Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

Alexander Vinokourov tried to get back some time overall in the GC to Lance Armstrong with a day long breakaway that included some big names. In the end the break whittled down to Vino and Santiago Botero who both had the same mission, get back time on Lance. Botero jumped up to 6th place while Vino jumped up to 12th. Not a huge chunk of time to take out of Armstrong, but anytime gained back is helpful.

After the epic and unexplained cracking yesterday,Vinokourov was out for redemption. Joined by a group that included Roberto Heras, Chris Horner and others, the break gained a significant amount of time. The Discovery Channel team worked at the front of the ever shrinking peloton, setting a high tempo to gradually bring back the break and keep the advantage down. The Disco’s were probably OK with giving Vino and Botero a minute, as they both lost much more in the previous day.

Vino must feel like a neutered pet now that he lost so much time on yesterday’s stage. The Disco’s allowed him to go off the day long break and gradually reel him in. Look for more crazy moves from Vino and others that will try to break Discovery’s hold on the yellow. The challengers are down but not out, so Discovery has quite a bit of work to do before July 24th.