Originally Posted by
Pedal Dancer
Judging the teams on paper versus GC is very different. The podium is a total crapshoot (although AC will be on it somewhere) at this point until after Stage 3. Simple as that. Those cobbles could be huge! Or they could be like Ventoux last year - don't amount to a hill of beans.
Cobbles are only going to be huge if Contador, or another leader crashes out. Contador could lose a small amount of time, but in all likelyhood it will be along the lines of the time lost in the " echelon" stage last year, not the multiple minutes that will be gained or lost in the mountains.