I talked a lot of smack awhile back about the complete and utter dominance of Mr. LA, and I’ve stayed out of the first 10 days of discussion, because it didn’t really matter until todays stage. This was the day that has happened nearly every year he has won the tour. All bullshit aside, it is his race to lose, and it always has been. Repeating myself from a month ago, there is just no one who can day in, and day out, ride this hard and recover. Yes, he has a great team, and they are all great riders in their own rights. But they are not Lance. There is a whole train of his former great domestics who are team leaders out there, and they just cannot go the whole way and recover. It was much easier to shine when they could cherry pick their efforts on certain stages, and work hard and drop off on other stages. The winner of this race has to be on all the time, no pulling on the lane line, or turning around in the middle of the pool. The early fast pace this year has just accelerated the demise of the pretenders, and that is why it is no suprise that they all folded their tents today. I really like Rasmussen, said it after his solo effort a couple days ago. For him to be able to hang today after one of the toughest days you can imagine, says a lot about the guy. He can’t tt for shit, but he may not have to if he just hangs on Lance’s wheel through the mountains. I can see these guys having huge time gaps after this week, and a podium for Rasmussen is in the cards I believe…
It ain’t over until the the last ITT. Lance could have a bad meal and “stomach problems” in one stage and be in real trouble just as Basso did at the Giro. The fat lady is warming the voice but hasn’t been invited on stage yet.