Alex Vino took his second TdF win on his second difficult stage with a downhill finish. Keep that in mind for future picks. It was depressing to see Botero trying to match gears with Vinokourov in the finale, when everyone and their mom knew that if Vino didn’t cramp too badly (he was shaking his legs like mad on the descent) Santi had no chance.
GC had no real changes today. DC did a nice leadout for Armstrong, who sprinted for 5, maybe 6 pedal strokes before parking it and coasting over the line right in the dead center of the road. I’m sure the guys behind him really appreciated it. The real shakeup today came at the back of the field. Rolleur threats for third-week stage wins Jens Voight and Kim Kirchen DNF’d or were time cut. French police, mere hours after releasing Raimondas Rumsas, got bored and decided to search the another ex-doper’s wife’s car. Too bad for Dario Frigo. The gendarmerie hauled him away at 8am, having found a reported 10 vials of EPO, which Fassa management have assured us “have nothing to do with the team.”
Tomorrow’s bastille day, which means more points up for grabs. Updated picks and standings to follow.
perhaps these “cramps” were a bit theatrical? just a thought…