I said Discovery Channel was looking to shut up it's critics yesterday. They did. Discovery Channel now has a chance to win not only yellow, but 4 of the 6 major trophies of the TdF (Yellow, White, Team, Team Time Trial). Throw in a couple of stage wins for Savoldelli and Hincapie when Discovery Channel really wasn't even trying, and it's about as dominating a performance as a team gets at the Tour de France.
Today is the rolling terrain of the Massif Cantral. At some point, Discovery Channel is going to put it in cruise control. They have proven their point. I don't know if today is the day they will relax or not. Lance only has one really competitive stage remaining... Saturday's time trial. Lance and his Discovery team may just kick back and enjoying a nice bike ride together today.
Stage 18 - Albi to Mende >189km
Course: Unlike the easy finish in 2003, up the Atlantic coast, this year's Tour sees a series of difficult stages through the Massif Central. The last 60km of this stage includes a challenging Cat. 2 climb out of the Tarn Gorge, a Cat. 3 climb at 15km to go, a swift downhill into the Lot valley at Mende, and a severe 14-percent Cat. 2 climb in the final 1.5km.
History: In the only Tour stage finish at Mende, in 1995, Laurent Jalabert used the closing Croix-Neuve climb to drop his longtime breakaway companions and score a memorable Bastille Day stage victory.
Favorites: Depending on the state of the race for the yellow jersey, riders like Vinokourov, Landis or Valverde might make it into the day's winning move. But look for a rider like David Moncoutié to be strong on the finishing climb. Also, the tough climb at Mende will sift out any of the weaker elements in the GC standings...."
http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/news/articles/8303.0.html
Links for following the race...
http://www.letour.com/
http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/
http://www.tdfblog.com/
http://www.olntv.com/