Vuelta a Espana Final Review - Contador wins overall, Degenkolb wins final stage

Today's Stage: The final sprint in Madrid. Nothing other than a stage win and the Green and Combined Jerseys on the line.

Who won today's stage? It was a sprint. John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) hadn't won one of those in awhile, but he took today's easily over Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale). The win was Degenkolb's fifth stage win of the race, easily confirming himself as the best sprinter in this weakened field of sprinters (most stayed away because of the mountainous nature of this Vuelta course that gave them few stages to target.

Final GC: No changes today, as expected in the final General Classification. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) finished with the main group to confirm his overall victory followed by Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha). Here is the final top 10:

1 Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff)

2 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +1'16”

3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) +1'37”

4 Chris Froome (Team Sky) +10'16”

5 Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +11'29”

6 Robert Gesink (Rabobank) +12'23”

7 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) +13'28”

8 Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) +13'41”

9 Igor Anton (Euskatel) +14'01”

10 Benat Intxausti (Movistar) +16'13”

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – Valverde took sixth on the stage in the sprint while Rodriguez finished outside of the points. This allowed Valverde to overtake Rodriguez and steal the jersey on the final day (the second year in a row this has happened as Bauke Mollema overtook Rodriguez to win the jersey in Madrid last year). Here is the final top 5:

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 199

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 193

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) 161

John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 149

Daniele Bennati (RSNT) 107

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) sealed this jersey early on the Bola del Mundo stage. His work done, he sat up and slowed home after that and today with the Mountains jersey and a stage win in his pocket. Here is the final top 3:

Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) 63

David de la Fuente (Caja Rural) 40

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 36

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Rodriguez had led this jersey for so long that it may have seemed impossible to catch him, but Valverde did, forging a tie and winning on the tiebreaker of higher in GC Classification. Here is the top 3:

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 8

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 8

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) 10

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – No changes here, Movistar wins easily. Here are the top 3:

Movistar

Euskaltel +9'40”

AG2R La Mondiale +20'19”

Biggest surprise of the race: Alejandro Valverde's performance. Valverde, racing this season coming off a doping suspension was not thought to be a contender here. Heck, he wasn't even his own team leader (that was defending champion Juan Jose Cobo, more on him in a moment). Also, Valverde had struggled through the Tour de France taking one stage where he had to empty the energy tank entirely and likely still would have been caught if not of Team Sky team orders. Given that form and situation, seeing Valverde emerge as Movistar's contender was a big surprise.

Biggest disappointment: Speaking of Mr. Cobo. He was awful. From day one. In the Team Time Trial he lost contact with his team and lost five seconds. Then he was dropped by the leaders on the first mountain stage (good for Movistar staying with Valverde and Intxausti who were obviously in better form). By the end of the race, Cobo had sunk to 67^th place, over 2 hours behind Contador. Just awful, but given his season, this result isn't that bad. If anything, it calls into question the result last year as Cobo had a sudden one year spike ending in a Grand Tour victory while riding for one of the most notorious team managers in the world. With that team gone and Cobo away from him, he was back to domestique level and didn't even reach that in this race.

What's next for the peloton? Some are racing right now at the Tour of Britain while others are in Canada for the second of the World Tour races there (Michael Albasini of Orica-GreenEdge won the first). After those, everyone will converge at the World Champioship's, starting with the new Team Time Trial next Sunday.

Vuelta Stage 16 - Rodriguez extends his lead further

Today's Stage: Circle of Death – Part 3. By far the hardest stage of these three days in the mountains and quite possibly the 'Queen Stage' (that would be hardest stage) of the race (Stage 20 up the Bola del Mundo is also under consideration for 'Queen Stage')

Who won today's stage? Dario Cataldo (OPQS) and Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) battled together for the stage win as the only breakaway survivors. Cataldo was able to drop De Gendt on Cuitu Negru and then survive one of the slowest stage finishes ever. Both Cataldo and De Gendt nearly fell off their bikes in exhaustion just at the sight of the finish line and the final three km took them over 15 minutes to complete.

What matters in the GC race? Overall leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) took the sprint for third over Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff), taking the time bonues and extending his lead again, now up to 28 seconds. Just behind them was Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) who confirmed his podium place in part because Chris Froome (Team Sky) finally exploded, losing over two minutes to the leaders.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – More points for Rodriguez. His lead is now 52 over 4^th place John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano), the main contender considering the other two in between are Valverde and Contador. Rodriguez can seal the jersey with a win on Wednesday or a win atop the Bola del Mundo on Saturday. Even without those, Degenkolb likely needs to win all three remaining possible sprint stages on Thursday, Friday and Sunday to take the jersey. Looks unlikely.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) is now holding on for dear life as the GC men continue to take points on all the uphill and summit finishes. In addition, stage runner De Gendt has appeared in 3^rd place and De Gendt has been very strong in week three of the last two Grand Tours he has entered. I suspect he will be in the breakaway looking for the King of the Mountains win on the Bola del Mundo stage with its three category one climbs before the final run up the huge climb at the end.

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Same as it ever was. Even Froome cracking today changed nothing. Rodriguez still leads (as expected). Valverde is second and Contador is third. Froome is fourth but falling further behind every day as he is in the GC battle.

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – Movistar has really extended this out the last couple of days. With three riders in the top 11 on the stage, they are now over 12 minutes ahead of second place Katusha.

Biggest surprise: Froome exploded as bad as he did. We have seen the signs that this was coming, but it looked like Froome was doing a good job of limiting his losses to a few seconds. Today, that was just not the case. As soon as the leaders went, Froome was with the second tier GC group and was beaten by many of them including Gesink, Ten Dam, Anton and Talansky.

Biggest disappointment: With the exception of Movistar domestique Nairo Quintana, nobody has stayed with the leader the last three days. Just once in this race, I would like to see the likes of Gesink and Talansky attacking with the leaders. Of course that would means risking positions if the attack failed so those riders are content to grind away.

Other items of note: Another two men dropped out of the race today. Pablo Lechuga (Andalucia) and Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) were the two and there are now 17 men out of the race. As a whole, this has been a low-attrition race. The eventual toll of the stage 6 crash in the Tour de France alone was 12, when including those involved who dropped out on later stages.

What is coming tomorrow? Rest day tomorrow and then a long but not very steep ascent up a category 2 climb to finish.

Tomorrow's Prediction: Breakaway. Someone from both Caja Rural and Andalucia will be in it along with those in the mid-teens region on GC looking to sneak away and move into the top 10.

Vuelta Stage 15 - Breakaway succeeds, Favorite wait for Tomorrow'

Today's Stage: Circle of Death – Part 2. The easy one of the three. Only three climbs, but the final one was the fearsome Lagos de Covadonga.

Who won today's stage? Antonio Piedra (Caja Rural) finally chose a correct break for his team (i.e. one that stays away) and paid it off by attacking at the bottom of the Lagos de Covadonga, winning the stage by over 2 minutes.

What matters in the GC race? Overall leader leader Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) finished together, but without Chris Froome (Team Sky) who was dropped and hung on for dear life just to stay with the second group of GC men. Froome lost 35 seconds more on the leaders and saw his chances at the podium start to slip away.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – The breakaway picked up most of the points, but Rodriguez and Valverde did a score a small amount to extend further away from John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano). Rodriguez is the leader but Valverde will be wearing the jersey as Rodriguez is the overall leader.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) didn't get himself in the breakaway today, but he retains his lead here. Rodriguez is 2^nd and Valverde 3^rd as none of the contenders scored points.

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Rodriguez still leads (as expected). Valverde is second and Contador is third. Froome is fourth but falling further behind every day as he is in the GC battle.

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – The entire race was remade today. Movistar had a man in the break and then had another with Valverde. They now lead by 2'52” over Euskatel who also had a man in the break and a domestique with team leader Igor Anton. Former leaders Rabobank have seen their hopes here explode with the cracking of Bauke Mollema the last two days. The team is now over six minutes behind and will need to find a successful breakaway to get the time back.

