I couldn’t believe how big the crowds were today on the entire course. Three deep the entire way and I’ve heard estimates of anywhere from half a million to almost three million. It was a sight to be seen, that’s for sure.

Before we’d even started today, news came through that Mathais Frank from Team BMC has already been sent home from the tour. It seems the little used “vampire rule” which clearly states no vampire activity for the duration of the tour has been brought into effect, though I’m not sure they could possibly have any real evidence.

Today’s stage, despite the crowds, was crazy and half the team hit the ground at one stage or another. Klodi’s idea to pay some Dutch idiot 20 Euros to get a dog to run onto the road backfired. It was supposed to run in front of Contador but ended up taking out me, Klodi and Levi. Nasty. Levi whinged a bit about a sore wrist, but he’s a bit soft like that and as I write this, he’s already into the JD and feeling much better.

The finish was a little harsh as well with riders going down faster than a white house intern. Again, we paid AG2R rider Lloyd Mondory to go down and try and take Alberto with him, but all he ended up doing was taking off skin from his ass and Alberto didn’t even notice the crash, because he was too busy checking his nails.

Tonight is a big night in Brussels. Belgium always throws on a great party whenever I’m here, but with the Tour de France, the strip joints are pumping.  Chris Horner has sorted us a VIP table close to the stage at one of the joints he did recon on a few weeks ago.

Tomorrow might be a little tough on the bike, so I want to try and avoid a hangover. Riding into Spa has some classics type climbs and I don’t expect the field to finish together again until Stage Four. Johan says he’s spoken to the other team directors and they’re having a poker night tonight to decide which team gets up for a win tomorrow. We’ll make it look like a real spectacle for the viewer, but really, tomorrow won’t change anything in the GC and will just give some desperately needed TV time to the crap teams. A couple of small climbs, but really only just to get some KOM points out there after the dead flat nature of the Netherlands.

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