I ran an easy five miles today. For the first mile, I felt miserable. Everything was stiff and tight—my legs, my back, my shoulders. Slowly, I loosened up. After a while, I didn't feel half bad. By the end, I almost felt refreshed. This is why I never take a day off before a race. One day without running leaves nearly crippled with stiffness. It goes away eventually, but who wants to make a hard effort with low morale?

Tour Talk

Today was a much harder day for the GC contenders than I anticipated. An early headwind split the peloton into echelons and put everyone under the gun. For a while, it looked like Damiano Cunego's GC hopes were crushed, but he managed to chase back on and only finished thirty seconds of the rest of the big guns. Haimar Zubeldia was with him, but he was already further down on GC, so his place in the overall might be at risk; however, he's a beast in the Pyrenees, which are looming on the horizon.

Luis Leon Sanchez's victory was similar to the stage he took at Paris-Nice—attack, attack, attack, and then when everyone thinks it's over, attack again. He was definitely the strongest rider on the day. Early in his career he was touted as the next Miguel Indurain, and while I don't think he's quite that good, he looks like a future GC contender.

A few riders abandoned, most notably Christophe Moreau. I guess I don't need to consider him for the Polka Dots anymore. Neither do I need to consider John Gadret, a pure climber on the AG2R team. He abandoned too, and the race hasn't even hit the real mountains. Magnus Backstedt from the Garmin-Chipotle team, better know as Big Maggie, missed the time cut and has been eliminated from the race. That’s got to be a disappointment for his team, as he's a good man to make pace when the road is flat.

Stage Eight: Figeac to Toulouse &mdash 172.5 Kilometers

Most everyone expects tomorrow's stage to finish in a sprint, but I disagree. Everyone rode so hard today that I don't think any teams will be interested in chasing down a break. And with two uncategorized climbs in the final 25 kilometers, I think a break will go clear. I've got a hunch Credit Agricole will send someone up the road. I saw Thor Hushovd riding with front group all day, so I imagine he's tired from hauling his big body up those Category 2 hilltops. Most of the other teams with good sprinters have riders competing for the GC, so they won't be too keen to work hard at the front if they're isn't a threat to their top rider's position. So, if Credit Agricole sends, say, Dmitriy Fofonov to front, they won't have any need to chase. I think some of the other non-contending teams will try to send a rider as well: AG2R could send Vladimir Efimkin, and Agritubel could send Nicolas Jalabert, and someone from Bouygues Telecom will go too. With all that in mind, I'm going to pick Efimkin for the win. Call it a gut feeling.

If the race does come down to a bunch sprint, I think Oscar Freire will win. He's good enough on the hills to stay with front group over the rollers at the end, his team, Rabobank, will be working to protect Denis Menchov, and he doesn't need a lead out to win.  ¶ 11:19 PM