Biggest surprise: The breakaway got away and stayed away. With the exception of stage four, no breakaways have been allowed to go the whole race. The peloton has limited matters and then swept up the break up with plenty of time to go (Stage 12's breakaway win was an exception to this, but it was never allowed much time and Argos-Shimano just failed in its attempts to pull it back). Today, it just didn't care. The top riders rode tempo until the end and the break enjoyed a huge lead that including Piedra gaining over nine minutes on the leaders (not that it really helps him there as he is still over an hour behind).

Biggest disappointment: Nobody can make an attack stick. While this has been very entertaining, we are most certainly into a pattern with the racing: Contador or Valverde attacks, Rodriguez pegs it back, yo-yo with that for awhile, sometimes Valverde is dropped, Rodriguez wins uphill sprint unless Valverde is still there, then there is a battle for the win. It would be nice to see an attack go and work (see Thomas de Gendt at Giro d'Italia).

Other items of note: Two more casualties of the race bring the total to 15 men out of the race. Olivier Kaisen (Lotto-Belisol) and Rafael Valls (Vaconsoleil) both are out of the race.

What is coming tomorrow? Circle of Death, part 3, the hardest of this circle of climbing. Tomorrow starts with a simple category 3 climb, then climbs two category one climbs before finishing atop the beyond category Cuitu Negru for the first time ever.

Tomorrow's Prediction: Rodriguez will win stage and likely the Vuelta followed by Contador and Valverde, same as its been.

Vuelta Time Trial Day - Rodriguez survives the Race of Truth, lead intact

Today's Stage: Time-trial. The race of truth and the stage that will determine the tactics of the race going forward.

Who won today's stage? Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) shocked everyone by winning his second time tiral of the year. Not that it should have shocked anyone considering he beat Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) in the Tour de Suisse in June.

What matters in the GC race? Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) is known as an awful time trialer. He lost six minutes as the race leader in 2010 and lost the Giro d'Italia on the final day despite riding one of the better time trials of his career. Somehow though, Rodriguez, despite ceding time, retained the overall lead by one second over Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) with a surprising top 10 finish. Still, Rodriguez ceded time to all three of his GC rivals. Contador closed to within a second, Chris Froome (Team Sky) is now 16 seconds down and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is now 59 seconds behind.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) retained the lead, but Rodriguez and Valverde inched a little closer with their unexpected top 10's in the time trial. Tomorrow should bring a change in leadership if not the jersey with over 180km of flat followed by 2km that are basically a wall to climb at the end.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – With a rare climb on the TT parcours, points were given out for three best times on the climb. That went to Kessiakoff, Contador and Froome. Still, Valverde is the leader followed by Rodriguez.

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Rodriguez is going to lead here for the foreseeable future over Valverde. Other than them, only Froome and Contador are even close.

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – There was a big shakeup here as time trials often end up determining the team classification at major races like this one. Rabobank still lead, but the lead is under 2 minutes again and it's Team Sky with Richie Porte finishing in the top 10 along with Froome's top 5 not Ag2R who had been second (they are now 4^th).

Biggest surprise: Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Rodriguez. His time trial ride will end up as the biggest surprise of the entire Vuelta unless someone outside the top 4 manages to somehow win the whole thing (unlikely at best).

Biggest disappointment: Where were the other GC men? I know they aren't challenging the big four on the climbs, but some of them are better than this in the time trial. At the very least, riders like Gesink should be ahead of Rodriguez in a TT, even if he rides the TT of his life.

Other items of note: The abandonment list grew by one yesterday as John Gadret (Ag2R La Mondiale) left the race sick on the rest day. Still, there have been only five abandonments. I expect that to change when the horrifying mountains are reached on Saturday.

What is coming tomorrow? The Wall. Tomorrow has no categorized climbs for 188 km. Then the road tilts uphill for the final two and sheds he sprinters for another GC fight. The gradients on this thing are ridiculous including a section of 30%. The legs will hurt even though the day will likely be easy until the climbs. I expect another heartless, soulless breakaway involving riders who don't want to hurt themselves in the breakaway for nothing other than showing the sponsor.

Tomorrow's Prediction: Stages like this are why some say the course was built for Joaquin Rodriguez. Whether that's true or not, tomorrow does suit him, but it also suits Contador. Rodriguez will win the stage followed by Contador, Valverde then Froome, wh has semmed on the edge of cracking big a couple of time in this race.

Vuelta Stage 9 - One for Opportunists

Today's Stage: Interesting downhill stage away from the mountains towards to Barcelona, with a little category 3 hill near the end to launch attackers.

Who won today's stage? Philippe Gilbert (BMC) won his first race of the season outkicking overall leader Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha). The win has to be a relief for Gilbert considering his struggles this season after winning 18 races last season including the Ardennes sweep.

What matters in the GC race? Rodriguez caught his rivals napping on that little climb at the end, escaping with Gilbert. He beat them all to the line by 12 seconds (except Valverde who was 9 seconds behind) and took a 9 second time bonus for second place on the stage. Rodriguez now leads Chris Froome (Team Sky) by 53 seconds, Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) by 1 minute and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) by 1'07”.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – With the high finish, Rodriguez also took over the lead in this competition. Former leader John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) is tied for second with Valverde. Degenkolb will wear the jersey Tuesday as Rodriguez is the race leader and Degenkolb has three stage wins to Valverde's two.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – Valverde is still the leader here with Rodriguez now second. It will stay this way until Saturday's summit finish atop Puerto de Ancares as there are not enough climbing points on offer for anyone to take the jersey (there are two sprint stages, a stage a lot like stage six and a time trial until then along with a rest day tomorrow).

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Rodriguez ascension to the top of the points standings and second in the mountain standings gives him an amazing score of 4 here. Considering the best possible is 3, he is the leader. Valverde is second, but will be in the mountains jersey. Froome is third and he will be wearing this jersey when the race resumes on Tuesday.

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – No time gaps of note here. Rabobank still leads Ag2r La Mondiale by 2'27”

Biggest surprise: Rodriguez escaped, catching his rivals napping. Before turning into a true Grand Tour contender, this was a built for Rodriguez type of stage (and Gilbert too). They have dueled with each other in the Ardennes classics in recent years and those races have finishes like this one. It seems the other GC men forgot about this as Rodriguez escaped with Gilbert. Though that ended as many of Rodriguez's duels with Gilbert have (in second place to Gilbert), this time it was more about the time than the win.

Biggest disappointment: The other overall contenders were asleep at the wheel. There really isn't any excuse for this. They should know this kind of finish is one Rodriguez has won on before and at least should be alert that he might try to escape at the end.

Other items of note: At the USA Pro Challenge, the climb up Flagstaff Mountain finally separated the top riders. Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare) won the stage, his second big US stage race win after taking a stage at the recent Tour of Utah. More importantly, defending champion Levi Leipheimer (OPQS) attacked up the climb at well, dropping his rivals (Sutherland was a survivor from the breakaway) and moving into the race lead. He now leads last year's runner up Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) by nine seconds and last year's 3^rd place Tejay van Garderen (BMC) by 21 seconds going into a race finishing 15.3 km time trial today... Back to the Vuelta, there have been very few abandonments thus far in the race. Only four in fact. Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) abandoned on stage win with two broken clavicles after crashing in the TTT. David Boucher (FDJ) withdrew on stage 4, and two riders, Yohann Bagot (Cofidis) and Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano) failed to finish stage 8. That is it. There haven't been the crashes that normally mark the Tour de France early on and it has resulted in a relatively in tact peloton thus far.

What is coming tomorrow? Rest day with a transfer to the other side of the country. Then a sprint stage on Tuesday.

Tomorrow's Prediction: Degenkolb, Degenkolb and Degenkolb again. He is the only elite sprinter in this field and he should continue to have his way with the field in any bunch sprint.

Vuelta Stage 8 - And it's a 4-man Race

Today's Stage: Another summit finish. This Vuelta isn't messing around.

Who won today's stage? Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) got his second stage win of the Vuelta, outkicking Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) at the line.

