius right turn.  I should know, I almost when off the road on that turn while riding the course with the Garmin boys in the morning before the stage.

Never Give Up Moment - in the era of race radios it is a rarity that a breakaway will succeed when the peleton is smelling a field sprint. On stage 5 of the Tour, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler proved that not only can you fool the peloton, but you can do it solo. Chapeau Tom!

What Was He Thinking Moment - Cadel Evans' crumble in the third week of the Tour was well documented, but what about his attack near the summit of the climb out of Andorra when the peloton had almost 100 miles and two major climbs left to ride. There's strategy and then there's desperation. Wait, there is also bewilderment.

What Were They Thinking Moment - well, this moment actually occurred long before the Tour started when the race organizers decided to put the iconic Col du Tourmalet so far from the stage finish that even I had a chance of getting back on before the line.

NRA is Alive and Living In Europe Moment - I have been covering the Tour for over twenty years and I have never, ever heard of a rider being shot during the race. In what is clearly a very sad moment, guns have made their presence felt in the world's greatest bike race.

Why Can't We All Get Along Moment - it appeared to be purely out of spite that Garmin-Slipstream chased down the breakaway containing George Hincapie, keeping him out of the yellow jersey. I like the guys on the Garmin-Slipstream team and am still wondering why it was so important to keep an American on an American team out of yellow. A rising tide floats all boats.

Life Just Isn't Fair Moment - Jens Voigt is one of the most likeable guys in the pro peloton. His crash descending the Petit Saint Bernard was pretty horrific and put one of the most exciting riders out of the race. Check out Jens addressing his fans from his hospital room (thanks Andrew!): http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1217

The Mind is a Terrible Thing Moment - we will probably never know what Alberto Contador was thinking when he attacked, against his director's orders, on the final slopes of the Colombiere. However, given his pithy post-race comments about Lance Armstrong, the fact that his attack knocked Andreas Kloden off the podium making a place for Lance probably has even Alberto wondering what he was thinking.

The Winds of Change Moment - too bad the riders were subjected to very strong headwinds on the upper slopes of Mont Ventoux. The winds most likely muted the effects of the Giant of Provence and blunted Frank Schleck's chance to jump over Lance onto the podium.

Bruce

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.

Bunch finishes are usually explosive affairs, but not today into Besancon as Columbia-HTC found itself in one of those weird situations that has marked the 2009 Tour. With teammate George Hincapie off the front in a race-long breakaway the time gap back to the peloton was just about enough to put the American in the yellow jersey. But, if Columbia-HTC geared up their leadout train to try and reclaim the green points jersey for Mark Cavendish, their acceleration might just close that time gap and deny Hincapie the yellow jersey.

So, the bunch sprint appeared to happen in slow motion with Columbia-HTC riders all over the front, but trying to delay their leadout until the last possible moment. In the end, Cavendish won the sprint, but he beat Hushovd by only one place and one point so the green jersey stays on the Cervelo Test Team rider's shoulder. And Hincapie's gap proved to be a handful of seconds short so Rinaldo Nocentini will wear yellow tomorrow in to the Alps in Verbier.

In one of the strangest incidents I have seen in my 20+ years of covering the Tour, two riders were shot during stage 13. Spanish rider and triple World Champion, Oscar Friere, and Garmin-Slipstream rider, Julian Dean, were struck by lead pellets apparently fired from an air rifle while the descended the stage's penultimate climb. Friere had to have the pellet removed from his thigh by his team doctor. Julian Dean was struck in the finger with the pellet glancing off. There are no suspects and nobody saw anything as the peloton was in a dense forest.

This is a scary situation as Lance Armstrong has pointed out many times that the peloton races on open roads with crowds able to interact with the riders, hopefully not in any negative ways. But who can forget the fan who punched Eddy Merckx in the stomach in 1975 while he was climbing Le Puy de Dome. I don't know what can be done to tighten security on the open roads. It is a pity that the riders have to endure additional stress when they are trying to relax and save as much energy as possible to be able to perform in a three-week race.

