Today's stage: Another transitional stage, but this one came with a late category 2 climbs and a difficult technical descent to the finish.
Who won the stage? Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) got in the breakaway again, got dropped on the climb, clawed back and won a sprint to the finish line over countryman Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) after being setup by Garmin teammate Ryder Hesjedal.
What matters in the GC race? A whole lot. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), but his lead is down to 1'45” over Cadel Evans (BMC) who is now in second with Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) in third. Further down, Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) lost a lot of time on the climb and descent. Sammy Sanchez (Euskatel) and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) worked with Evans before being dropped but gained time on everyone else.
What matters in the other competitions?
Green Jersey (best sprinter): Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) continues to lead this competition. He lost a couple of points to JJ Rojas (Movistar) but not enough to threaten his lead.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains): No changes here as the breakaway absorbed all the points on the climbs. Jelle Vanendert (Omega-Pharma Lotto) continues to hold a slim lead over Sanchez.
White Jersey (Best Young Rider): No changes here before we really go mountain climbing tomorrow. Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky) continues to lead over Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar) going into the stages that will decide this competition.
Biggest surprise: Andy Schleck got dropped. Shockingly, Schleck blew up on a simple category 2 climb today. The result was Evans, Contador and Sanchez riding away from him. Then Schleck was uncomfortable on the descent, making matters worse as all the other top contenders rode away from him too. He was the last of the GC guys to finish and it hurt him in the standings. With his lack of time trial ability, fourth place over three minutes behind means the end of his hopes of winning barring something spectacular.
Biggest disappointment: None really. From the frantic search for who would get in the breakaway for over half of the stage to the fireworks on the climb with Contador attacking and Schleck cracking to the stage ending with the two surviving Garmin men from the breakaway perfectly setting up the stage, this was one of the best stages of the year and the first with real time gaps not aided by crashes.
Other items of note: The race went around Beloki corner today on the descent. On that corner in 2003 Joseba Beloki crashed badly, breaking his femur in two places. To avoid the crash, Lance Armstrong went off roading, jumping off his bike at one point to stay in the race.
There was one crash on the corner today by Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) but it wasn't serious... The breakaway didn't get away until well over the halfway point as every stage hunter wanted into the break and many potential problem people for one team of another kept getting into it. Uran's Team Sky was never going to let Jeannesson get loose like he tried to do today nor was Cavendish's HTC-High Road team going to let Rojas free in the break because of points considerations.
What is coming tomorrow? A stage that looks a lot like stage 9 in the Massif Central. There are five categorized climbs including the cat 1 climb to Sestriere. The stage finishes on a descent from a category 2 climb like today. It looks tailormade for one final breakaway to stay away. Maybe Vanendert goes for the points and the chance to seal the final Polka Dot jersey for the King of the Mountains.
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