What matters in the GC race? We now know for certain that there are only four men who have a chance to win this Vuelta. Overall leader Joaquin Rodriguez; Chris Froome (Team Sky), 4^th on the stage today and 2^nd overall; Alberto Contador, 3^rd on both the stage and overall; and stage winner Valverde, 4^th overall. These four have been the guys there at the end of every summit finish except the one where Valverde was caught in the crash and these four are the only ones under a minute on GC.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) continues to lead, but with a mountain stage, his lead was cut to 10 points (25 is earned for a stage win). Valverde is second and Rodriguez is third.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – By virtue of his win at the summit, Valverde assumed the lead from Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge). The biggest question is where is David Moncoutie (Cofidis)? Moncoutie has won this classification the last four years, but has yet to score a point this year.

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – Rodriguez and Valverde are now tied, but both of them have another jersey to wear tomorrow. That means 3^rd place Chris Froome will be wearing the white jersey. Have I ever mentioned how this jersey seems redundant given that someone who wins one of the other jerseys will often win this one too?

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – Rabobank may not win the Vuelta, but their climbers are going well if not elite. The squad has three men in the top 10 overall and those three (Gesink, Ten Dam and Mollema) have paced Rabobank to a lead of 2'27” over AG2R La Mondiale. Sky, with its train and domestiques thing it does to set up its team leaders often loses time here on mountain stages despite having a very strong team and today is no exception. They dropped from leading to 3^rd, 2'34” behind.

Biggest surprise: Igor Anton (Euskatel) was there near the end. A few days ago he was in the disappointment section for being dropped on a climb he probably shouldn't have been and then he was one of the first top GC men to crack on stage 6. Still, Anton was good today, losing only 33 second and finishing 7^th on the stage to move back up to 8^th overall.

Biggest disappointment: A challenger to the big four didn't appear today. It certainly seems as though there are others with the legs to challenge Rodriguez, Froome, Contador and Valverde, but they are teammates (Daniel Moreno of Katusha and the Uran/Henao pair for Team Sky). Other than that, there have been high hopes for a Dutch challenge by Gesnik or Mollema, but they have settled firmly into the second tier headed for a top ten finish. If anyone else wants to join this party, it will have to be quick (like on the time trial on Monday).

Other items of note: At the USA Pro Challenge, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) got his second stage win of that race. The riders there have a true summit finish today followed by a time trial to decide things tomorrow. Should be a fun race to watch... Tomorrow brings an important prep race for the upcoming World Championships, the GP Ouest in France. Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) will be back in action there.

What is coming tomorrow? Another sprint stage with a tricky category three climb near the end. If Argos-Shimano doesn't think John Degenkolb can get over the hill, they may not chase and a breakaway might be allowed to go for the second time in the Vuelta (Simon Clarke's win was from a breakaway that was nearly caught on the final climb).

Tomorrow's Prediction: Breakaway wins. Time for the stage hunters to come out and play.

Vuelta Stage 6 - The Stage Where it Officially became better than the Tour de France

Today's Stage: Long mostly flat stage with a punchy category 3 climb at the end. In other words its Joaquin Rodriguez territory as he owns these type of stages normally.

Who won today's stage? Race leader Rodriguez (Katusha) did indeed win the stage dropping Chris Froome (Team Sky) after Froome team had helped him shed everyone else.

What matters in the GC race? The final climb at the end gave up bigger time gaps than either of the two summit finishes so far did. Along with the time bonuses, Rodriguez extended his lead over Froome to 10 seconds. Below them though, the gaps were bigger. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) is now 35 seconds behind Rodriguez and only six men remain within a minute of the lead.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) of course didn't do too much today with the late climb, but he retained his points lead. GC men Rodriguez, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Froome are 2^nd-4^th.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – No changes here. Thre just weren't enough points with the two climbs only being category 3's. Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) is still the leader.

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – After stage 4, I said this is usually a GC guy in this category. I was right, at least so far. Rodriguez leads followed by Valverde, Froome, Contador and 7^th overall Nicholas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale).

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – Teeam Sky's three-headed monstaer of Froome, Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao were all very good while the Rabobank trio of Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam were not. Sky now leads Rabobank by 1'09”.

Biggest surprise: Rodriguez and Froome dropped Contador. This is the type of finish that would seem to suit Contador along with Rodriguez. Though I would favor Rodriguez in the sprint at the end, it was a surprise that the upping of the pace by Sky dropped everyone except Rodriguez.

Biggest disappointment: It seems the legs aren't there entirely for Rabobank. Mollema was the first to be shed today. After that I was Gesink and then Ten Dam. While still in good position for high overall finishes (Gesink is 5^th, Mollema is 8^th and Ten Dam is 12^th), this was disappointing for a team that came with high hopes.

Other items of note: After a few Grand Tours where teammates never finished highly together, it has been interesting to see the rise of teams with multiple high placing again. At the Tour, there was Sky finishing 1-2 of course. Here at the Vuelta, Sky has 1^st, 4^th and 11^th. Rabobank has 5^th, 8^th and 12^th. Even Movistar has 6^th and 10^th (Valverde and a riding himself back into shape Cobo)... At the USA Pro Challenge, there is a new man in the leader's jersey. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) finished in the same time as Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and took the leader's jersey by virtue of a higher position on the stage. Vande Velde's teammate Tom Danielson won the stage.

What is coming tomorrow? A strange looking stage. Rolling hills but no categorized climbs (though if the Vuelta used category 4 for climbing like they do in the Tour de France, I think there would be a couple of them). With the heat and no mountains points on offer, this is a good stage for an opportunist break to go. If Degenkolb's Argos-Shimano team can't or won't chase the breakaway then it will stay away as long as there are no fringe GC men in it.

Tomorrow's Prediction: If a sprint, John Degenkolb, Ben Swift, Elia Viviani. If a breakaway, you have a better chance of hitting big on one number at the roulette wheel. No prediction.

Vuelta a Espana Stage 4 Review - New leader... Again

Today's Stage: Remember yesterday with the early mountaintop finish that would never be seem in the Tour de France. Repeat. Different climb, another mountaintop finish.

Who won today's stage? Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) beat Tony Martin (OPQS) in a two-up sprint at the top of the mountain after they were the only two survivors from the breakaway that went away early in the stage.

What matters in the GC race? There were crosswinds. Crosswinds cause problems. Crosswinds cause lots of problems when a team attacks on the front. This happened before the final climb and it caught race leader Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in a crash when riders were trying to move to the front. Then, in a matter of breaking one of cyclings unwritten rules (sit up and wait for the race leader when he crashes), everyone drilled it on the front of the peloton (more on this later). The peloton collapsed into many different groups and Valverde and his group got left behind, never making it back to the lead group. With this, Movistar sent Benat Intxausti back to help Valverde allowing Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) to assume the race lead. Chris Froome (Team Sky) is one second behind and Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) is five seconds behind.

What matters in the other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – The three stage winners have the most points, but today's stage winner Simon Clarke has the jersey as he picked up points at one of the intermediate sprints today. He has 27 and stage winners Alejandro Valverde and John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) have 25.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – As a mountaintop stage winner that was in the breakaway, Clarke also holds this jersey over yesterday's top breakaway attacker, Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil).

White Jersey (Allround, instead of young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM, lowest score wins) – This category usually ends up going to a GC man with a finishing kick and it already looks that way this year. Joaquin Rodriguez leads followed by Valverde, Chris Froome and Alberto Contador.

Team Classification (top 3 times by team on each stage) – Rabobank leads this competition. That is no surprise as they were highly ranked in the Team Time Trial and have three riders in the top ten overall (Robert Gesink, Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam).Behind them is Team Sky who have three riders within a minute of the overall lead (Chris Froome, Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao).

Biggest surprise: Movistar sent Intxausti back to help Valverde. When they did so, it was obvious Valverde wasn't making it back to the lead group. Given that, Intxausti should have stayed with the lead group in an attempt to retain the leader's red jersey.

Biggest disappointment: Wither Igor Anton (Esukatel). Anton just hasn't been the same rider since blowing up the day after his stage win in the 2011 Giro d'Italia. At that point he had crashed out with the lead in the 2010 Vuelta and won a stage and looked set for the podium in the Giro. After that, he never really fired except for the Basque stage last year. This year, he basically did nothing all season while targeting the Vuelta. And then he cracked today on the climb. Just not good.

