Tactics are obviously a large part of mountain stages, but sometimes they can be taken a bit too far. It is not often that versus commentators Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen do not understand what is happening, but they (along with everyone else) were baffled by the strategy taken by the leaders on the final climb of the day on the way to Ax 3 Domaines. One thing that was not questioned was who won the stage.
Frenchman Christophe Riblon put in an absolutely dominating performance, getting himself into the early breakaway and surviving to the finish. He watched as one by one the riders in the early 9 man breakaway dropped off the back and held nearly a minute lead while the favorites for the Tour de France raged behind him. Other than his amazing riding, one of the reasons why Riblon was able to keep such an advantage was the games the leaders were playing behind him. After the peloton was decimated on the first major climb (Port de Pailheres), it was down to a select group of leaders on the way up to Ax 3 Domaines. Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador were easily in the group for most of the day, and became incredibly focused (or perhaps obcessed) with each other.
At one point, they became so focused on their own battle that they forgot about the actual race and got dropped from the group late in the final climb. Denis Menchov (4th) and Samuel Sanchez (3rd) saw this opportunity and jumped over the top of the group.
Schleck and Contador were able to make their way to the group chasing Menchov and Sanchez, but ended up losing 14 seconds to the two men. It is not that significant in the overall scheme of things, but it still shows sloppy riding by the two leaders and I imagine they both heard about it afterwards. What is significant about this stage is that Menchov and Sanchez both made their case for 3rd place, and might just have the competition to themselves. Both Levi Leipheimer and Roman Kreuzinger had a rough day, and essentially fell out of contention. Armstrong continued to fall, losing even more minutes on the leaders and falling out of the top 35. Andy Schleck's strategy may have worked to keep yellow today, but he needs to get moving soon to get more time on Contador before the TT.
Tactics are obviously a large part of mountain stages, but sometimes they can be taken a bit too far. It is not often that versus commentators Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen do not understand what is happening, but they (along with everyone else) were baffled by the strategy taken by the leaders on the final climb of the day on the way to Ax 3 Domaines. One thing that was not questioned was who won the stage.
Frenchman Christophe Riblon put in an absolutely dominating performance, getting himself into the early breakaway and surviving to the finish. He watched as one by one the riders in the early 9 man breakaway dropped off the back and held nearly a minute lead while the favorites for the Tour de France raged behind him. Other than his amazing riding, one of the reasons why Riblon was able to keep such an advantage was the games the leaders were playing behind him. After the peloton was decimated on the first major climb (Port de Pailheres), it was down to a select group of leaders on the way up to Ax 3 Domaines. Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador were easily in the group for most of the day, and became incredibly focused (or perhaps obcessed) with each other.
At one point, they became so focused on their own battle that they forgot about the actual race and got dropped from the group late in the final climb. Denis Menchov (4th) and Samuel Sanchez (3rd) saw this opportunity and jumped over the top of the group. 
Schleck and Contador were able to make their way to the group chasing Menchov and Sanchez, but ended up losing 14 seconds to the two men. It is not that significant in the overall scheme of things, but it still shows sloppy riding by the two leaders and I imagine they both heard about it afterwards. What is significant about this stage is that Menchov and Sanchez both made their case for 3rd place, and might just have the competition to themselves. Both Levi Leipheimer and Roman Kreuzinger had a rough day, and essentially fell out of contention. Armstrong continued to fall, losing even more minutes on the leaders and falling out of the top 35. Andy Schleck's strategy may have worked to keep yellow today, but he needs to get moving soon to get more time on Contador before the TT.
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