Charteau wins the Polka Dot jersey, though French Police still fail to locate his neck.
Knowing how today was such an important stage of the tour, I think most other teams opted to play poker. Everyone was talking about it. They talked a lot about their dealer in particular. They must have been getting good cards too because heaps of them commented how they got the “good stuff” from the dealer.
On a completely separate note that is definitely not related to poker, Pettachi is being investigated in a drugs probe. I’m not sure if it was the hand gestures he made when crossing the finish line earlier in the tour or the massive amounts of blood doping equipment and EPO found in the team hotel, but either way, as always, I’m sure they’ll find him to be clean. Anyone who thinks there is even the smallest amount of drug use in our sport is kidding themselves (there’s massive amounts).
President Sarkozy tries to call someone who cares (there was no answer)
On a personal note, I became a father again last night (allegedly) for the 47th time. I still claim it’s not mine, but it’s hard to argue following the release of the sex tape with the same girl. I can’t believe I agreed to sell that now, but it was one of my finest performances and some of the camera angles are pretty hot.
So I awoke this morning fresh and ready to go, although I just wasn’t sure where I was. After realising the twins didn’t speak English, I hastily gathered my things and exited through a nearby window, only just making the start in time.
After so many days of unrelenting heat, it was a relief to see some overcast and rainy weather. Drinking in the sun really does take it out of you and on today’s stage, the last thing I wanted to do was forgo the Bourbon in favour of Gatorade up the final climb (although Levi opted for Gatorade and vodka).
Lance finishes atop the Tourmalet still riding the same bike he used on his first Tour back in 1933
Levi started the stage looking to get closer to the podium in Paris, though after spotting a clan of sexy chicks shortly before the last climb, Johan reckons he lost at least 4 minutes somehow off in the bushes.
For me on the other hand, it was individual stage glory I was after and although conditions were perfectly in my favour (there were no cameras to see my in the fog, so I hitched a ride up until 2km to go), I still came up short of the poker buddies Alberto and Andy. 3rd however on such a tough stage on which to cheat was certainly a fine performance for me and significantly boosted me up the GC.
Although the sheep failed to cause the carnage I expected, it was a welcome surprise for Kiwi Julian Dean
As for my plans to take out the leaders in the tour, well one out of two wasn’t bad. I successfully took out half the Euskatel team after dropping an oil slick from the rear of my bike early on, although I was upset to see Sanchez regained consciousness fairly quickly. My other plan was not so successful. It was what I had been planning for all tour and I was sure no one would expect it. Out of the fog came “rogue” sheep right in front of the main contenders. It was perfectly planned and executed, with one exception. It was supposed to be on the descent. Damn French farmers. Those sheep were supposed to cause blood and tears the likes of which the tour has never seen (since Cadel earlier this year).
For tonight, we celebrate coming out of the mountains. For Lance, it is his last difficult mountain stage in a career spanning 48 years (until he makes a John Farnham esque comeback in 2014). I can’t wait to see how much the big fella drinks tonight!
Tomorrow is a fairly boring and straight forward sprint stage. We’ll let some noofas go in the break including a rider from Footon, B-box, Cofidis etc and then hang them out to dry like complete muppets before riding over the top of them with 4km to go. For me, there are a few nice pubs along the way, so it should be a fairly leisurely pace. Paris is so close you can smell it (or that may just be Jani having not showered since the start of the tour).
