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Stage 13 was like a whole new race simply due to the fact that the sprinter’s can’t climb. I love how cocky Cavendish is during a sprint and yet he was in the autobus pulling his ass over the mountain today. The Australian/German Haussler won his first stage win after a successful break away today. His victory salute was the most touching,  honest and humble  I have ever seen in this sport.

ION- Levi Leipheimmer was unable to start today due to a broken wrist! Levi fell just before the finish line yesterday but mounted and finished the race. That evening it was discovered it was actually broken and he needed to have surgery today. Poor Levi was a GC and one of the strongest guys working for Armstrong. The mountains may prove a bit harder without the wingman!

Check out bicycling.com for all the news that is going on…and there is A LOT of news: two riders got hit by pellet guns today, the drug testing, radio ban, etc. It’s good stuff. Like a soap opera condensed into 21 days.

Today is what the Tour de France is all about: the winner was not one of the GC but someone who has been paying his dues and supporting his team (this year he’s fighting for the Schleck brothers) for SEVEN tours. Congrats to Nicki Sorenson of Saxo Bank. He made a break-a-way early on and then attacked again to ride to victory by himself, almost six minutes ahead of the peloton! Hallmark commercials, the Olympics and the underdogs winning a stage in the TdF make me cry! It was a great finish to a long day of racing.

ION- The radio ban has been lifted! Guess all the whining paid off because the tour organizers announced they have cancelled the second day with no radios.

Team Columbia HTC is working hard to position Cavendish in the right place at the right time and it’s paying off with two wins in a row for Cavendish. But why does Cavendish get all the glory? He basically sits back and enjoys the ride, while his teammates do the work, then sprints ahead at the last few seconds and takes the win. Yes, he’s fast. No doubt he is doing his job as a sprinter, but his victory salutes as he crosses the line are getting to be a bit much. Let Hincapie (remember him? he led Armstrong to seven tour victories) have some credit! There should be a jersey for the best lead out/caretaker guy. That would be Hincapie. Cavendish should salute Hincapie in his victory salutes!

Stage 10 was supposed to be controversial as there was a radio ban, but the riders didn’t seem too upset. The directors were more irritated than anyone else. Perhaps they get bored following the race with no input allowed? There was a rumor that the race was “shut down” and the riders decided to just stick together and not do anything exciting in a protest of the radio ban. And it did seem a bit slow, but to the casual observer (me) there wasn’t much difference. C’est la vie!