A picture is worth a thousand words! Today I am going to have to start with home cooking! Reason being, because the Chief Priest likes it! He is proven that you don't mess around on his turf! Levi was the chief priest today, and his sermon today was about having heart! He timed his break perfectly!
Beltran was the first man over the big mountain, and started the downhill side over Monarch Pass. He was caught quickly and over taken by the chase group. I thought they looked strong enough to extend their four minute and forty second gap, but I again was proven wrong as the margin decreased slightly with every passing kilometer. The Breakaway group of four did not team, and the group became two. With forty-four kilometer or twenty-five miles to go, the just under five minute gap and two man break had dropped to just over two minutes. At near the eighty mile marker, with just under twenty miles to go, Team Garmin Cervelo rider, Thomas Peterson has a rear brake problem. His mechanic trailed him at twenty plus miles per hour, making adjustments on the fly! Can you imagine what would happen if he over extended a thumb or a finger!? The spokes are flat like helicopter blades on my Madone, so I am guessing it would be like testing a Ginsu at twenty-five mph!
Levi surged in the final kilometer, and held off the rest of the attackers and cruised across the line taking a ten second bonus with him! Congrats to Team Radio Shack, and to the High Priest LSquared! Trek is looking good because of his fine ride today!
In the Vuelta with approximately thirty-eight kilometers to go, Mark Cavendish withdrew. I thought he would go for at least one more stage to get a step closer to Eddy Merckx, but Cavendish had tormented himself enough for the summer session. He had moments of brilliance in the Tour de France, but could not endure the heat, and the punishment of the Vuelta just after the tour. There was a small breakaway group that had a two minute gap in the Vuelta as well, with approximately fifteen kilometers to go, but within half of that distance it shrank dramatically. With just seven kilometers to go, the gap closed to thirty seconds and it was like blood in the water to a hungry shark, when the peleton edged closer. The climb was grueling, and the heat was just as bad. In both races, with the Team Time Trials starting the Vuelta riders went from near worst to first finishes in just a days worth of riding. Today would be much of the same. Leopard Trek sprinter Dianele Bennati once in first dropped to mid pack. Team Movi Star rider Pablo Lastras with a brilliant finish yesterday to claim the leaders red jersey, dropped five minutes back today, and now rest among those in the mid pack also. Strong climbing from Frenchmen Sylvain Chavanel of Team Quickstep and Katusha rider, Spaniard Daniel Moreno saw them finish in first and second. So the overall General Classification looks like this:
1. Sylvain Chavanel (QST) Red Jersey
2. Daniel Moreno (KAT)
3. Jakob Fuglsang (LEO)
4. Maxime Monfort (LEO)
5. Vincenzo Nibali (LIQ)
15. Janez Brajkovic (RSH)
16. Haimar Zubeldia (RSH)
The team efforts are as such:
1. Trek Radio Shack (RSH)
5. Trek Leopard (LEO)
Not that I am biased or anything...
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