Other items of note: About that unwritten rule that was broken: Today was payback. All season long, Movistar has attacked at the time of others misfortune. While others have often sat up when the race leaders crashed, the chance to pay Movistar back for a season of unpopular riding was irresistible and Valverde paid for it by giving up his leader's jersey... At the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) turned himself inside out to get over the climb and then blew everyone away in the final sprint. Today that race finishes at Crested Butte where Levi Leipheimer (OPQS) won last year to take the race lead and set himself up for his GC victory.

What is coming tomorrow? Sprint stage. The most obvious one of the whole race outside of the final stage in Madrid. It is a circuit race with seven 21km circuits around Logroño.

Tomorrow's Prediction: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano), Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale), Ben Swift (Orica-GreenEdge)

Vuelta Stage 3 Review - Exciting Mountain Racing Returns (Thanks Contador)

Today's Stage: A stage 3 Mountaintop finish. And it ended up being great racing, better than anything involving the GC men at the Tour de France.

Who won today's stage? Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) beat Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) in a photo finish after Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) attacked six times climbing up the mountain. There were only four riders at the end but a false flat near the end allowed a group of 10 riders to bridge back to only a six second gap.

What matters in the GC race? Valverde also took the red leader's jersey with his stage win as he was on the winning team in the opening TTT and also got a 12 second time bonus for the stage win. Valverde teammate Benat Intxausti is second as he finished with the second group. The other three lead group riders, Rodriguez, Contador and Tour de France runner up Chris Froome (Team Sky) are 3^rd-5^th. Most of the other contenders for top positions are still in good position as they finished in the second group. That included the Rabobank pair of Robert Gesnik and Bauke Mollema, Igor Anton (Euskatel) and key domestiques Daniel Moreno (Katusha) and Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky). Of note among those losing time were John Gadret (Ag2r La Mondiale), Damiano Cunego (Lampre), Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) and Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil)

What matters in the other competitions? This section will be hiatus until after the summit finish on stage four.

Biggest surprise: The sheer amount of aggression. There was more aggression amongst the GC men on this final climb than there was the entire Tour de France (minus Nibali). While most of that was Contador, Valverde also put in a couple of digs as did Rodriguez. Even Anton, despite finishing in the second group upped the pace at the front at one point.

Biggest disappointment: Defending champion Juan Jose Cobo (Movistar) hasn't been in good form. We know that. Still, he was out of the front group before Contador started his digs. Given his teammates Valverde and Intxausti are 1-2 overall, Cobo should be ready to be fetching water bottles and pacing his teammates up the climbs for the rest of the rest of the race.

Other items of note: Many of the top riders in the world are at the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. That is starting today with an interesting stage that will likely end in a select sprint amongst GC men. Part of that is the climbing on the stage (there is a lot) and part of that is the altitude as the sprinters who can climb normally could make it on this type of stage... Tactically, this stage was very interesting. The job of chasing the breakaway was left to Movistar who had the race leadership. Once it was evident the break would be caught, Team Sky came to the front to try their train thing that worked so well at the Tour de France. It didn't work. Contador, Valverde and Rodriguez are just the type of riders who will uncaringly attack the train in high risk moves. With more than one of them (only Nibali fit that bill in the Tour), the train is much more likely to crack and while Froome was never isolated (Uran was in the second group), he certainly won't be getting to the final climb of each stage with five domestiques at his disposal like his teammate Bradley Wiggins did at the Tour.

What is coming tomorrow? More mountains. Tomorrow is summit finish number two. It is not terribly difficult, but it is longer than today's finish was. Expect more aggression especially as it is a true summit finish as opposed to toady when the summit was 2 km from the finish.

Tomorrow's Prediction: Alberto Contador, Joaquin Rodriguez, Robert Gesink (Rabobank)

Vuelta a Espana Stage 1 TTT Review

There are two things wanted by most neutral fans in a Team Time Trial. A close, suspenseful race and unintentional comedy (who can forget Skil-Shimano riding with half their team in a ditch on a farm after overshooting a turn during the 2009 Tour de France TTT). Today, we got both as one team crashed (not seriously) and the final team to race won the stage after a number of close calls for potential lead changes.

The rundown, team by team in reverse order of finish with prospects for the rest of the race.

Caja Rural: As expected, this team finished last. They are pretty much allergic to the time trial as a discipline and also have no prospects for GC on the roster. This is the Spanish version of the Pro Continental team that is here to be sacrificed to everybody else. The goal is simply to get into breakaways and maybe steal a stage win somewhere.

Garmin-Sharp: Normally, this is one of the best TTT teams in the world. They won the TTT at the Giro and also recently at the Tour of Utah (though none of the Utah riders are here) and also finished 8^th with about a C- level team in the TTT at the Eneco Tour. Things started out nicely (early leader at the first time check) before a crash killed their chances (unintentional comedy checked off) and hurt Andrew Talansky's hopes for a top 10 on GC. Talansky is nearly 1'30 behind the leaders already.

Andalucia: The other Spanish Pro Continental sacrifice, Andalucia has few well-known riders and will be looking for breakaways the whole race. This was still a decent race for them despite 20^th place as they were within 10 seconds of Lampre and RadioShack.

Argos-Shimano: The former Skil-Shimano has improved greatly since the horrible TTT in the 2009 Tour de France referenced earlier, but they still aren't good. This team figures to be working hard tomorrow as they brought the best sprinter in the field (John Degenkolb) so it is likely they didn't work super hard on this stage, especially with no GC contender on the team.

FDJ: Only in this race because World Tour rules say they have to be, FDJ didn't send anyone of note to the race (Arnold Jeannesson is the best and his claim to fame is being the guy who got hurt allowing Thiabult Pinot to ride the Tour de France) and will be on the Caja Rural/Andalucia breakaway plan.

RadioShack: Good luck and Godspeed. This team seems like it is collapsing in on itself with all the insanity going on and no results to speak of outside of Fabian Cancellara's first week of the Tour de France. The team lined up here doesn't look great, but maybe that will be better for a team that hasn't looked much like a team for most of the season and has been even worse off since Andy Schleck was injured during the Criterium du Dauphine in June. Even with Maxime Monfort here, this appears to be a rudderless ship.

Lampre: They can't do TTT's. They showed that on home roads in the Giro. That and a team built around Cunego looks likely to disappoint, especially since Cunego is more likely to be targeting the World Championships (on a course suited for his talents) and the Giro di Lombardia. I have no expectations for this team. None, whatsoever.

Cofidis: An ok ride in this TTT, but this race is about one thing and one thing only: getting David Moncoutie one last Vuelta King of the Mountains victory before he rides off into retirement.

Liquigas: Question A for this team is if they are even going to exist two months from now. Given the exodus of riders and lack of those entering the team (that we know of), it seems like the team is collapsing with Liquigas pulling out as a sponsor next year. Question B is what on Earth are they doing here? The two star GC men of the team (Nibali and Basso) are in the United States for the US Pro Cycling Challenge starting on Monday and team leader Eros Capecchi has seemed to have maxed out as a domestique career wise. Also, Peter Sagan is in Germany and up and coming start Moreno Moser is in the United States with Nibali and Basso. Whatever, given the low level roster this team brought, Liquigas put in a good ride today.

Vacansoleil: Lost 35 seconds which isn't great for Thomas de Gendt, but this team has brought a bunch of breakaway artists along with de Gendt. Not great support for a possible Grand Tour podium run (though de Gendt had basically no support for his podium at the Giro). I wonder what this team will do in the ongoing transfer season to support de Gendt as he is obviously far more talented than most imagined.

Ag2r: Considering the two stars of the team (John Gadret and Nicolas Roche, who hate each other by the way) can't time trial, only losing 34 seconds and finishing in 12^th place is a great ride for this team. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see what happens as Roche is leaving the team for Saxo Bank at the end of the season. Is Roche on his own, especially if Gadret is close to him in the standings, and will Roche work to support Gadret if called upon to do so?

Astana: Anything this team does here is gravy on top of an incredibly successful season. They won the Amstel Gold, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Olympics and two stages of the Giro. Still, I expect at least a stage win somewhere long the line as Tour de France KoM runner up Fredrik Kessiakoff and early Giro contenders before fading Paolo Tiralongo are here.

Orica-GreenEdge: A disappointing result today after winning at Eneco. It shows the value of a top level individual time trialist (Svein Tuft who won the ITT at Eneco after pacing the team in the TTT). This team doesn't look super strong though and I expect little out of them here.