I guess Jens Voigt was listening a couple of days ago as he slipped into the star-studded break at the beginning of stage 14. Unfortunately, he flatted and received a very slow wheel change from the Mavic neutral support car. The new rear wheel appeared to be rubbing on his brakes so he had to stop again to adjust it. Then, to make matters worse, the support car refused to help him get back up to the breakaway by providing a bit of draft. Jens had some choice comments for the occupants of the car and then pulled over to answer the call of nature and wait for the peloton which was already over five minutes behind. Talk about your missed opportunity.

And just when you thought things couldn't get any stranger, an imposter, clad in a La Francaise de Juex racing kit tried to jump onto the Tour podium.  The badger himself, Bernard Hinault, forcibly removed him from the stage.

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Jean Paul Van Poppel is a former green jersey winner at the Tour, beating Davis Phinney among others in 1988, and is one of the director sportifs of the Cervelo Test Team. Interestingly, when the Tour finished here in Besancon in 1988, Van Poppel won the stage. I spoke to him about Carlos Sastre's chances in the overall classification.

Bruce: Carlos Sastre has a reputation as a third week rider. Is the plan to get through the first two weeks and then go hard in the Alps?

JVVP: The third week is very hard and it is in his (Carlos) system to get better during a stage race. I think his strength is the third week and if it works out. Yeah. He could give them (peloton) some surprises. We hope.

Bruce: Ventoux is a tough enough climb that taking back two to three minutes is not out of the question.

JVVP: Taking two to three minutes on the best riders? I don't think that is going to happen, but you can take time in the last week over more stages (than just Ventoux).

Bruce: Team Astana is looking very strong. Is there something you can do to take them on?

JVVP: We have to see what is going to happen. They work a lot(at the front) so maybe in the last week the team is a bit used up, but I don't think so. Not really. You have to look at what is happening at the moment and if it happens there comes a situation that you can benefit with other riders to go full gas then I think we should do that.

Bruce: who on the team will be there to help Carlos in the mountains.

JVVP: Jose Marchante is a super climber. He had some bad luck starting the season when he broke his arm. He came back in good shape and in the Tour of Catalonia he was in good form, actually a litle too good so we slowed him down a bit for Tour of Switzerland. For now he is at a good level and also he can get better like Carlos does.

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Australian Brett Lancaster is a teammate of Sastre's on the Cervelo Test Team. I chatted with him briefly about is team leader.

Bruce: Is Carlos getting ready to unleash himself against Astana in the third week when we get to the Alps?

Brett: They are a really strong team (Astana). Carlos is pretty reserved and keeps to himself.      I don't know what he is thinking or what he is going to do. He just keeps that to himself. In the last week it will be typical Carlos standard.

Bruce: Carlos is all about the third week.

Brett: Yeah, Yeah. That's right.

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For those who know of the Tour de France only from the Lance era it might be difficult to imagine that as far back as 1980, no American had ever ridden the Tour de France. In 1981, Jonathan Boyer, became the first US rider to particpate in the Tour. He went on to represent America well, finishing as high as 12th place though he rode for a French team. It wasn't until 1986 that the first American team, the 7-Eleven, squad rode the Tour.

A little known fact in Tour history is that in 1981, a squad of Americans was poised to become not only the first Americans, but also the first American team to ride the Tour. They received and invitation in late 1980 from the Tour organizers; Mike Fraysee was to be the team manager and he quickly set about trying to find riders.

It must be remembered that back in 1980/81 there were only three riders in the European pro peloton, Greg Lemond, Jonathan Boyer and George Mount. Unfortunately, all three were under contract to other teams and therefore unavailable. So, Mike Fraysee had to look to the strongest US amateur riders to stock his team. The riders would turn pro and be paid $5000 to start the race and $5000 if they made it to Paris.

Lindsay Crawford, who was a pilot for United Airlines, held several US cycling records and was one of those srong US amateurs who was capable of riding 100-150 miles a day with the European pros for three weeks. It was a dream come true for the Northern California-based rider and he adjusted his legendary 400-500 mile/week training program accordingly.

