Question for the readers... Who is Astana’s team leader? Someone please tell me so we don’t have to wait until the Champs Elysées to find out! Maybe today’s hors category climb will give us a hint. I’m risking my stellar reputation and stating someone from Astana will be on the podium to accept the yellow jersey today.
After the dust settles from attacks and counters, nine racers lead the peloton. I wish some of their names were easier to spell. They are Jose Gutierrez GCE, Egoi Martinez EUS, Christophe Riblon ALM, Rinaldo Nocentini ALM, Aleksandr Kuschynski LIQ, Christophe Kern COF, Jerome Pineau QSI, Brice Feillu AGR, and Johannes Frohlinger MRM. If they were on the last climb, I would put money on Martinez. The peloton seems a bit careless as they allowed the gap to reach 14:20. Astana could be missing the boat here and they decide to increase the pace. The worse is yet to come.
The gap is closing but not by much. This will keep me on the edge of my seat again. There may be some tension within the peloton. And there you have it; a crash occurs.
Boonen and Leipheimer go down. The final wall to climb is approaching and it’s time to make a move. Astana better do something. I guess it’s hard to decide what to do when you don’t have a team leader.
The man on the move is Brice “blue bayou” Feillu. He is making the solo effort for the stage win. Now, Cadel “a man with no team” Evans attacks. Astana squishes him like a bug. Alberto “I’m on a good team but get no respect” Contador stomps on it and is heading for yellow.
Alberto "I get no respect" Contador (Team Astana). Photo copyright Fotoreporter Sirotti.
A rookie Frenchman wins the stage after a long day of phenomenal effort. Another breakaway racer, Nocentini, is rewarded with a yellow jersey. Both are deserving of their rewards and respect.
I’m creating a new homepage. It is named “igetnorespect.com”. I am the founding member since I was wrong about Martinez winning the stage and wrong about Contador taking yellow. Hold on..an application is coming in on my homepage, someone with initials “AC” wants to join.
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