Euskatel: That Euskatel managed to finish a TTT in the top 10 with Samuel Sanchez not in the team is bordering on miraculous. This could mean good things for the carrots as team leader Igor Anton is not starting 90 seconds behind this year. The team should animate stage 3 as it is a home stage for them. The biggest question, other than Anton's form is his bike handling. He crashed out as the leader in 2010 and also crashed out in 2008.

Katusha: That they finished with a good result isn't as surprising as it was when they finished second in the Giro. Joaquim Rodriguez has obviously improved as a time trialist (even if he's still below average) and Denis Menchov is here to support him as well. This is one of the teams with legitimate GC ambitions as Rodriguez was second at the Giro. If he falters, Menchov has won three Grand Tours and Daniel Moreno has a similar skill set as Rodriguez and could factor into the equation as well.

Saxo Bank: It's a about Contador. Alberto Contador, coming off his suspension, rode at the front of the team all race today. The team is all in for Contador and will be hoping the long layoff without racing won't have hurt his explosiveness too much. With only two seconds lost to rival Chris Froome, this was a successful day.

Lotto-Belisol: The team of Jurgen Van Den Broeck did quite well today and Van Den Broeck will be happy not to have to share domestiques with a big sprinter like he had to with Andre Griepel at the Tour de France. Good start today.

Team Sky: It was a big shock when they didn't take the lead today with Chris Froome and Richie Porte on the roster. Still, this is a really strong climbing team with Froome as the lead man and Porte, Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao on the roster to try and control the race just as the Tour de France was controlled.

BMC: No major GC threats. Just redemption today after a crash filled debacle in the TTT at Eneco where they lost over 2 minutes. The team brings Philippe Gilbert and Alessandro Ballan building form for the World Championships and maybe an outside GC threat (top 10) with Brent Bookwalter.

Omega Pharma Quick Step (OPQS) – This team is mostly building form for the World Championships as well. Maybe Tony Martin would have a prayer on a flatter course, but this thing is most certainly not flat. Still a good result today for a team that has a lot of good time trialers on the roster.

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Rabobank: Team redemption is off to a good start with a second place today. Still, today isn't what ultimately matters on this team. It is keeping Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema upright and getting the through to the finish both in the top 10 on GC with one of them preferably on the podium.

Movistar: The huge shock of the day. Nobody expected a TTT win from Movistar. Out of 36 fans on the podiumcafe predictor game, only one thought Movistar would finish in the top 5. Despite the win, there is still reason for Movistar to worry. Defending Vuelta champion JJ Cobo was dropped at the end and didn't finish with the team (he lost five seconds). This is troubling to say the least.

Vuelta a Espana (aka kill the peloton with climbs) Preview

It's Vuelta time

After the highs of the Tour de France and the Olympics and a long season already, the cycling peloton (minus a few top riders that either are done for the year or with US leanings) heads to Spain for the Vuelta a Espana. Normally, the Vuelta is the red-headed stepchild of the three Grand Tours, drawing a weaker field reserved for Spaniards who aren't going to ever win the Tour de France, riders that crashed out of the Tour de France and those that targeted the Giro d'Italia and need some late season racing. This year though, a combination of factors has seemingly elevated the Vuelta above it's normal perch.

The field: Last year, JJ Cobo (now Movistar, then the now defunct Geox-TMC) shocked the cycling world, coming from nowhere to beat out of nowhere Chris Froome (Team Sky) and a recovering from crash Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) on a course that didn't suit Wiggins nearly like the recent Tour de France course that Wiggins won on did. This year, Cobo is about the 6^th choice in the field. While part of that is Cobo (the guy has done basically nothing all season), part of that is the rest of the field. It is one of the strongest Vuelta fields I have ever seen.

Starting at the top, we have Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff). Contador hasn't raced all season because of his suspension, but he is still the best Grand Tour rider in the peloton and is also by far the most explosive attacker in the mountains. He enters as the favorite despite little racing up to this point (he did finish 4^th overall at the recent Eneco Tour in his first race back after the suspension).

Also, Froome is back and while he was beaten by Cobo last year, that was by a combination of time bonuses and Froome waiting for Wiggins on the Angliru climb allowing Cobo to get away. Beyond that, Froome is much more of a favorite than Cobo in part because he followed up his Vuelta breakthrough last year with an equally impressive result in the Tour de France (2^nd to his teammate Wiggins). The big question about Froome is how he will recover from his Tour de France effort and the Olympic effort that followed (Froome raced for Great Britain in the road race and then won the Bronze Medal in the time trial).

Beyond the two favorites and the defending champion Cobo, the two podium finishers from the Giro are also here. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was likely salivating at the thought of this course, until Contador's suspension came down and allowed him to race here. Rodriguez does everything Contador does, just not as well. If Contador is off form, Rodriguez could find himself in a similar position to the Giro, battling for the race lead into the final days. The big difference here is that the time trial that cost Rodriguez the win at the Giro is much earlier, allowing him to retake time in the mountains that remain after that.

Giro 3^rd place Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil) is also here for his first meaningful riding post-Giro (he got married on the day of the first stage of the Tour de France). In his last two Grand Tours, de Gendt has been incredibly strong in the final week and especially the final days of the race (at the 2011 Tour, he was five on both the Alpe d'Huez stage and the time trial and then won the Passo del Stevio stage at the Giro and finished in the top five of the time trial there as well). If he can keep from losing time early in the race (no easy task, especially here), de Gendt could be a threat for the podium again in the final week.

Also, the crashed and wrecked contingent of the Tour de France is stronger this season than in recent years. In particular, Rabobank's Dutch pair of Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema are both here. Gesink has long been tapped for Grand Tour success because of his incredible climbing ability (which he used to win the Tour of California on the Mount Baldy stage in May), but he generally struggles to stay on his bike, crashing with regularity. His teammate Mollema was 4^th in this race last season but was caught along with Gesink and entire Garmin team in the stage 6 crash in the Tour de France. He will be looking to rebound and save a particularly disappointing season.

The route: The other thing that has upped the Vuelta's prestige this season is the route, especially after a couple of average bordering on dull and totally uninspired routes at the Giro and the Tour. (Seriously, the Giro, while great in the final week was dull as can be for the two weeks before that and the Tour de France was suffocated by the two long time trials without enough mountains close to the finish to dent the Team Sky train).

Here, there are mountains and summit finishes pretty much everywhere. Enough that I expect everyone in the peloton to crack at least once during the race. The key thing is to manage the race, not crack on a key stage, and limit the time losses when the inevitable crack comes.

The mountains start right off the bat with summit finishes in stages 3 and 4. After that there is a mix of sprints, uphill finishes and a time trial (along with a summit finish in Andorra on stage 8). Then the race gets insane. Stages 14-16 are all summit finishes with the stage 16 finale a monstrous climb to Cuitu Negru that includes ramps up to 23% in gradient. Still, that is not the climax. The climax comes on the second to last day when the Bola del Mundo makes its return after a one year absence on a stage with three category one climbs and a category 2 climb before the peloton even reaches the foot of the fearsome Bola del Mundo. Needless to say, with 10 summit finishes in the race, this is a spectacle for the climbers (and one that likely will kill the legs of any serious contenders here before the World Championships and the Giro di Lombardia for those that will target those races).

Final pick: Contador. He will struggle early in the race, likely ceding time on stage 3 or stage 4 before getting his legs under himself and smashing the field on stage 14-16 and possibly again at Bola del Mundo.

Olympic Time Trial Review

LONDON - Road cycling is basically the Bradley Wiggins show now. Wiggins (Great Britain) followed up his recent Tour de France overall victory with a Gold Medal in the Individual Time Trial today. The win was no shock as Wiggins gained much of his huge Tour de France lead on the back of his time trial abilities (he was second in the prologue and won both long time trials).

In the time trial Wiggins beat World Champion Tony Martin (Germany) by 42 seconds after trailing at the first time check, but that was expected as Wiggins gets much better as time trials go on and Martin is still recovering from his injuries both in the early season and in his stage 1 crash at the Tour de France.

