Tour de France : 2007 : July : 22

Some of you may think that with today's stage, the Tour might be over. You could be right--there are still two major mountain stages and we all know how good Rasmussen is in these types of conditions.

However, I don't think the Tour is over yet. There are still plenty of guys who could make it. But it's true that it could be a mountain specialist--a climber--who could win the yellow jersey in Paris.

With yesterday's time trial, today has been a very tough day for all in the Tour and I kind of feel now that tomorrow could be an important day.

With Vinokourov, who is almost out now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow are the last chances for Astana to get one of their riders in the race for the win, so it will be very exciting to watch.

What was also very interesting with the time trial and today's stage is that it was the first time that you had a mountain stage right after a time trial. All the riders gave a hundred percent of themselves yesterday, even if they knew how difficult today could be. It’s interesting from a strategic standpoint to see how teams have handled that. And this is why I can't for tomorrow's stage to begin: Because I'm curious to see how teams will play this stage.

And one more time, today has been very exciting and lots of surprises. It is great for cycling.

The fact I have really noticed today and that I wanted to share with you is that there is pretty much nobody in the Tour who wants to see Rasmussen win the yellow jersey in Paris. It's like even all the journalists and so on want to see him down so we can stop talking about this whole drug problem. I saw Rasmussen at breakfast this morning and this guy is so obsessed by his weight that he is even replacing milk in his cereal with water so there is less fat. He seems to be a bit on the edge, if you know what I mean.

Is that the kind of leader you want to see or identify yourself with? Not sure...

The next two days are very important for many teams, so stay tuned and enjoy the show!
Ronan

Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in the 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.

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I'm sitting on a grassy slope, just below the 2km-to-go banner on the hors categorie climb of Plateau Beille. I'm filing today's blog directly from the race course, thanks to a slick 1-pound computer I carried in my backpack called a FlipStart . It's the "mini me" of full-featured laptops, at a fraction of their size and weight.

Today's race is the first of three consecutive Pyrenean stages that, together, will probably determine the outcome of this year's Tour de France. Now is the time for those cyclists who consider themselves climbers to go toe-to-toe with yellow jersey-holder Michael Rasmussen.

I left my bed-and-breakfast this morning and joined an American group from Ride Strong Bike Tours for the 40-kilometer ride from Foix to the base of the climb in La Cabannes. The town was jammed with cone-licking Tour fans and media trucks, so I grabbed a quick sandwich and pointed my Cervélo towards the mountain.

The serpentine road up Plateau Beille is 16 kilometers long, with plenty of sections that exceed 10 percent gradient. It's a very difficult climb and a perfect end to today's challenging stage.

Today, virtually every inch of road is occupied by fans who claimed the best vantage points up to three days ago. Thanks to their boistrous cheering and encouragement, the steep climb wasn't too bad.

Thousands of other cyclists were on the road, and the common strategy was to weave your way to the summit finish line, then descend to a choice location on the upper elevations to view the race.

Before any pro cyclists can be seen, however, the daily parade of Tour sponsor floats and vehicles roll by, throwing candy and useless schwag to the crowd. This whips everyone up into more of a frenzy, if the all-day, beer-steeped tailgaiting parties weren't enough.

By now, you'll know the outcome of today's race, and will probably watch it on TV tonight. But nothing beats the experience of joining an international crowd of cycling fanatics on the slopes of a mountain stage, for a glimpse of the athletes and hours of cultural immersion in the Tour de France.
Rob

Rob Klingensmith is an avid recreational cyclist and an executive at Active.com. Rob will provide a unique perspective on what it's like to be inside some of the most decisive stages of the Tour.