Unfortunately, for circumstances that are, to this day, still unknown, the Tour organization withdrew the team's invitation several months before the start. There is a bit of a silver lining in this whole mysterious affair. Lindsay Crawford went on to ride a stage of the Tour as part of the Etape du Tour cyclosportif. The Etape du Tour selects one stage each year, usually one of the most mountainous, and 8500 riders take to the course. Winners in each age division receive a yellow jersey and Credit Lyonnaise lion just like a Tour stage winner.

In 2003, Lindsay, then 62, won his age group and finished an amazing 200th overall out of the 8500 starters. He continues to ride the Etape each year and has recorded another podium finish in his 60-69 age group. These days, at age 68, he still routinely logs 400+ mile weeks in the Santa Cruz mountains. He recently won the 65+ year age group at the Spanish cyclosportif Quebrantahuesos, very similar to Etape du Tour, by over 30 minutes.

This year's etape du Tour is this Monday (7/20) and does the stage which finishes at the top of Mont Ventoux. You can read Lindsay's accounts of his pre-Etape training and post event-commentary at www.bikeradar.com

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George Hincapie was almost in yellow for the second time in his career (he wore yellow briefly in 2006).

Mark Cavendish has made himself available to the French public despite all the stress of fighting for the green jersey on a daily basis.

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California ended today and Levi Leipheimer locked up his three-peat.  Leipheimer was clearly the strongest rider in the race, he proved it on the climbs and in the TT's which is where stage races are won. It was a great event, race organizer AEG estimated that two million people watched the spectacle live, obviously countless more viewed it on TV as the feed went out to 60 countries across the globe. It is safe to say that in just four year, this race has grown exponentially in size and stature and is truly one of the best events on the pro cycling calendar. Yes, there are some issues such as whether the race should move to a more weather-friendly date and if it should become a Pro Tour event, but there is no doubt the 2009 edition was an unqualified success.

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Race notes:

In my report from yesterday, I noted that the final stage would be difficult, but not decisive. That was indeed the case, but there was one incident high on the slopes of Palomar Mountain that deserves some discussion.  About three miles from the top of the massive 4200' climb, Jens Voigt, who was placed fourth overall about one minute behind Levi, broke away from the peloton and took a group of riders with him. Because Jens had a teammate in the group and the group was about five riders, there was a real chance that if they could work together, they might threaten to stay away to the finish and change the overall outcome of the race.

What happened next is the interesting part.  The rider who initiated the chase of Voigt and who ultimately drove the chase group to catch Jens and his crew was Michael Rogers of team Columbia High Road who was in third place overall.  Also in the chase group was Dave Zabriskie of Garmin-Slipstream who was in second place overall. With those two guys in the chase group, Levi jumped up there as well. Unfortunately, Levi didn't have any teammates in the chase group while both Rogers and Zabriskie had one each.

This may seem like a huge tactical error by Levi and his Team Astana because they allowed Levi to be isolated in a group with his closest rivals. However, it was really a very big tactical error by Michael Rogers. Because the time gaps between the first five riders were so small, if Jens Voigt and his group succeeded in staying away, Voigt, who was in fourth place, threatened not only Michael Rogers' third place and Dave Zabriskie's second place, but he also threatened Levi's race lead. That means that it was really the responsibility of Leipheimer's Team Astana to chase down Voigt and not Michael Rogers.

Looking at the bigger picture, Roger's should have seen Voigt's escape not as a need to defend his third place position, but as an opportunity to attack the race lead of Leipheimer. Instead of initiating the chase and driving the group up to Voigt, he should have sat at the front of the peloton and forced Team Astana to chase Voigt. Then, once that chase and catch has been performed and Team Astana was tired from the effort, he then could launch a counter-attack and try to get away.

The fact that Rogers decided to defend his third place and not attempt to go for the win might indicate that he felt Levi was too strong to be beaten, but in any case, he should have left the chasing up to Team Astana.

