Another Cuddles fan here; I too am hoping for the best (from the Cuddles Fan Club point of view). He is very, very well placed to win, and looks very strong; we shall see.

the podium will not include any Schleck... it will be Cadell, Contador and Sammy Souza... and not necessarily in that order.

train safe--

Sammy Sosa?

"Nice guys finish last." Don't know who to attribute that to. Armstrong and Contador are winners. Andy Schleck has a lot to learn.

Contador and Sanchez looked like they were going to gain some time on the final descent today, but the other contenders (except Voeckler) must have made a great effort to close the gap just before the finish. Too bad the cameras missed it. Nothing changed today except Voeckler lost a small amount of time by over cooking a corner on the descent.

The next two days will be incredible!

Phil is predicting Alberto to win tomorrow by a large margin.

But then he came back after the break and picked Cadel.

I hope not. Reality will probably set in, though....

Phil didn't think T.V. would hold the yellow jersey as long as he has. What Phil thinks may not be the best place to bet your money. It might be me, and often is, but listening to Phil and Paul this year is just a bit less enjoyable. They both have made numerous comments that have me wondering if we're watching the same race.

Maybe that's because nobody's "placed the cat amongst the pigeons" yet.

I agree, although I did like the comment that "the limestone cliffs were totally restored in the year 2000" when I believe he was commenting on the status of a windmill. I know the French appreciate history and preserve it, however I don't think it goes as far as geologic history.

Phil and everyone else in the world, including T.V.

I think that's what I like about it so much - including the ear-to-ear grin as they put jersey onto him for another day.

I know but I still enjoy Phil and Paul. I forgive their mistakes and Phil's brain fades and find them charming most of the time.

I spent quite a bit of time with Paul and Phil at a party during the Tour of California. They are both delightful men. According to them, the coverage they provide is totally not scripted. They sit in a both and see what we see on the television. They create the commentary as they see the pictures. They have been doing this for years which is why they do very well. If I tried to do what they do, it would be a disaster. I would get 99% of it wrong. They are as professional at what they do as the cyclists are competing in the race.

I can see why Phil likes Contador. First AC has a track record and winning grand tours. He looked very good in the last couple of stages both climbing and descending. A 6% grade climb is not enough to break up a group of Tdf GC contenders. The problem is when one of them accelerates, the climbing speed is high enough so that other can benefit from the draft. Alpe D'Huez is an average 8.2% grade with switchbacks that are even more steep. I think AC will gap the other GC men and they will not have a large enough power to weight ratio to catch him or hold his wheel.

From Saxobank, Leopard Trek and BMCs' point of view, it was good to have T.V. in yellow. His team has expended the energy to hold on to the jersey and the other teams are ready for the really hard climbs. I expect AC to send his climbers to the front at the start of Alpe D'Huez to kill the pace. And of course there is the ever present Jens Voight who will probably join in to deliver some pain. It is going to be a slug fest.

I think Phil will be right today about Tommy Voeckler not being around at the finish atop Galibier when the first contender arrives. It might be Alberto, it might be Cadel, Frank, Andy, Ivan or Sammy who gets there first. Whoever it is, I think he'll be alone when he gets there and by more than a few seconds.

Hermes, good analysis and prediction, but Alpe D'Huez is tomorrow. What do you think will happen today?

Thanks... First cup of coffee this morning and I now have a proven track of being worse that Phil... which is not new news. I do not know how tough the final climb is other than they talk about the elevation. However, there are two HC climbs before the finish. There are a couple of theories about softening up racers legs with tough climbs before the finish. If the teams want to kill those first climbs, they could make the last one a race of attrition. However, they may just take the first two in stride and kill the finish saving something for the next stage. I am a negative split kind of racer so I would go for soft pedaling the first two climbs and killing the last one and then add on to the next stage. So I think today's final climb will be similar to tomorrow's.

Didn't Bob Roll hold that T.V. would keep the jersey longer?

I do not think one could script a better racer and team to have the yellow jersey in the middle of the race. According to Bruyneel, defending the yellow jersey takes a lot of emotional energy. There are press conferences, interviews, team member conflicts and etc. And the press will assume that the GC must be doping as the reason that he has it so long. T.V has to deal with all that. Anyway, it is a great deflection of attention away from the other teams so they can focus on winning.

Andi, Andi, Andi!

C.F.Pelkey: 2.2km to go and the gap is 3:00 Thursday July 21, 2011 5:31 C.F.Pelkey

C.F.Pelkey: Whoa... Contador is gapped 5:32

C.F.Pelkey: Yellow dreams have evaporated for Contador


Looking like he needs a whiskey fix like Floyd did...

Today's stage sure puts a different light on things. One more day of T.V. riding quite the ride. One more day in yellow. What courage. And he beat A.C. by 1:20. I'm becoming a fan. Regardless of what happens between now and the ride into Paris Thomas Voeckler will be a hero to the French people.

Now the question is if Andy can put in a second day like this. Will he recover enough tonight and have what it takes tomorrow?

Contador is toast.........Voeckler simply amazing

True dat... So much for winning the Giro and the TdF. As much as I am not an AC fan per se, I respect his ability. However, I like the idea that someone else wins the TdF primarily since AC has the doping matter hanging over his head. IMO, it would be tragic for AC to win and deprive the second place finisher the glory of the top step when later the UCI strips AC of last year's TdF, the Giro and this year's TdF. I like Andi a lot as a racer.