Contador attacks,Vino gets angry,Andy saves the jersey and Purito gets a stage victory:

A little hot village in North of Italy,1.17 pm,today. Uncle: "Hey you,what do you think about today's stage? Will Schleck attack?" Niece: "Naaah...Don't think so.It's not his kind of climb. Contador will attack.And Joaquim Rodriguez will win".Uncle: "Rodriguez? Bah,I'm not that sure". Niece: "Well,you'll see".
A little hot village (invaded by mosquitos) in North of Italy,9.45 pm,today.Uncle: "Hey,Andy risked a lot today!" Niece: "Nah,I don't think so.It could have gone much worse for him.And Vinokourov looked very angry at Contador after the stage! Perhaps he'll organise a conspiracy against him in the next days...By the way,you know who has won,don't you?".Uncle: "Yes,Rodriguez won.Why did you ask me this?".Niece: "You've forgotten what I told you earlier today,have you? C'm on,when we were talking about the stage...".Uncle (after a long moment spent thinking): "Oh yes! You said that...Well,you said that Rodriguez would have won.And he actually did win...Well done!".Niece (*trying to blow her own trumpet*): "Well,it wasn't so difficult to predict that. I mean,I had indicated Freire as Sanremo favourite earlier this year,so this was a much easier prediction".Uncle: "Well,you're good at predictions then.So,tell me,who will win tomorrow?".Niece: "Uhm,I think that...Uhm...Wait a moment...Perhaps...I think...Ooops,sorry but mum's calling me! Gotta go! Bye!" (*runs away while cursing her prediction-mania*).

As you might have guessed,these were two dialogues that I've had with my uncle today,while talking about Mendé stage at le Tour (yes,TdF is the main topic of family discussion during the whole month of July).As you can see from them,the main episodes of today's stage were:

-Contador attacking

-Andy getting dropped by Contador
-Contador making Vinokourov get angry

-Joaquim Rodriguez winning the stage and making my prediction come true.

So,let's start from the beginning.Today Saxo Bank really had to do an impressive work at the head of the peloton,since 18 men entered a breakaway early in the stage and,between those men,there were also Alexandre Vinokourov,Andreas Kloden and Ryder Hesjedal,three very dangerous athletes.So the yellow jersey's team really had to do his best this afternoon,although luckily in the last kms of the stage they were helped by other teams like Lampre (Hushovd was in the breakaway as well),Cervélo and Liquigas.

The last climb of the day was 3 kms long. Steep and short,it was the type of climb on which a guy who can change rythm like Alberto Contador can really create problems to his adversaries,so me was pretty worried about that.

With about 2,5 kms to go,Joaquim Rodriguez attacked.Purito is a rider who,like Contador, beloves this kind of climbs and so his attack was pretty dangerous for those who wanted to win the stage.In fact Purito was immediately followed by other riders and by mr. Contador. When the Astana rider attacked,Andy Schleck was on the other side of the road and didn't react immediately. "Oh no,here we go again like last year!",a pessimistic Fangirl cried.

Andy really looked in pain and an asshole even threw some beer on him (yes,Fangirl was really angry at that point).However the lanky Luxembourgian soon shortened the gap between him and Contador,who decided to attack again as soon as he joined Rodriguez.Purito followed him and the two Spaniards soon reached Vinokourov,who was alone at the head of the race.

Vino looked very surprised when he saw the two Spaniards riding towards him,but he was probably much more surprised (and shocked and angry and whatever you want) after that Contador totally ignored him and rode past him. In that moment,Vino (who has said that this may be his last TdF) probably cursed Conta,who was eventually outsprinted by Rodriguez in the two men victory sprint.

Vinokourov crossed the finish-line 4" after the winner and he had a gesture of anger and disappointment while finishing his stage.Andy Schleck instead lost 10".Not a great result,but I think that it could have gone much worse for him.Especially if you consider that,in order to gain those 10 seconds,Contador stole a victory from his teammate Vinokourov.

If I were a GC contender in this year Tour de France,I'd probably do everything possible to mantain a good relationship with a man like Vino,because he looks like a guy who knows how to take revenge on someone. Obviously,if I were an Astana rider,I'd pay even much more attention to my relationship with Vinokourov,because he's not just a rider in that team.He's also the owner,baby.Aka,he can send you away from his rich Kazakhistani team with just 1 word (apropos,what is the Kazakhistani/ Russian equivalent of 'You get fired!'?).Therefore,if I were Contador,I would be very careful with Vino now.If I were the Spaniard,I would think of buying him a big precious gift (everything with a Kazakhistan flag on is probably well accepted) and I'd let him my post-dinner dessert with the hope of making him feel better towards me. Also because,if I were Contador,I would owe something to Vino right now.In fact over the last days the Kazakhistani helped Conta on the cobblestones,on the climbs and even during some flat stages.And I don't think that many team owners would have behaved like that towards their temmates.

Perhaps I'm making things bigger than they are,but I think that,in the Pyrenées,it is much better to have a rider like Vinokourov in your list of 'friends' rather than in your list of 'enemies'.And,immediately after today's stage,me thinks that,in Vino's head, Contador probably figured in the latter of the above mentioned lists.

Anyway I believe that what happened this afternoon was important not just because it could cause problems between Vino and Conta,but also because it showed that Contador doesn't always reason in a cold way.Today he ruined his teammate's chances of winning a Tour stage; on Arenberg day,instead,he forgot to tell the jury about his problem to the front wheel; the other day,on la Madeleine,it looked as if he didn't wait to wait for Jens Voigt after that the German had ended his turn of work.And,in the long descent towards the finish-line,Jens would have been an useful man for him,as well as for Andy.So I believe that these episodes show us that Alberto is nervous.

After the stage,Conta said: "Andy Schleck is a very ambitious rider and at the beginning of the climb I noticed he wasn't going to attack.So I thought he wasn't probably feeling super and I decided to attack (...).I think it was an important blow from the mental point of view for him". Actually I think that Andy reacted well to Alberto's attack and that he didn't attack just because today his aim was to defend his jersey rather than to attack Contador.So,I think that,from the mental point of view, Schleck's morale is probably higher than Contador right now.At least, Andy hasn't stolen a victory from one of his teammates.Moreover,for Andy losing 10" on a climb that didn't suit him was probably very different from losing 10" on a climb that suited him,like Contador did in Morzine.So,allez Andy! Go and get this Tour!