Dave Zabriskie rode tactically correct when he was in the chase group. He sat on Levi's wheel looking for any weakness and if Leipheimer had faultered, it would have been a perfect scenario for Dave to attack him and go for the overall win. Dave Z did it right, Michael Rogers didn't. Well, that's the way I saw it.

Bruce

One thing I have learned from my many years as a journalist is that, especially at the start and finish of race stages, I should only ask a few questions and the total interview should be around a minute. This is for several reasons. First off, there are other journalists who also want to talk to the riders. If I tie up a rider for five minutes, when time is really critical, not only do I keep other journalists from getting their story, but I risk having competing journalists evesdrop on my interview and then I loose a bit of exclusivity. So to be fair and to keep my interview as exclusive as possible I get and get out and let others do their work as well.

The second reason is that these riders have a job to do. Yes, they need to make themselves available to the press, but before or after race stages when chaos and anxiety are at critical levels is not the place to start asking about career goals and how they feel about the war in Iraq. So, out of courtesy, I try to keep it short and simple.

Today at the sign in for the stage from Bourg d'Oisans to St. Etienne I talked to a bunch of the riders who have been lighting it up in the Alps.

Carlos Sastre rolled up in his first day in yellow. BTW, Sastre's time for the ascent of the l'Alpe d'Huez was 39'29" for an average speed of 13 miles per hour.

Jens Voigt has done just about everything in this Tour from pacesetting at the front to climbing to initiating breakaways to super-domestique in the mountains. I asked him if is there is anything he cannot do. "I am really shite on a rainy descent. That's the only thing where I am absolutely hopeless. Apart from that I think I am doing well."

Jens was asked to describe his teammate Carlos Sastre. "He is just a peaceful warrior. He's hard when it comes to it(racing), but he is friendly and loyal. He gives a lot to the team so that is why everyone wants to help him."

Austrian Bernard Kohl of the Gerlosteiner squad will wear the polka-dot jersey into Paris. I asked him about what it was like on the Alpe, where he finished in the lead chasing group and sits third overall 1'34 seconds behind Sastre and one second behind Cadel Evans. "Yeah, it was really hard. It was the hardest stage in the Alps and after two and a half weeks of racing and after 200 kilometers (on that day) the race was really hard."

Who was he keying off of on the Alpe? "I had to look for Cadel Evans. He needed to keep the gap from getting too big for the time trial." Can Kohl defend his podium position or even move up a place or two in the final time trial? "No, I am not really the time trialer like Cadel Evans or Denis Menchov. I am a climber. I will try my best in the time trial and we will see."

Kohl's Gerlosteiner teammate, winner of the first time trial and former wearer of the yellow jersey, Stefan Schumacher, was especially active in the Alps with long breakaways on the stage to Jausiers and also to the Alpe. I asked him if he was trying to make up for his sub-par performance in the Pyrenees. "Yeah, in the Pyrenees I was not so good, but now I have a lot of time(he was way down on GC) so I tried. Also, it was important for the team to ride an offensive race and work for the mountains jersey. Bernard had the jersey and I controlled it at the front."

Danny Pate was in the lead breakway on the stage to Prato Nevoso and in a position to snag Team Garmin-Chipotle's first Tour stage win. I asked him who he was watching on the climb to the finish. "I was just watching the Euskatel guy(Egoi Martinez) because he seemed like the best guy." Both Pate's and teammate Will Frischkorn's breakway moves were big pluses for the squad and proved their worth in the Tour even if they did not win a stage. Also, having a rider contending for the Tour podium isn't half bad, either!

Save for one bad day, the stage to Huatacam in the Pyrenees, Alejandro Valverde would be a heavy favorite for a podium finish come Paris in four days time. I asked him what happened down south and why he climbed much better in the Alps. "In the Pyrenees I had bad luck and my legs were not there. In the Alps I felt better and could climb better as well. I am happy with how things have worked out."

George Hincapie crashed hard on the stage to the Alpe and on the day after he was wearing extensive bandages on his left side which were already showing stains from his wounds. He looked like he was in a lot of pain and confrimed it when he succintly answered my question on how he feels. "Bad." I asked him if he would soldier on to Paris and he replied that he would give it a shot. George is a true warrior and I hope he makes to to Paris for his 13th Tour.

