Team Discovery is obviously the big story of the day for me (although Soler’s ride was very impressive and his win was well-deserved*). It was a fun, competitive stage and it was cool to see Disco dominate the proceedings the way that they did. They finish the day with two riders in the top ten on GC and confidence at an upswing with the Pyrenees looming on the horizon.
Contador continues to impress. His acceleration past Evans on the Col du Galibier was a sight to see. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts over the length of a grand tour. I still like him for the White Jersey.
If Leipheimer is true to his word and is stronger in the Pyrenees he’s going to have no problems finishing high up in the GC. He’s been pretty steady so far and today he looked like he wasn’t really even trying all that hard on the climbs. He marked everyone he needed to mark today. I’m really interested to see him actually put in some attacks. Can he take time out of Evans, Valverde or Rasmussen in the mountains? Time will tell. All three look very strong and with Vino looking less and less likely to win, it’s looking more and more to me like Valverde’s race. He looks very strong.
Popovych is a fun rider to watch. I’d like to see him get a healthy run at the Giro next year.
*The guy at our auto body shop will be very happy. He’s an avid cyclist, a former racer and a Colombian.
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