Awesome Day At The Tour

Another win by Columbia's Ace, Canvendish.... ho hum... Nothing to see here, move along...
Oh wait... a lead group got 41 seconds clear? Are you kidding me? That was great bike racing today.
Just when you think that this is all figured out, that you know that all Columbia has to do is sit on the front and ride tempo and then set the Pain Train up with about ten clicks to go, then things got odd...
With a small group off the front, about twelve minutes clear, Columbia got to the front and just railed. They went hard, and tagged back a small escape group in a hurry. That was pure power on display, right there.

But they didn't stop with that. OH NO. They kept the tempo really high... crazy high, in fact, and there was a split when the group was all strung out and hit some side winds with about 30 clicks to go. What happened was that the entire Columbia team, plus the yellow jersey of Cancellara plus Lance Armstrong and a few others, all went clear. You call that a break? Now this is a break.

These guys were able to stay clear in the confusion left behind. What kind of confusion? Basically, every other team leader missed this one. Including Contador.

So, all of Columbia delivered Cavendish for the win. Probably his easiest win, since all the other sprinters were totally outnumbered, in terms of support riders. Yes, he phoned it in.

So what does all this mean?
First of all, for a stage that was supposed to be short on drama and long on boredom, it was anything but. That right there, is the Lance Factor. I will give it to Lance for this one thing, he is a smart rider, and he knows the safest place to be in a race is at the front. Remember the '99 Tour, and how he got clear over the Passage Du Gois, when there was a stack of 25 riders piled up and he went clear by five minutes... and alot of leaders were left behind, guys who were challengers but never had a chance after that? I think of that stage today, because today was Lance being Lance, in that he was at the front and had his head on a swivel and took advantage of sheer brute force (Columbia's Pain Train) and Circumstances (nasty cross winds) to get 20 seconds in front of Contador.
Secondly, it also means that tomorrow's TTT (Team Time Trial) is gonna mean Lance will be in Yellow. Seriously, you think Contador likes the taste of that one bit?
Astana has the best team, they put four guys in the top ten of the ITT, and they are probably gonna win the TTT. That means LA will be in Yellow. Write it down. You read it here first. Even if they come in second to Garmin (who really, really, really want to win that stage... and can.) he will be in Yellow since they have a minute and thirty over VandeVelde and Millar. Garmin can smoke Astana tomorrow, and Yellow will go to Lance... like I said, you read it here first.
That is a huge coup for Lance. Contador is steaming over this, you know it.
how does the rest of the week shape up? Mostly flat till friday, then the action is on like Donkey Kong when they hit Arcalis, an Out Of Category climb to finish an awesome Pyrennean stage. That will be awesome.
Basically, if LA can hang on there, if he can pull of a miracle and gain time on Alberto, then this race can be won by him.
I've been a big hater of Lance lately, and I am on record as saying he cannot win this race, that he is too old and too out of shape and not the climber he used to be... that this is Alberto's team, and that he is the guy to beat. But then Lance does this today, and he goes out and grabs time when no one else thought you could, and that is what makes Lance so special. He might not be the better climber or total package that Alberto is, but he might be the better bike race.
Irregardless, having a day or three in Yellow will be vindication for Lance, so even if he doesn't win this race, wearing yellow for one last time might be enough to tell all his haters to eat it.
Man... this race is awesome. I love the Tour.