Stage 7 and 8:

Yesterday's stage and today's stage saw the riders face some very tough climbs,even if me thinks that facing the Tourmalet as last climb with still 70 kms to go is a crime against humanity.Or at least,it's a crime against cycling fans and cyclists.Especially if you consider what usuallly happens on Le Tourmalet when the riders have to face it at Le Tour.Last year for example the Tourmalet was faced in the Hautacam's stage and Csc riders made a great job on that climb,dropping big guys like Cunego and Valverde (Andy got dropped on Hautacam,but that's another story...).

Anyway,yesterday's stage included 3 climbs,le Port d'Envalira,le Col de Port and le Col d'Agnés. Unfortunately between the last of them and the finish-line there were 40 kms. :(

At the beginning of the stage lots of riders attacked.Between them there were also Cadel Evans (!) and Andy Schleck."It was a long way to go," said the Luxembourgian after crosing the finish-line,"but if you don't try,you don't win.So sometimes you need to risk a little bit."

Unfortunately for us fangirls,Andy got caught by the peloton after few moments,while Evans managed to stay for some time at the head of the race together with Casar,Cancellara,Zabriskie,Martinez,V.Efimkin,Kern,Hushovd (who won 2 bonus sprint and is the new green jersey),Flecha and Hincapie.
After the stage,Andy said:"We had Fabian in the escape group but he's had a stressful week behind him,so he didn't make it according to the plan,which was that we attack behind him and then he helps us from the top of the Col d'Agnès climb until the end.Maybe we have to use our head a little bit more in the future and not spend energy uselessly."

With 75 kms to go at the head of the race remained just 4 riders:Luis Leon Sanchez,Mikel Astarloza,Vladimir Efimkin and Sandy Casar.

On the last climb Andy Schleck attacked,but the Astana's quartetto (Kloden,Leipheimer, Armstrong and Contador) immediately caught him,while the yellow jersey Nocentini lost contact from Schleck's group.The Italian finally managed to join again that group before of the top of the lat climb.

Since LL Sanchez is a "dangerous" rider for the GC,Nocentini's team began to pull during the last 40 kms and so Vladimir Efimkin (Nocentini's teammate) stopped helping the other 3 riders of the escape group.Anyway the 4 riders of the breakaway managed to arrive at the finish-line with still 1 minute of advantadge on the other riders.

With 4 kms to go Efimkin attacked,but he was caught with 500 meters to go by Sandy Casar,who was followed by LL Sanchez.The spaniard then outsprinted the Francais des Jeux rider and won.That was a very good news for Caisse d'Epargne team,whose rider Oscar Pereiro Sio abandoned the race during yesterday's stage.

It's funny to notice that LL Sachez won his first stage at Le Tour on the 11th of July 2008 and yesterday it was the 11th of July 2009.The GC leader after yesterday's stage was still Nocentini.Other Italian rider Franco Pellizotti instead arrived 14 minutes after the winner.

In yesterday's stage Andy finally came in 20th,while Frank was the 25th rider to cross the finish-line.Chris-Anker Sorensen instead came in 29th and managed to stay with the best riders on the last climb.That was funny because,when he went to set the pace on the last climb,Italian chronists snobbed him a bit by saying: "Here's...(moment of hesitation:it's one of the Sorensens,but which one? Being full of doubts,the chronist decided not to risk and just said Chris' surname) Sorensen,a teammate of the Schleck brothers,who will set the pace for...(moment of hesitation) 500 meters.Looking at his face,I think he will get dropped as soon as he leaves the head of the leader's group".And instead he didn't get dropped.

Today's stage,as I said in the beginning of this post,was a strange one,since between the last climb (which was the Tourmalet,not a little unknown climb) and the finish-line there were 70 kms.On the Col d'Aspin 4 riders attacked:they were Duque,Fedrigo,Pellizotti and Voigt.Oh yes. Jens Voigt attacked,but got dropped on the Tourmalet (Duque instead was dropped already on the Aspin). :(

The last kms of the race were pretty exciting,since the peloton pulled by Rabobank's and Caisse d'Epargne's riders had just 1.30 minute of delay from Pellizotti and Fedrigo.The 2 riders managed to keep 30 seconds of advantage during the last km and then the win went to the Frenchman Fedrigo,who was faster than Pellizotti at the sprint.

"In the finale, I had the same feelings as in 2006. The race unfolded in the same way:a breakaway of many riders at first,then a finish with only two riders. Today,I was in front,and the strength that I saved on previous stages allowed me to win," said Fedrigo,whose nickname (poor boy!) is ‘le nez de Marmande' (The nose of Marmande). With 4 kms to go,when the peloton was going full gas,Andy punctured (!!!!!),but fortunately Big Jens was there to help him.

“I have previously been quoted for saying that I'm getting too old for breakaway,but today I was motivated by these exact words.Unfortunately I was not able to keep up with the pace of Pellizotti and Fedrigo.Instead I got the chance of helping Andy who had a puncture at a very critical moment a few kilometres from the finish line.Now I'm looking forward for the rest day tomorrow”, said the F-A Jens Voigt after the stage.Yes,because after flying with a plane towards the city of Limoges,tomorrow the riders are having their deserved rest day).

The yellow jersey is still on the shoulders of the Italian rider Rinaldo Nocentini.Second is Contador,while third is sir Lancelot.

>(Sanchez' s pic is by Corvos)