I ran a ten-mile long run today. Looking back over my calendar, I discovered it was my first 10-mile training run of 2008. Seeing that it's mid-July, this is not a good thing. The run did not go well. Temperatures pushed into the 80s, and I don't handle the heat well. I was pretty much wiped out by the end.

The Little Dude told his first joke today. "Knock, knock," he said.

"Is this a knock-knock joke?" I replied. "Okay, then—who's there?"

"Stinky!¹"

"Stinky who?"

"Stinky poo²!"

Well, I thought it was funny.

Tour Talk

Damn. I was waffling between Sami Sanchez and Riccardo Ricco when I made my pick yesterday, and I went with Sanchez, mostly because Ricco had crashed that day. I should have listened to my gut; it was telling me to pick Ricco.

Ricco won the stage with élan. A couple of bold attacks strung out the peloton, and then he blasted away like he had a rocket strapped on his back. He was far enough down on the GC that no one worked to chase him back. A strong effort by Ricco kept the gap from closing on the descent. Sami Sanchez stayed with main contenders and finished in the lead group.

At one point, Ricco sailed past Luis Leon (not Sami) Sanchez, who was slightly up the road in a smaller breakaway. He was marking Maxime Monfort, a GC threat, but not working with him. It was clear L.L. Sanchez was working for Valverde and not chasing a stage win. He sat up when Ricco went by. I would like to know what would have happened if he'd be allowed to chase and go for the victory himself.

Cadel Evans, the odds-on favorite to win, crashed hard midway through the stage. No one knows if he's badly hurt. His left side was scraped and bloody in several places, the jersey around his right shoulder blade was shredded, and his helmet looked like someone took a few whacks at it with a hammer. If he can survive tomorrow's stage, he has a rest day on Tuesday to recover, but if he's too beat up to stay with leaders, then his Tour chances are over. It always sucks when a race favorite crashes.

Stage Ten: Pau to Hautacam — 156 Kilometers

With two HC climbs—the monstrous Col du Tourmalet and a mountain-top finish on much-feared Hautacam—tomorrow's stage is a beast. It could determine the winner of the whole race, although I think it's a bit too early for that to happen. It should definitely separate the pretenders from the contenders though. I'm hoping Evans isn't too badly injured from today's crash to wheelsuck someone to the top and stay in contention.

There will most likely be two separate races—one for the stage win and one for the Yellow Jersey. Since tomorrow is Bastille Day, it's almost guaranteed a French rider will attack. If he's far enough out of contention for the overall, he could solo to victory. In fact, I think that's exactly what will happen. That's why I'm picking the highly-touted climber Rémy Di Gregorio to win the stage.

Further down the mountain, the GC favorites will be marking each other. I think Carlos Sastre will be the first to come across the line, but I don't know if he'll gain enough time to take the overall lead. Evans could finish in Yellow, as all he needs to do is finish within 55 seconds of anyone but Stefan Schumacher, Christian Vande Valde (USA! USA!), or current leader Kim Kirchen. I would love to see Vande Velde move into the lead, but I think the stage will be just a little too tough for him. He could hold onto a top-ten position though.

On the Versus broadcast, the have a segment called the SAAB performance prediction. The four guys in the booth—Craig Hummer, Bob Roll, Paul Sherwin, and Phil Liggett—take turns picking who they think will win the stage. They keep a running score and pass around their own Yellow Jersey. Well, I realized today that anytime Phil makes the same pick as me, that rider finishes out of the money. Please, Phil, don't pick Di Gregorio tomorrow!

1. Stinky is a much-loved, much-chewed stuffed penguin.
2. Stinky poo is what Little Dude says when he smells his socks.  ¶ 10:54 PM