The last of the 150 remaining riders to sign in was one of the true revelations of the race, Garmin-Chipotle cyclist Christian Vandevelde. He was oh, so close to the podium, and has still has a shot, but the emerging star recounted what happened in the Alps. "I had one bad day two days ago but I made up for it yesterday."

Most likely referring to the clinic Team CSC Saxo Bank put on during the past three days, when asked how it felt to leave the Alps, Christian was not convinced that the race had truly left the Alps therefore allowing the riders to rest up for the showdown on Saturday. "It feels good, but we are still in the Alps. We have to go to St. Etienne first."

Well, there you have it.

Bruce

One of my favorite riders in the peloton is Jens Voigt of Team CSC Saxo Bank. To me he exemplifies everything that it takes to be and act like a professional cyclist. He can be counted on to go and do whatever the team director asks whether it is to go to the front to reel in a late race breakaway, or set pace in the mountains to launch their team leader. He does these tasks with little hesitation and his pounding style on the bike when he is going hard is visible evidence that he is sacrificing himself for his team.

Just when you thought you had seen him do it all, there he is climbing with all the favorites on the Col du Tourmalet. Make no mistake, Jens is not built to be a climber. The man has some meat on his bones, you won't see him getting blown over in a strong wind. It is almost as if he simply wills himself up the road. On the Tourmalet, pre-race favorites Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego had been dropped, but there was Jens still in the lead group doing his job. He had company in his uber-teammate Fabian Cancellara and when the lead group hit the flats to the base of the final climb, the two Team CSC Saxo Bank riders drilled it to bring back all the breakaways and set up the exciting finish which saw their teammate, Frank Schleck, miss the yellow jersey by the slimmest of margins.

It was mission accomplished for Jens and Fabian. Just another day as a domestique at the Tour. To be fair, Jens wins his share of races during the year. This past March he won the Criterium International for the umpteenth time with an audacious breakaway on the race's hilly second stage. Last year, he won the week-long Tour of Germany, his home tour for the second time.

I got the chance to hang out with Jens this past February at the Team CSC training camp. We chatted about a number of things. Jens' wife had just given birth to their fifth child, he remarked that he is 37, but he needed to get a five-year extension on his contract as he had a lot of mouths to feed. We talked about the immigration problems facing the US and Jens remarked that Germany had similar problems, having imported a lot of cheap labor from Turkey. He was surprised at his popularity in the USA, recounting the story of being out on a training ride in Southern California only to have a UPS driver pull over, stop, lean out of his cab and yell, "Go Jensy!"

Personally, I hope Jens gets that extension. The pro peloton wouldn't be the same without him.

Bruce

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You might be wondering why, with four stage wins, Mark Cavendish isn't wearing the green jersey of the race's best sprinter. The reason is simple, he doesn't contest every sprint and the ones he is absent from the front he is way back just hanging out. A rider like Thor Hushovd or Oscar Friere may not be winning as much, but the points they are scoring for their top-5 and top-10 finishes each stage are enough to offset the 35 points Cavendish gets for each win. If you really want the green jersey, you have to try and contest all the sprints.

Gerlosteiner's Sven Krauss was involved in a horrifying crash in the closing kilometers when he hit a metal traffic sign in the middle of the road at the entrance to a roundabout. Somebody in the Tour organization wasn't doing their job. There is usually a gendarme waving a flag and blowing a whistle at such dangerous signs. Luckily for Krauss, his bike, which was broken in two, appeared to suffer the majority of the damage.

Today, Scott-Saunier Duval Team management fired both Riccardo Ricco and Leonardo Piepoli. They accounted for all three of the teams stage wins at the Tour.

For those of you who were unable to see the photo of the Euskatel-Euskadi rider giving his bottle to a young fan at a stage finish, check the previous blog "Tour of Surprises Continues" it should be visible now. BTW, the kid's father gave me his E-mail address and I mailed him a copy of the photo.