Looks like tonight will be the decider 
I’m hoping Cadel holds it together
Woop Woop! Three col hors-catégorie, that’s pretty intense! Good thing I’m leaving for NAUCC only at 14h30! (The race ends at 11h30 usually here).
I wanted the Schlecks (sp?) to win but Cadel is looking really good. I would never normally give him a chance but his strategy and moves have been really good.
I remember watching Cadel win his first every MTB World Cup race in 1997, in my hometown of Wellington. We used parts of the same 1997 course for the XC MUni race at UNICON XV.
Difficult to judge, I raced with guys who rode the tour de France, I died 16 years ago (because of doping) and the second one is mad (because of doping) …
Some news (in French) about latest products well known in cycling :
http://blog.slate.fr/tour-de-france-2011/2011/07/18/dopage-a-la-recherche-de-la-nouvelle-star/
So I will look at the result of the race as usual but …
ftfy
It’s a shame that these athletes feel the need to do that. They are, IMHO, the fittest people on the planet. The Tour de France is a race for the gods.
I was curious at the start of the Tour what exactly doping athletes are doing, and what it results in.
Turns out, in the past, they used to remove a liter or so of blood a few weeks before a race, then just before the race they would re-inject the blood ( talk about pressure…) to increase the amount of red blood cells being carried to the muscles.
Of course, now they have drugs that force the body to excessively create red blood cells.
Have you seen Bigger, Faster, Stronger*
Bigger, Stronger, Faster* - Wikipedia*
I found it very enlightening.
It’s called self transfusion, they still do it, and not only in cycling, also in football…
Wow, epic Stage 18! Gutsy rides by Andy Schleck, Evans and Voeckler
UGH! Too bad Andy didn’t take the maillot jaune today! Great stage, really entertaning to watch!
Absolutely awesome last 10ks
The Yellow frenchy still at the top !
Thank you Thieum, you made me still alive
Gotta feel sorry for Cadel- he towed everyone up that last 10km with no one able or willing to work. Still clawed back a couple of minutes.
Guess that bike racing for ya 
I saw the last 15k of the stage, and it was awesome. I’m pulling for Schleck though
Yeah, gotta admire such an attack so far from the finish. I thought they executed it pretty well, even if he did fade a bit towards the end.
And Cadel wins it!!!
WWoooohoo!!!
I bet there are a lot of happy Aussies out there today! Great win by Evans, the Schlecks threw everything at him in the mountains but he was always there hanging on, most of the time with no help from anyone else! He’s been so close before so it’s nice to see an obviously great rider finally win the biggest prize in the sport.
Still a big day tomorrow for the Brits to cheer, first green jersey for a Brit at stake (and second ever TDF jersey win), as well as Cavendish going for the hat trick of Champs Elysees wins. Go Cav!