Further down the standings, Tour de France runner up (and Wiggins teammate) Chris Froome (Great Britain) took the bronze over Taylor Phinney (United States). For Phinney, the result was his second 4^th of the Olympics. While a disappointment for him to not medal, he is only 22 and will have many chances over the coming year in both the Olympics and World Championships.

As for defending champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), he finished 7^th while obviously uncomfortable on his bike after his crash in the road race on Saturday. Still, he gave a good effort as he was 3^rd at the first time check and 4^th and the other two before fading at the end.

For Wiggins, the win caps one of the greatest seasons in road cycling history. Nobody had managed to win the week-long stage races of Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine in the same season. It got better after that with his Tour de France win (the crown jewel of the wins) and then he added the cherry on top with his time trial victory today.

In addition, Wiggins became the most decorated British Olympic athlete ever with his 7^th career Olympic medal (three gold). The previous medals all came on the track with a bronze in 2000, a gold, a silver and a bronze in 2004 and two golds in 2008.

Next up for Wiggins is a possible run at the World Time Trial Championship in September. He was second to Martin last year. Beyond that, it is likely that he will being prepping for next season as he is unlikely to race the Vuelta a Espana and there are no major targets other than the Time Trial Championship that suit his abilities until next year.

Sorry no pictures today, I was on time check duty on the course today.

Tour de France Final Review - Cavendish and Wiggins cap celebration of British Cycling

Today's stage: A sprint battle royale on the Champs-Elysses to finish the Tour de France.

Who won today's stage? Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) won the final sprint for a record 4^th year in a row, taking his third stage win of the Tour to match Peter Sagan (Liquigas) and Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol). The win also gave Cavendish the record for career Tour de France stage wins by a sprinter.

What matters in the GC race? Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) finished to win the Tour de France. He is the first British rider to win the Tour. As a side note, Team Sky was formed three years ago with the goal of having a British Tour de France champion by 2015. Objective achieved. Also, Wiggins has completed the greatest stage race season ever having won Paris-Nice, the Tour of Romandie and the Criterium du Dauphine. Second place was Chris Froome (Team Sky) and third place and on the final podium was Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas).

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – Peter Sagan (Liquigas) did his green jersey proud by finishing second on the stage today behind Cavendish. Sagan was by far the strongest rider among those that really contested the jersey.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) won this jersey with his two mountain stage victories after the two rest days.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – Tejay van Garderen (BMC) ended up winning by over 6 minutes. Next up for him are the August stage race in the United States.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – RSNT won the team competition, it's biggest objective with no GC contender on the roster after Andy Schleck's injury before the Tour de France.

Biggest surprise of the entire race: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) wasn't supposed to race the Tour de France. Too young (youngest rider in the race) and too inexperienced (no Grand Tours, these guys usually race at least one Vuelta or Giro before getting a shot at the Tour). But Pinot lobbied for the final team spot after an injury occurred and he made it pay off. A stage win and a top 10 overall finish for a Frenchman is incredible. Along with Pierre Rolland (Europcar), French cycling finally has a future other than stage hunters again.

Biggest disappointment of the entire race: Nobody ever really challenged Sky. Early on, Team Sky just rode at the front and let the crashes behind kill off their rivals (looks at Garmin and Rabobank's tattered remains after stage 6). Then they pounced in the mountains (Jurgen Van Den Broeck did puncture right before the start of the climb on stage 7, costing him over two minutes), killing everyone except Vincenzo Nibali off easily at some point during the race. As for Nibali, he had no help at all. Liquigas has little mountains support and all of it was tired and off-form after racing very hard to control the race (futilely I add) in the Giro. Eventually, he tired as well and no matter he was never going to take the necessary time to avoid being smoked in the time trials by the specialists.

Other items of note: For teams, the stage win breakdown is as follows: Team Sky, 6 (Cavendish, 3; Wiggins, 2; Froome, 1); Liquigas, 3 (All Sagan); Lotto-Belisol, 3 (All Greipel); Europcar, 3 (Voeckler, 2; Rolland, 1); FDJ, 2 (Pinot, 1; Fedrigo, 1); RSNT, 1 (Cancellara); Movistar, 1 (Valverde); Rabobank, 1 (Sanchez); Garmin, 1 (Millar)... The Super-Combative Prize for most aggressive rider of the whole Tor went to Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff). Sorenson was in a multitude of breakaways searching for either a stage win or King of the Mountain points. He ended up third in the KoM and 14^th overall.

What is coming next for the peloton? Next up for many are the Olympics. The Road Race is on Saturday (I will be in London for the festivities) and the Time Trial on Thursday the week after that. From there, it's back to the normal schedule. For the American riders and teams, that means prep for the USAPCC. For everyone else, that means relax time or get ready for the Vuelta and World Championships. The Vuelta, and the return of Contador is less than four week away.

Tour de France Final TT Review - Wiggins Destroys Field to Claim Yellow

Today's stage: The final time trial. A day when many Champions have confirms their strength in this race.

Who won today's stage? Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) did what a champion is supposed to do in the final time trial: win the thing. Of course the shock is that he destroyed the field again, just like the first time trial. Only his teammate Chris Froome and Spanish time trial champion Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) were within two minutes of Wiggins on the stage and the overall victory is confirmed by a large margin.

What matters in the GC race? No change on the podium. The time gaps between Wiggins, Froome and Vincezno Nibali (Liquigas) got larger. Below them there was some reshuffling in the bottom half of the top ten. Defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) struggled in the time trial and dropped to 7^th place behind Haimar Zubeldia (RSNT).

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – Peter Sagan (Liquigas) has clinched the Green Jersey.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) has clinched the Polka Dot Jersey.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – Tejay van Garderen (BMC) officially clinched the White Jersey over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) today, but the competition hasn't been in doubt since the end of the mountains.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – Sky closed down 8 minutes in the time trial with Richie Porte finishing 5^th along with Wiggins and Froome, but it wasn't enough to overtake RSNT for the team title.

Biggest surprise: Tejay van Garderen caught Cadel Evans on the course. Van Garderen and Evans started three minutes apart but Evans was awful in the early part of the course allowing van Garderen to catch his team leader in a big surprise.

Biggest disappointment: Fabian Cancellara (RSNT) and Tony Martin (OPQS) were not here, having long since abandoned the race. It would have been nice to see these two challenge Wiggins and Froome in the time trial after three weeks of racing as one of them has often won the final time trial in recent years.

What is coming tomorrow? Sprint battle royale on the Champs-Elysses.

Tomorrow's prediction: 1. Mark Cavendish 2. Andre Greipel 3. Matt Goss

Tour de France Stage 17 Review - Valverde wins stage as Wiggins confirms victory

Today's stage: The final summit finish of this year's Tour de France after another full day of climbing.

Who won today's stage? Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) got in the breakaway, attacked on the Port de Bales climb and was the only survivor of the breakaway, taking a solo victory by 19 seconds over the GC contenders. The win proves Valverde is back in full from his doping suspension that he served last year.

What matters in the GC race? The podium didn't change. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished second and third on the stage and extended their lead over Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas). Behind them, former 5^th place Haimar Zubeldia (RSNT) was dropped and lost big time, falling to 7^th. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) moved up to 5^th and Cadel Evans (BMC), despite being dropped himself, moved up to 6^th.

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – No changes, but that doesn't matter. As long as Peter Sagan (Liquigas) remains in the race, he will win this category.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) stayed on Fredrik Kessikoff's wheel until the top of climbs and took the points needed to seal the victory in the classification. At one point, Voeckler, going back to yesterday, won seven straight summits. That is the way to win the King of the Mountains.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – While Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) finished ahead of Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), he didn't gain nearly enough time to even threaten the white jersey as Van Garderen is likely to be in the top 10 of the time trial on Saturday.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – Despite Zubeldia losing time, RSNT still didn't lose a lot. They did lose a few minutes and now lead Team Sky by 14 minutes.

Biggest surprise: Somebody other than Team Sky had a plan that worked. Many teams and riders have had a successful Tour so far, but other than Team Sky, it seemed to be backup plans or throw riders up the road in breakaways and see what happens, especially since we moved away from the sprint stages. Today, Movistar put three riders in the break including team leaders Valverde and Rui Costa. On the Port de Bales, they sent Rui Costa on the attack and then had Valverde bridge to him before soloing up to the top and down the descent. It was a very similar tactic to what Thomas de Gendt and his Vacansoleil team did on the Stelvio stage of the Giro d'Italia and it worked just as well here, getting Movistar it's first stage win of the Tour.

