Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski

The order of the top three in the Tour did not get shuffled, but everyone is closer in time. This will probably not matter as Levi has already declared he will not challenge Evans for the number to spot and pull a “Vinokourov” on him. The reference to Vino is from two years ago when Alexandre Vinokourov took fifth place from Levi Leipheimer by sprinting for bonus times on the final day. This is a day that is usually considered an off day for overall GC contenders. The sprint seconds are really meant for the Green Jersey contenders.

Levi Leipheimer stormed to a very impressive TT win making it the forth fastest TT in Tour de France history. At certain points it looked like Levi could pull out enough time to win the Yellow Jersey. It was 31 seconds to far, but Leipheimer can take solace in the fact that teammate Alberto Contador defended the Yellow Jersey.

The cycling cognoscenti all thought that Cadel Evans could overtake Contador in the final TT. It was close, 23 seconds is all that was left of a 1:50 lead at the start. Contador put in a great performance to retain his Yellow and win his first Tour at the young age of 24. Lance Armstrong was on hand in the Discovery camp to lend motivation. The Disco men must have been motivated since Yaroslav Popovych and George Hincapie put in very impressive times to also win the team competition.

Other notable events from the TT include David Millar’s two wrecked disc wheels. The first had the rim separate from the carbon disc only a few meters from the start house. Millar had to stop again a few meters later as the wheel was not put on tight enough and twisted as he applied power. Not a great day for the Saunier Duval racer who is strongly rumored to join Jonathan Vaughter’s Team Slipstream next year.