Stage 15 saw the defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named, as Harry Potter‘s Alberto Contador’s charge up the climb to Verbier proved too much for him to handle. Watching Lance in the post-race interview was sad–you could tell he was disappointed that he simply couldn’t keep up with Contador’s amazing acceleration. The tour is Contador’s to lose.
Stage 16, consisting simply of two huge climbs and descents over 160k, was less dramatic. Though there were some attacks on the final climb, including an impressive bridge to the lead group by Lance Armstrong You-Know-Who and a decisive attack from the breakaway group from Mikel Astarloza, there were minimal changes to the GC. The next few days should consist of Astana setting a fast tempo over the climbs to prevent any more attacks, a few GC contenders dropping out of contention, and possibly some drama on Saturday’s epic climb up to Mont Ventoux.
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