Archive: July 22, 2010

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TDF stage 17 / climb! / battle royale on the Tourmalet ends in draw; Schleck wins but Contador keeps yellow

Thursday,  07/22/10  10:11 PM

Today featured the ultimate mountain battle - three amazing climbs culminating in a mountaintop finish on the HC Col du Tourmalet - and Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador fought to a draw, with Schleck winning the stage (by about a wheel) and Contador keeping the yellow jersey. After the usual break took off - doomed, as everyone knew, because the GC contenders would fight it out on the final climb - the peloton settled in and cruised over the first couple of Cat 1 climbs, descended into the valley, and then the hostilities began.  Schleck's Saxobank team put down the hammer, and ground down the peloton to a small group of elite riders.  At that point Schleck attacked, and only Contador could stay with him.  They rode as hard as two guys can ride all the way up the steep climb, each attacking the other, and neither gave an inch.  In the end Schleck won, but you could see Contador could have sprinted for the line, but choose not to...  he kept his yellow jersey (by 8s), and most observers believe he'll open the gap substantially in Saturday's time trial.  It was great to watch. Meanwhile Sammy Sanchez survived a nasty crash early in the day to recover and keep third position, opening his slim lead over Denis Menchov slightly.  Big winners on the day included Chris Horner and Ryder Hesjedal, losers included Levi Leipheimer and team Casse d'Epargne, who lost ground to Radio Shack in the team competition.  (Lance hung tough on that final climb, as did Andreas Kloden, giving the Shack a good top three for the day.) A cool side note: after the break formed Carlos Sastre attacked, and he stayed out most of the day until he was caught midway up the final climb.  Good for him; it didn't work, but it was great to see him try it. And so ... tomorrow we have a pure sprint stage, and then it is Saturday's time trial which will decide the winner.  The green jersey also lies in the balance with points available tomorrow and Sunday.  And chapeau to Anthony Charteau who has won the polka dot jersey as King of the Mountains... [ Tour de France 2010: all posts | index ]

 

thinking Thursday

Thursday,  07/22/10  10:24 PM

Wow, where to start?  I've had an amazing couple of days, but if I tell you that and no more would it be a tease?  I can report I've been working a lot, and working out, and riding; did a nice loop around Miramar Air Base yesterday, that was fun, with the theme from Top Gun playing in my head...  and I am now back home after a battle with traffic*, and of course blogging. I've been reliving my past a bit; thinking about stuff that happened to me a long time ago, and how it influences me today...  perhaps a think piece ahead on this, who knows.  We have so much control over our lives, more than we realize, and you can make big changes in your life just by changing the way you feel about it at any time. While my brain churns (as I take out my "who do I want to be" box :), a filter pass... Paul Graham: The Top Idea in Your Mind.  "I realized recently that what one thinks about in the shower in the morning is more important than I'd thought... I'd say it's hard to do a really good job on anything you don't think about in the shower."  Fascinating, because one way to view his point is that you can only be working with one box at a time...  Paul is male, so I wonder ... would a female "philosopher of business" have the same insight? :)  We are still hunting for the killer app for the iPad, and yet sales have blasted off...  My Mom is loving hers, but I still can't figure out what to do with mine except play with it.  I'm open to the possibility that I'm missing something here, can anyone help?  There is a suggestion in the BusinessWeek article about 'personal information dashboards' ... huh.  Would have to see it to get it, I think...  Apropos, Dave Winer considers Flipboard and reading surfaces.  Flipboard could definitely be considered a 'personal information dashboard'...  Glenn Reynolds: Taking photos in public places is not a crime.  It just seems that way sometimes...  Comic Sans fights back.  I love it.  The whole fight about a type face is pretty comical :)  News you can use: What Duran Duran taught me about girls.  "...bringing people together is what music has always done best."  So, I'm Ole, and I like Duran Duran.  Consider it The Reflex...  Blue Holes: Amazing underwater caves in the Bahamas.  Wow, just when you think you've seen it all, you realize "it all" is so much more than you thought... even just on Earth.  MG Siegler: HP wants to become Apple, and WebOS is the key.  Absolutely.  Haven't had one for a while, but here's our ZooBorn of the day: a baby Hyraxes.  Did you know?  "Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) look like very large guinea pigs but actually are most closely related to elephants."  Only ... smaller.  Finally: The longer you sit, the shorter your lifespan.  In other words... get off your ass and live!  * PS traffic won

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