Rest Day Recap #2

Ok, things are probably so shaken up at this point in the Tour that one short recap article won't quite cover it, but once again I will try to highlight a few things.
Best Rider

I have absolutely no clue who to put in this picture. There are quite a few riders that one could make a case for, and also a strong case against. Here are a few examples. Andy Schleck had a great stage 8 and then rode very well in yellow but then it was wiped off the board after a chain mishap and he was unable to make up the time on the descent. Contador is currently in yellow, but needed a chain mishap from Schleck to get it. Cavendish won 3 stages, but clearly dropped the ball on winning a 4th and lost his premiere leadout man. These riders are all having a great Tour, but there is not one in particular that stands out from the rest. So I will leave this category unanswered.

Biggest Disappointment

There are about 6 riders who would qualify for this, but I will single out the two that I believe have been the most disappointing. Bradley Wiggins had very high top 5 expectations at the start of the Tour, and has not even come close to living up to them.

Wiggins has struggled in nearly every mountain stage, and has often needed to finish in a smaller group chasing the leaders and losing a large chunk of time on each chase. This is much of the same case with Michael Rogers.

Rogers, much like Wiggins, has been unable to keep up with the leaders of the Tour and is often dropped early on in climbs. Much of the same could be said for Evans, Armstrong, Sastre, and Basso but at least those 4 have shown effort and had some legitimate excuses for their failures (like Evans injury).

Biggest Surprise

I have to go with Nicolas Roche here. The young AG2R rider has consistently kept himself in contention and has actually attacked a few times to make up ground. He has showed motivation to improve his position, and while he is not in contention for overall victory, he is much higher than most expected him to be. He has also established him as the clear leader of AG2R squad, and set a good baseline as to what to expect of him in the future.

"Behind the Scenes" Hero

Daniel Navarro has been an absolute driving force in the mountains, and could very well be the reason why Contador has had such an advantage in the mountains. Navarro does not get enough credit for his work, but this guy has been a superstar in both the Alps and Pyrenees. Navarro has taken on nearly unheard of distances of pacemaking for a domestique, and is one of the most valuable domestiques on any team in the entire Tour.

Best Team

This was a tossup between Astana and Team classification leader Radioshack, but I have to go with Astana. They have placed their man Contador in yellow and given him a great opportunity to keep it to Paris. They have also grabbed a stage win and proved that their gamble paid off with Alexandre Vinokourov, but most importantly proved that their team was more than capable of supporting Contador in the mountains.