Today's stage looked great in profile, but turned out to not be as exciting as yesterday - probably due in large part to the long descent just before the finish. Mountaintop finishes are inevitably more interesting.
The Kazakh national champion Alexandre Vinokourov took off in a breakaway rather early on today, and managed to stay clear (though all but one of his breakaway compatriots eventually popped off the back) until the end. It's a great stage win for a great cyclist - and he moved up a few places in the overall standings between a combination of finishing just over a minute ahead of Lance's group and the time bonus for winning the stage. Lance is still well clear of his main rivals, including Vino, going into the flatter stages that lie between here and the Pyrenees over the weekend.
In a more stunning turn, CyclingNews.com is reporting that Italian cyclist Dario Frigo was arrested in France after performance-enhancing drugs were found in his wife's car. What's particularly shocking is that in 2001 Frigo served a six-month ban from the sport after doping substances were found in his hotel room. Clearly, he didn't learn from that experience. (And frankly, he got completely swindled on whatever drugs he bought, because he was totally sucking this Tour. At least when he was doping before, he was winning. And yes, I'm being more than a little tongue-in-cheek here.)
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