STAGE NINE

Kirsipuu dropped out on the first climb today. Strange, for a second there, it seemed like Alexandro Petacchi out there. He dropped out like a champ!

What we saw today was two riders losing out on a chance for victory due to complete stupidity. Simply put, you cannot ever, ever, ever have an escape caught in the last 50 meters. Landaluze and Simeoni spent the last k trying to jockey for position for a final sprint that would never come. Becuase while they were getting cute, the peleton caught up and vaulted their sprinters to the line. I want to say it's a shame, because the pair did enough work to win a stage, but it's not a shame. It's stupidity. And I find it hard to muster up some good vibes for two riders who threw away a stage win over bad tactics.




However, the good news for us was that we got to see the best sprint finish of the Tour. McEwen breat Hushovd and O'Grady in a furious finish which you could tell every sprinter knew was the biggest one for a long time. McEwen is safe in Green for awhile. But Thor's worked his way back into second place.

Now, the mountains, and the race for yellow begins!