Biggest disappointment: What was Liquigas doing? All race long in the Giro I thought they were tactically bad and they showed today that nothing changed even though half of the team did since then. Today, for the first time all race, Vincenzo Nibali had help from his team. Of course the help he had was a team grinding everybody down Team Sky style. That's great when you're the Tour leader, less so when you only end up grinding down everyone except Sky and help crack your own team leader on the final climb when he needs to make up big time. Also, where was this kind of team showing when it was needed earlier in the race. Nibali tried to attack in the Alps and never had teammates with him from pretty much the moment the road turned uphill there. Just bizarre and bad tactics out of Liquigas.

Other items of note: At one point early on, Nibali was with the breakaway. They told him to go back to the group. So he did. It was probably the right move given the point on the stage they were at, but I'm not sure, especially considering Nibali cracked later in the day... With the high mountains done, those who like their summit finishes can now turn to the Vuelta, It has an insane seven summit finishes and three additional uphill-classic like finishes. Combined with the time bonuses, it looks like an incredible spectacle, or a Contador domination like the 2011 Giro route.

What is coming tomorrow? Transition out of the mountains stage. This is often a breakaway stage, but with the Orica-GreenEdge team of Matt Goss still without a stage win, that team might chase to set up a sprint finish.

Tomorrow's prediction: 1. Andre Greipel 2. Matt Goss 3. Mark Cavendish

Tour de France Stage 16 Review - Voeckler wins again as Sky suffocates race

Today's stage: Big mountains and a major GC battle. Descent finish.

Who won today's stage? Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) went into the breakaway looking for King of the Mountains points. He got a bunch of those and then dropped his companions one by one over the climbs until going solo on the final climb and descending home for his second stage win of this year's Tour.

What matters in the GC race? No changes in the podium. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) attacked three separate times out of the GC group and shed everyone, except the two guys he needed to shed: leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) and his second place domestique Chris Froome. Most notably behind, Cadel Evans (BMC) was dropped on both of the final two climbs and lost over 4 minutes. He will remain in the top 10 as Janez Brajkovic (Astana), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Pierre Rolland (Europcar) were all dropped by the second GC group led by Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol). Van den Broeck is now 4^th overall followed by Haimar Zubeldia (RSNT), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) and Evans.

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – No changes, but that doesn't matter. As long as Peter Sagan (Liquigas) remains in the race, he will win this category.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Voeckler was in the break for the KoM points, and he got enough of them to take the lead from Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana). The lead is only four points though with another huge mountain stage tomorrow.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – With Pinot dropped, Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) made his lead nearly insurmountable unless he explodes tomorrow. Still, this is a head to head battle.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – Even without Frank Schleck (out of the Tour after doping positive), RSNT extended its lead in the team competition. They now lead Sky by over 17 minutes and look likely to extend that lead again tomorrow before surrendering at least some of the lead back to Sky on the Saturday time trial.

Biggest surprise: The GC attacks were saved for the end. The big climbs of the Aubisque and the Tourmalet were early, possibly too early for an attack given the strength of Team Sky. Still, it was a surprise that nobody tried anything on the Col du Aspin to try and shed some Sky domestiques as there were so many remaining on the Aspin that there was no hope of dropping the Sky leadership on the final climb.

Biggest disappointment: Nibali couldn't make any of his attacks stick. Everybody else either didn't have the legs or had no desire to go. Nibali has obviously been one of the strongest guys in this race, but he has had no help in his attacks to stop the Sky train and today was no exception.

Other items of note: The breakaway today started as a ridiculous 38 riders. Expect the same tomorrow has Sky has no real reason to chase any breaks at this point in the race... There was no obvious on road fall out after the Frank Schleck positive test other than Schleck not being on the road... With Voeckler's win, he became the first non-Sprint double stage winner of the Tour this year. I suspect Bradley Wiggins will join him in the time trial on Saturday (especially with Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin no longer in the race)

What is coming tomorrow? Another short climbing stage like the one to La Toussuire. This one also has a summit finish and is the last chance to remake the GC before the time trial on Saturday.

Tomorrow's prediction: Don't ask me. Sky lets breakaways go everyday and predicting that correctly is like trying to win a roulette with one number.

Tour de France Second Rest day questions

1 Will Chris Froome attack his teammate?

This is the ultimate question of the Tour. Froome has spoken about wanting to be supported next year to win the Tour and how he could have possibly won this Tour if given a chance (and no puncture causing him to lose time on stage 1). Still, Froome is in second place and has looked like the strongest rider in the race in nearly every mountain stage so far. Also, given the dig he put in on the road to La Toussuire, it seems the only way overall leader (and Froome teammate) Bradley Wiggins can be dropped is either by Froome himself or by Vincenzo Nibali dropping Wiggins and Froome not helping him chase back.

2 Does Nibali have a chance?

Tomorrow's crazy mountain stage (seriously, this thing looks like it was lifted from the Giro instead of being a Tour stage) finishes on a descent. This is preferred for Nibali as if he attacks and gets a gap on the climb, he will never be seen again on the stage (whereas the GC seemed designed for Bradley Wiggins this yer, this stage seems designed specifically for Nibali and the injured and withdrawn Samuel Sanchez). That said, he needs to have two amazing days in a row and also not tow Froome with him if he manages to drop Wiggins. He will give it a go and possibly win one of the next two mountain stages, but it won't be enough with that crazy long time trial sitting there on Saturday.

3 Will BMC work for Evans or Van Garderen?

So Tejay van Garderen is 7^th overall and has looked stronger than defending champion Cadel Evans ever since the beginning of the La Toussuire stage. Still, Evans is the defending champion and sits 4^th overall. Which one they work for depends on who has the legs though a tactic of sending Van Garderen on the attack on the Tourmalet tomorrow to see what happens might be a good idea. It would eliminate the who are they working for question and it could cause Sky to have to do some work earlier than they would like.

4 How good is Peter Sagan?

Sagan has the Green Jersey locked up and nearly won a mountain stage the other day. Considering he is only 22, how good can he be? First off, I don't think he is a Grand Tour winner. His time trialing isn't good enough considering he would be more of a diesel climber type and those guys either need a great team (which he likely won't have given his classics needs for teammates) or need to have an elite time trial. Still, Sagan is the type of guy who could win all five monuments. With his sprint, he is a threat in any climby monument as he doesn't have to solo home like so many others. He is also a threat to the points jersey in any race he enters, especially since he can gather points in the mountains, something most sprinters can't do (remember that I said Mark Cavendish should have tried to go into a breakaway at the Giro to search for points but just couldn't do it). When his career is over, I think Sagan will have won all five monuments, at least one world championship, a few week long stage races and probably a top 10 in a Grand Tour as well.

5 Who in the top 10 will crack and suffer greatly?

The most likely to crack is Thibult Pinot. Pinot has already cracked twice in this race, but Thursday looks particularly menacing for him. The reason: he hasn't climbed well on consecutive days. He was average at best on stage 7 and then was terrible on stage 12 (but lucky that stage went to a huge breakaway after the early climbs). Stage 17, with a tough climbing day after the absurd day on Wednesday looks bad for Pinot.

Bonus question: What to make of the Frank Schleck positive?

For those who don't know, Frank Schleck tested positive for a diretic that, while not explicitly illegal, is certainly in a gray area of doping. He left the race and we'll see what happens next. Still, it is another blow in a nightmare of a season for his RSNT team. If not for Fabian Cancellara, there is a good chance this team would get relegated from the Pro Tour (if it even exists after this season). The whole thing has been a nightmare and it brings into question his previous results and the results of his brother Andy. Just not good for anyone involved, even though there is a good chance he will avoid suspension.

Tour de France Stage 11 Review - And there will be a new champion

Today's stage: Big, nasty mountain stage with the only Alpine summit finish. For those who wish to attack leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), this was the first obvious day to do it.

