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GC seemed designed for Bradley Wiggins this yer, this stage seems designed specifically for Nibali and the injured and withdrawn Samuel Sanchez).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.

Giro d'Italia Stage 11 - Over halfway home

Today's stage: Long and boring. And that's not only me saying that. Michele Scarponi (Lampre) said that before the stage began. And he was right. Over 250 km with a tricky climb at the end and another stupidly placed turn on the final sprint home.

Who won today's stage? Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giacattoli) found the best line through the hairpin turn and accelerated away from Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) and a crashed peloton, passing Tomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge) along the way to take the stage win.

What matters in the GC race? Frank Schleck (Radio Shack-Nissan) likely had his hopes dashed completely. He lost 46 seconds today leaving him 2' 11” behind leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha). Considering the way Schleck struggles in the time trial, his hopes are cooked.

What matters in the other competitions?

Red Jersey (Points) – Mark Cavendish took over the lead from Matt Goss (GreenEdge) with his 3^rd place finish on the stage today. For his part, Goss didn't make the final group.

Blue Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Miguel Rubiano (Androni Giacattoli) still leads after his presence in the breakaway on stage 6. He will likely lead until next weekend when the high mountains hit for the first time. At some point this week, I expect him to try his hand in a breakaway again for more points. Tomorrow is a day similar to stage 6 where someone contesting this jersey will try to make the breakaway.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – No changes here. Damiano Caruso (Laquigas) still leads followed by Team Sky's Colombian pairing of Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Henao

Team Classification – Not much here either. Liquigas now leads over Astana, Movistar and Garmin, but this really won't heat up until Saturday in the mountains.

Biggest surprise: Normally, it would be Ferrari's win, but that was as much because of luck in guessing the correct line though it appeared he had better legs than Cavendish today as well. The winner here is Vaitkus. Not normally a sprinter, he was only 150m from stealing a stage win because of the crash behind before fading to 5^th. Still a good placing for him.

Biggest disappointment: Where was Frank Schleck. Above already chronicled his time loss, but why? This stage shouldn't have caught any GC contender out of the group. I know that Schleck got sent to this race on short notice, but it appears that he, like his brother, only cares about two races all season: the Tour de France and Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Even with the short notice, Schleck should be in good enough shape to stay with the group here.

Other items of note: Over at the Tour of California, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) took stage 3 in a sprint, just like stages 1 and 2. With another hard climbing day early followed by a long flat/downhill stretch, I wouldn't bet against him making it 4-for-4 today. At this point, he might even be an overall contender there because of the time bonuses... There was another stupid finish today back in Italy that caused yet another sprint crash, but this is the last of my complaining about it for today...Thomas Leezer (Rabobank) abandoned today, bringing the total number to nine so far in the race.

What is coming tomorrow? 155 km of medium mountain goodness. That said, its breakaway time. The toughest of the four categorized climbs is 33 km from the finish and its a category 2. Still, that will be enough to shed the sprinters and with no real time gaps likely, the breakaway will get a large leash, especially if it consists of riders an hour down like most of the breakaways so far in this race. Still and intriguing stage as the King of the Mountains classification will heat up once again.