Le Tour

[michael]

Well done Bradley, up to 3rd now behind Contador and Lance, but still a long long way to go.

The real Tour only began today.

In the article below he talks about how he has improved his hill-climbing (evident today) by losing a bit of weight:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/jul/19/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france

[michael]

The Luxembourgers arrived today and pushed our Bradley down to 6th.

I reckon he'll smoke them in the time trial though.

Watch out for the black socks

[michael]

Also, I think that Cav ought to pipe down a bit about his exclusion.

Just take it, and get on with it.

[michael]

Exciting stage today in the time trials. Wiggo came 6th and now sits 4th in the GC, although Contador won it outright I believe and so tightens his grip on the yellow jersey.

How much has our Brad got left? He has done so so well.

Cav hasn't done much of late but is surely saving himself for the ride into Paris.

Anyway, as predicted by me early on, with just 3 stages left, Contador looks a dead cert to take the grandest prize in all of sport.

Shame on Di Luca though.

[michael]

Cavlar crosses the line first again today, against the odds really, and now is the most successful British rider of all times when it comes to stage wins. And he's only on his second tour.

Think Brad dropped a few seconds on 3rd place but it is all about tomorrow now.

[michael]

Brave ride by Wiggo up Mt Ventoux yesterday cemented his 4th place ahead of today's procession into Paris. What a hero.

Cav won today, again, bit lucky in the last corner but his astonishing sprint finish would have done the job regardless of who was on his wheel. It was also nice to see him show some humility and respect towards his rivals during the last week.

All in all an exceptionally good tour for the Brits, and a fantastic 3 weeks for Contador who excelled in all disciplines. Hopefully he is clean.