I ran six miles today. In the middle of the run I threw in two sets of four minutes hard, three minutes easy and four sets of 30 seconds very hard, 90 seconds easy. It felt great to move fast. Most of the stiffness I felt yesterday was gone.

Tour Talk

Well, it came down to a bunch sprint after all. For a moment it looked like Columbia blew the leadout and turned the stage over to team Quick Step and their man Gert Steegmans. But then Gerald Ciolek came blasting up with Cav on his wheel. Cav shot past to win easily and Ciolek held on for second. It was an impressive turn of speed for both men.

My pick to win a bunch sprint, Oscar Freire, was in the mix, finishing fourth. He scored enough points with that placing to move into the lead of the Green Jersey competition. He spent today in the Green Jersey, since he had it on loan from Kim Kirchen, who happened to be sporting the Yellow Jersey.

The big news on the day was, alas, a doping bust. This time it was former Lance Armstong lieutenant Manuel "Triki" Beltran, now riding for Liquigas. I'm glad they're catching the cheaters; it's just too bad the doping scandals detract from the race.

In more positive news, I found an interview with Steven Cozza where he talks about how his teammates on the Garmin-Chipotle squad are faring at the Tour de France. It's worth watching just to see the best moustache in professional sports since Dave Babych retired from hockey.

Stage Nine: Toulouse to Bagnères de Bigorre — 224 Kilometers

Ah, the first foray into the high mountains. This stage has two Category One climbs stacked at the end of the stage—the Col du Peyresourde and the Col d'Aspin—. It ends, however, with a 26 kilometer descent to the finish. That means we'll see which GC contenders have the legs for the mountains, but none of them will gain massive chunks of time on their rivals (although someone will LOSE massive chunks, for sure).

I think this stage will go to a good climber who's a daredevil descender. I have two riders in mind, Riccardo Ricco and Sami Sanchez. Ricco crashed today, but is apparently unhurt. He's claims to be racing for stage wins and to help his teammate Leonardo Piepoli. I think that might be a little bit of gamesmanship though. Ricco is such a competitive rider that I think he'll ride for the GC if he thinks a high placing is in reach. He looked very strong in the mountains at the Giro d'Italia. No one could ride with him when he attacked, not even Alberto Contador.

I think Sanchez is hungry to win in the Pyrenees. He rides for the Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi, which is based in northern Spain, so he'll have crazy fans all over the road. Expect to see thousands of people wearing orange shirts and waving Basque flags. With that in mind, I'm picking Sami Sanchez to win.  ¶ 1:17 AM