Yesterday’s race into the Circle of Death had a stage set for drama, but instead of "Death of a Salesman", we ended up with Cory Feldman’s one man show, "It Takes a Village to Rock This Hard". Certainly the stage has its moments, Sastre’s curmudgeonly "kids these days" attack and the appearance of a herd of sheep on the climb of the Tourmalet; but for the most part the stage came down to Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck riding side by side up the mountain marking each other’s moves like a pair of mimes-in-training doing that mirror thing they do.

In the end, they were too evenly matched and Andy couldn’t shake Alberto and Alberto couldn’t drop Andy, they came to the line together and it seemed like Alberto didn’t contest the sprint at the top of the hill with a lot of vigor. Andy took the win and about 20 feet past the line they hugged it out, one person not hugging it out was Carlos Sastre, who had the following to say on his blog (Carlos blogs—who knew?):

“When I was starting, Alberto Contador came to tell me that there had been a fall behind. I answered him that all that seemed well and good, but at the time I had a team mate up in front. They stopped and then when I reached the finish line they told me who had taken a fall”. The Spaniard seems a little tired with all the controversy in this year’s Tour about fair play. “Whoever wants to start debating or raising controversy about this matter can do so freely. I’ve fallen in this Tour, I fell in the Italian Giro, I’ve had technical problems and no one ever waited for me. I think we’re turning cycling into a sport for spoilt brats and that is what happens in these kinds of circumstances".

I would like to preface this by saying that I am a fan of both spite and grouchy old men, and this passage is a bonanza of both. It has a wonderfully crotchety "back in my day" sound to it, and I can picture Carlos hoisting up the front of his bib shorts as he complains about the spoiled brats spoiling his pleasant ride. Well done, Carlos!

And while we’re talking about old men, here’s an interview with Lance Armstrong (via cyclingnews):

Asked if there is any chance of him becoming president one day, Armstrong firmly replied: “No. I think I’m a week away from a very private life. Beer, family, beach sounds like a good combination. There will also be the bike. I think I have to continue with that. I like the bike, I like good health and the bike is an integral part of that as the president can confirm.”

Did the RadioShack team leader have any regrets this year? “I wish that I was younger, faster. I’ve had my time and I’ve got a long history with the Tour de France. I’ve had lots of good moments, got lots of good memories, I’ve also had some good luck, so I can’t complain and I won’t complain.”  

Although stranger things have happened, I’m pretty sure there’s no chance that Lance Armstrong will end up president, and his wishes for being younger, faster and for a very private life are also going to go unfulfilled, but he will be able to have a beer or two, they can smuggle so many things into penitentiaries these days. 

Live Stage

The only thing that can affect the race for the GC today is the wind or Carlos Sastre backing over Contador’s bike with his big old Cadillac. Otherwise the odds are in favor for a sprint finish today. The green jersey competition is still raging on, with Thor SMASH ahead of Petacchi by 4 points. 

I’m looking over the GC today and find out that Bert Grabsch is the lantern rouge, how did I not know this? Dammit! Could there be a more fitting lantern rouge? I think not, his closest competition is Adriano Malori who is two minutes away—hopefully Bert can hold his position to Paris. Time to buckle down and "sweat like pork" Bert.

Live audio of shame takes over here.