The first few stages of this year's Tour has had way more twists than expected, and way too many to explain in one roundup, so I will name some riders who stood out to me.BEST TOUR SO FAR
I am going a bit off the book with this one, but I think Schleck has been the man to beat this past week. He recovered nicely from a lackluster prologue and gained much of the time back on the cobbles in stage 3. He then asserted his dominance in the mountains during stage 8 and not only took home a stage win but sent a message to Contador and Evans that he is not going away. He is riding the strongest, and looks to be certainly on his way to a podium and white jersey, if not more.
I am going a bit off the book with this one, but I think Schleck has been the man to beat this past week. He recovered nicely from a lackluster prologue and gained much of the time back on the cobbles in stage 3. He then asserted his dominance in the mountains during stage 8 and not only took home a stage win but sent a message to Contador and Evans that he is not going away. He is riding the strongest, and looks to be certainly on his way to a podium and white jersey, if not more.MOST DISAPPOINTING
Gotta go with Lance on this one, although it pains me to do so because it really wasn't his fault. He has been on the wrong side of all of the luck so far this Tour, and this first week of misfortune appears to have taken him out of contention for his 8th Tour. Like I said, it is such a shame because he has been in great form and would be right there had it not been for his stage 3 puncture and 2 accidents in the mountains of stage 8.
Gotta go with Lance on this one, although it pains me to do so because it really wasn't his fault. He has been on the wrong side of all of the luck so far this Tour, and this first week of misfortune appears to have taken him out of contention for his 8th Tour. Like I said, it is such a shame because he has been in great form and would be right there had it not been for his stage 3 puncture and 2 accidents in the mountains of stage 8. BIGGEST SURPRISE
This one was too close to call, so I'm going to give it to 2 riders. The first is Alessandro Petacchi. Nobody expected Ale-Jet to have 2 stage wins to his credit after the first week of racing. He rode very cleverly (it was NOT luck, it was smart riding) in stage 1 to avoid the crashes and grab his first stage of the year. For his second win, he just flat out was the best rider in the field and beat Cavendish, Hushovd, Dean, etc at their own game. Great ride by him. My second surprise is Ryder Hesjedal.
Hesjedal currently sits 6th, and has no plans of going away. After a gutsy move on stage 3 got him into the top 10, he has held his ground even though being way overmatched in the mountains. He recovered nicely in the most recent stage (8) after being dropped, and only lost a bit more than a minute on the leaders. Hesjedal has top 10 hopes after becoming his team leader due to Christian Vandevelde's injury troubles.
This one was too close to call, so I'm going to give it to 2 riders. The first is Alessandro Petacchi. Nobody expected Ale-Jet to have 2 stage wins to his credit after the first week of racing. He rode very cleverly (it was NOT luck, it was smart riding) in stage 1 to avoid the crashes and grab his first stage of the year. For his second win, he just flat out was the best rider in the field and beat Cavendish, Hushovd, Dean, etc at their own game. Great ride by him. My second surprise is Ryder Hesjedal.
Hesjedal currently sits 6th, and has no plans of going away. After a gutsy move on stage 3 got him into the top 10, he has held his ground even though being way overmatched in the mountains. He recovered nicely in the most recent stage (8) after being dropped, and only lost a bit more than a minute on the leaders. Hesjedal has top 10 hopes after becoming his team leader due to Christian Vandevelde's injury troubles.MOST PRESSURE
You may be wondering why I have Alberto Contador pictured above celebrating his win last year. Well, only because nearly everyone is expecting him to do it again. With expectations like these, there is almost no room for error. Contador has been solid, but has not shown the brilliance that we have come to expect from him over the last few years. He missed the podium on the opening prologue, lost a bit of valuable time in stage 3 after puncturing while coming down the finishing stretch, and was simply unable to match the attack of Andy Schleck late in stage 8. He currently sits in third, which is a good place to be, but the pressure is certainly on for Alberto.
You may be wondering why I have Alberto Contador pictured above celebrating his win last year. Well, only because nearly everyone is expecting him to do it again. With expectations like these, there is almost no room for error. Contador has been solid, but has not shown the brilliance that we have come to expect from him over the last few years. He missed the podium on the opening prologue, lost a bit of valuable time in stage 3 after puncturing while coming down the finishing stretch, and was simply unable to match the attack of Andy Schleck late in stage 8. He currently sits in third, which is a good place to be, but the pressure is certainly on for Alberto.BEST OVERALL TEAM
I'm going to say HTC Columbia here, simply because they have done nearly everything they set out to do, and they have done it with precision and professionalism. They perfectly set up Cavendish for 3 stage wins (he lost the first to Petacchi, but was still perfectly set up) and he managed to collect 2. They paced the field perfectly through the flat stages, and made the catches at all the right times. They also got their man Michael Rogers into the top 10 GC during the mountain stages, giving them a possibility for a high overall finish as well. 
I'm going to say HTC Columbia here, simply because they have done nearly everything they set out to do, and they have done it with precision and professionalism. They perfectly set up Cavendish for 3 stage wins (he lost the first to Petacchi, but was still perfectly set up) and he managed to collect 2. They paced the field perfectly through the flat stages, and made the catches at all the right times. They also got their man Michael Rogers into the top 10 GC during the mountain stages, giving them a possibility for a high overall finish as well. Waiting in the Wings...
It is again too hard to pick just one, so I am going to say a pair of teammates. Rabobank climbers Denis Menchov (left) and Robert Gesink (right) have quietly made their way into contention for the prize. Menchov is considered one of the best riders in the world, but nobody knows just what he is capable of in the Tour. He is in 5th and could potentially make a lot of noise tomorrow and in upcoming weeks. The other man, Gesink, is having quite the interesting year. A few weeks after being in serious contention for the Tour de Suisse (a race many of the top contenders raced in), he again finds himself within striking distance. Gesink possibly may be the best pure climber in the field, but he struggles on medium stages and time trials. Still, he should be taken seriously because he has what it takes to make a move for yellow.
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