Polite Dissent

The last of the true mountain stages, there was little change in the standings today. Lance Armstrong retains a 2:49 lead over his nearest rival, Ivan Basso.

Tomorrow’s stage is the longest stage, and while flatter than the past few days, still has some good peaks. While the battle for the yellow jersey is for all intents and purposes over, keep an eye on the battle over the green jersey (the sprinter’s jersey) and the polka-dot jersey (the king of the mountains) because there’s still life in those fights (particularly among the sprinters. The green jersey probably won’t be decided until the last day on the ride into Paris).

Other than the sprinters’ battles, the Tour will be fairly quiet untilSaturday, the second-to-last day (Stage 20). It’s the final individual time trial and will be the last chance Basso has at defeating Armstrong (unlikely), but keep an eye on 4th place Jan Ullrich who is a powerful time trial-er and wants third place very badly.

American Racers

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