Tour de France Recap - Stage 16, July 20th

Okay, If Andy Schleck can forgive Contador for his questionable, to some, attack during his mechanical yesterday, the least I can do is forget. I'll bet we see a heck of a battle on Thursday's stage 17 though. Most commentators believe that Andy Schleck will need 1 to 1.5 minutes to fend off what Contador can gain in the  in the long Time Trial on Saturday.

Lance said that he had this stage 'dogearred' in his race booklet and he gave it his all in an effort to take a stage win in his last Tour, but it was not to be. He was determined to be sure, even going for a 'warm up' spin with a couple of his teammates before tacking the 200 km full-on mountain stage. He went it alone until he got some partners willing to work hard. Radio Shack teammate Chris Horner rode himself into the ground to reel back Carlos Barredo (you remember him from stage 7 as the wheel wielding combatant) who broke away with 40km to go for a courageous solo effort. It was very exciting nonetheless as I found myself standing up the last 3km in anticipation. Finishing sixth in a group of eight, Lance noted that he wasn't the oldest in the break, that moniker was attached to French great Christophe Moreau. Frenchman Fridrigo, won the fifth stage of this Tour for the home country.

A big day this Thursday, but first a much needed rest day. Good thing. I'm tired.

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Adieu.