September 1: Looks can be deceiving

Index to all entries

Stage 7 was another mountain day, or a pseudo mountain day at least!

It was slow and pretty boring at the start, but the race started to light up at the finish, on the only climb of the day. Teams started working to bring back the break going into the climb, so things started to really speed up - finally!

I worked a little for my team-mate Josep on the climb, to keep him comfy and up front on things, and then cruised in at tempo for the rest, finishing a little ways back. Right now I'm sitting a ways back, but not too far, so hopefully I'm in a good spot to have a little freedom in the coming stages.

It was interesting to see how riders looked at the beginning of the climb, since no one looked very good. I never would have guessed that Valverde would win, since he really wasn't looking good, but that's the way it goes sometimes! Guess his legs came around by the end!

I'm interested to see how the Discovery boys race in the next few days, now that they have the leader's jersey - in this 'post-Lance era'. I think everyone has been waiting to see how they come together this year, so I guess I'll have a front row seat for the action.

Well, that's everything. Hanging out at the hotel right now - this one is a big improvement over the last few, which was exciting to see!

Thanks for reading,
Chris

Stage 7 results