Links about the Schleck brothers and Jens Voigt:

After 3 days spent watching Le Tour live (I'll talk about that experience in one of the next posts),here I am again.Lots of things happened in the last few days.

On the penultimate climb of yesterday's stage,the Schleck brothers managed to leave all the other riders behind.All the other riders except 2 Astana guys: Alberto Contador (who else?) and Andreas Kloden.Armstrong was behind,just like Nibali,Wiggins,Sastre and all the other GC riders.

On the last climb,Contador spoke to Kloden and then he attacked.Armstrong got really angry at Alberto after knowing this,but me thinks there was a misunderstanding between the 2 Astana riders (and that Armstrong should be the last rider to talk in this kind of situation).

During the last 14 kms at the head of the race there were just Contador and the Schleck brothers and after the final descent the victory went to Frank.Andy got 3rd,but he raised his arms up to the sky in a very joyful way.As soon as they crossed the finish line,the two brothers also hugged each other in a very moving way.Here are some links about what happened in the last few days:

http://newsticker.sueddeutsche.de/list/id/679610 :As you know,Jens Voigt crashed very badly on the Petite Saint Bernard descent.It was very strange for me to hear about that,because I was on the climb that day and to think that Jens crashed 3-4 kms after having ridden right in front of me is something of really sad.Fortunately he "just" broke his cheekbone (it must be absolutely painful) and had a severe concussion."I can't end my career in this bad way.I want to ride the Tour next year",His Amazingness said this morning.Bjarne Riis said:"Of course Jens can ride the Tour in 2010,for me there aren't any problem.He's still strong and he works a lot for the younger riders".When Riis talked to him on the phone immediately after the crash,Big Jens asked him: "What's my next race? Tour of Denmark?".Unbelievable.Of course I wish Voigt a fast recover and I have no doubts about the fact that,between 1 year,he'll be riding again the Tour.

Talking instead about the Schleck brothers,here's an article from L'Equipe (http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2009/20090722_194944_schleck-on-verra-au-ventoux.html ),while on this other link there's an article from Eurosport (http://www.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/tour-de-france/2009/on-a-fait-le-spectacle_sto2009942/story.shtml ).To the Gazzetta dello Sport,Frank said:"I'm really proud of myself,of Andy and of the team.We took our responsabilities.This morning on the bus we received a very good news: Voigt just broke his cheekbone.Then we decided our strategy:we had nothing to lose,so we tried winning.Andy motivated me,I sacrificed myself for him and the work I've done has been repaid.Andy helped him,and I'll give him back what he gave to me in the next days.This vicory can't be compared to the one I got on the Alpe d'Huez.When I started the Tour,I didn't feel great,but Andy,my family,my girlfriend and my teammates helped me. This victory is for Voigt and Arvesen,they were forced to abandon the race but they're always in our mind".
If you want to see a little vid about Saxo Bank's celebration of yesterday's victory,here's a link: http://www.saxobanktakingthelead.com/?p=1141 .Let's hope that also on Sunday the guys will be able to celebrate a podium spot (or,it would be better,2 podium spots).
NB: There are some Saxo Bank's photos on TDW website,see "Rest Day:Saxo Bank".Some of them are really nice.
(Photos TDW,Panoramic and Equipe)