Who won today's stage? Pierre Rolland (Europcar) got in the early breakaway and then attacked up the final climb to La Toussuire to take his second career stage win (he won on Alpe d'Huez last year). If that sounds familiar, it is because the strategy was similar to how his teammate Thomas Voeckler won yesterday's stage.

What matters in the GC race? Defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC) cracked against the tempo of Team Sky while they were chasing Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) after his attack. The two Team Sky riders (Wiggins and Froome) now sit 1-2 overall with Nibali 3^rd and Evans 4^th. Further back, the rest of the top 10 was remade as Denis Menchov (Katusha) was nowhere to be found amongst the leaders (this is normal but he didn't manage to ninja himself into the final group this time) and Maxime Monfort (RSNT) was never seen after the early climbs either. Behind Evans, the new top 10 includes Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol), Haimar Zubeldia (RSNT), Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Janez Brajkovic (Astana), Rolland and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – Points? For sprinters? On this stage? Surely you jest. Same scores as yesterday. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) leads Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 232-205. Tomorrow brings as opportunity for more points if there is any climbing ability at all in those legs. There are two category 1 climbs, but then a long flat area before the intermediate sprint and a possible sprint finish as well.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) was in the breakaway today and took a boatload of points. In the process he regained the King of the Mountains jersey that he lost yesterday to Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). Voeckler's teammate Pierre Rolland is now second and Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) is now third.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) exploded today along with Menchov and Monfort. That leaves just two men realistically contesting this category. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) still leads, but his lead over Thiabult Pinot (FDJ) was shaved down to 1' 54” after van Garderen has to stay back and help pace the cracked Evans up the final climb.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – RSNT with its ensemble cast of Grand Tour experience and ex-GC contenders now has a strangle hold on this as a different three riders finish in the top 15 of a stage every day. For 2^nd place Sky, this isn't really a goal and being 1-2 on the podium is much more importat.

Biggest surprise: Froome attacked, ever so briefly. On the final climb of the day, Nibali had attacked twice and the resulting chase had cracked Evans. Then, in a fit of enthusiasm, Froome attacked. Everybody followed, except Froome's team leader Wiggins. Then his team manager yelled at thim on the radio and Froome backed off.

Non-Froome category, it would be all the big names in the early breakaway. There were 31 riders in the breakaway and it read like a who's who of former GC contenders, fading stars and injured riders. This group at one point included Valverde, Scarponi, Basso, Leipheimer, and Gesink along with scores of others and the eventual stage winner Rolland.

Biggest disappointment: Froome didn't keep the hammer down and make this race, even one between two teammates. It is obvious now that Froome is better in the mountains (just as he was at the Vuelta last year when he went from domestique to 2^nd overall, beating Wiggins) and Wiggins is better in the time trial. Still, I wish Froome has continued to attack. It would have taken some of the air of inevitability out of the race.

Non-Froome category, nobody cracked the Team Sky train. This was as weak as they have looked all race, but nobody cracked Sky and now they will get to ride all the way to the Pyrenees mostly unencumbered by attacks that will bother them.

Other items of note: Prologue and first week yellow jersey wearer Fabian Cancellara (RSNT) abandoned the race today to go home and be with his pregnant wife who is expecting their second child this month... Also abandoning today were Mark Renshaw (Rabobank), Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) and Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil), all of whom were involved in that crazy crash on stage 6...Seven riders missed the time cut today and are out of the race. Most notable is Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre).

What is coming tomorrow? Some early high mountains followed by a long flat drag and a late category 3 before a possible sprint, if the sprinters are there and no breakaway is gone.

Tomorrow's prediction: 1. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) 2. Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 3. JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff)

Tour de France Rest Day Thoughts

1 Is the race already over?

So dominant were Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome of Team Sky both at Les Planche des Filles and at the first Individual Time Trial at Besancon that some are ready to anoint Wiggins the Tour champion. While I won't go that far without having seen a high mountain stage yet in this year's Tour, I think the chances are greater than 80% that Wiggins wins at this point because there is an even longer time trial waiting after the mountains. Given that Cadel Evans (BMC) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) need to take at least three minutes and probably four from their current positions to have a chance in the final time trial. That is unlikely even with all the mountain stages. The most likely way for Wiggins to not win at this point is for him to crack badly. If he does, the most likely winner seems to be Froome, who looks to be in the best climbing form of everyone.

2 So this is basically a Lance Armstrong tour all over again isn't it?

For those who don't know, Lance Armstrong (whether he is guilty of doping or not) used to win or get close to the yellow jersey in the prologue time trial, rely on his train of super domestiques that all were capable of top 10 or even top 5 placements if they were on other teams to pace him up the mountains, then attack on the final climb against a tired peloton to gap whoever might be left. This looks really familiar with the only major difference that Froome is better than any of Armstrong's lieutenants (with the possible exception of Levi Leipheimer). Of course given the dominance of Team Sky, much of the internet has been asking if this is like Lance's US Postal Blue Train in other ways as well...

3 … Can this possibly be clean riding by Sky? This is cycling after all.

Is it clean? I think so, but I am not overly confident. The circumstantial evidence seems bad, but nobody for Sky has failed a test in a time where the testing has been beefed up to new levels that weren't there when Lance's doped up team was pacing him up the mountains (no matter the opinion of Lance himself, his team included serial dopers Heras, Landis and Hamilton along with Leipheimer, VandeVelde and Hincapie who are all in the same did he or didn't he limbo that Lance is in from that era). As for that circumstantial evidence, Wiggins suddenly jumped quite a few level after a terrible first year with Team Sky. Yes, he had a 4^th place in the Tour with Garmin in 2009, but his 2010 results reverted to his previous level and there are plenty of cases in cycling history where everything came together in one huge effort that was career defining in a Grand Tour (see Peter Velits podium in 2010 Vuelta a Espana, Bobby Julich finishing 3^rd in the 1998 Tour de France and even JJ Cobo's Vuelta win last season in addition to the legion of Italians who have never done a thing outside of the Giro d'Italia no matter how much they talked about and targeted other races). Then 2011 came and Wiggins won the pre-Tour warm up Dauphine (he did so again this season) before crashing out of the Tour and finishing 3^rd while not having his best form in the Vuelta. Still, nothing suggested he was about to destroy the field. On the other hand, his teammate Froome came from literally nowhere to finish second in the Vuelta and the only guy to beat them was racing for the spiritual successor team of one of the largest doping rings in cycling history (Geox was run by people who were involved with Saunier-Duval, Ricco's team in the 2008 Tour de Farce, and before that Liberty Seguros, who had half the team thrown out on the eve of the 2005 Tour for doping violations). Then in this Tour, Wiggins and Froome seems to be peaking for all the big days. If nothing else it looks suspicious, especially in this sport. I want to believe they're clean and I think they are, but it is at least a bit troubling.

4 So what is everyone else to do?

For Evans and Nibali, a strategic alliance needs to be made. Obviously, their best chance is on descents. They need to attack together and work together. If one of them attacks, the other needs to not chase, forcing Team Sky to chase. As soon as Team Sky bridges back, the other needs to attack. Since nobody else who is close really has attack capability, these two have to do it themselves and they have to start quickly. If done right, at least they can bring some suspense to the time trial. If not, they will earn the respect of cycling fans everywhere for going down swinging instead of meekly. And in Nibali's case, we have seen him in a similar situation. He attacked on downhills early and often against Contador in the 2011 Giro d'Italia, trying to win it on the road. It cost him second to Michele Scarponi ultimately, but fans respected his efforts.

5 Is this a bad thing for the sport?

No, as long as Team Sky is racing clean. The Tour has never been the most exciting race in the world (the Team Sky train through mountains and win in time trials with the elite time trialer has been the preferred mode of victory for Indurain, Armstrong and Ullrich – 13 or the last 20 years). The last few years have been total aberrations in recent Tour history owing partially to Contador either being excluded or emptying the tank in the hardest climbing race ever (2011 Giro) and a lack of time trial kilometers (the last five years have seen the five fewest numbers of time trial kilometers since the time trial was introduced to the Tour). Many fans like dominance and will come around on Wiggins as long as he is clean. And those that love suspenseful racing can go back to watching the Giro and Vuelta like they should have been all along.