Today was an interval workout. I ran four sets of 4:30 hard, 3:30 easy, with a mile warm-up and mile cooldown. Previously, I was only running three reps for this workout, and upping it to four kind of hurt. I felt pretty wobbly by the last one. I eschewed running on the track because I was afraid I'd be disappointed with my times—my legs were feeling a little stale. I think, however, that I might have run my first two reps too hard. Without the solid reference of a track, I have no real way to judge pace beyond feel—and the first one always feels easy. The heat didn't help.

Tour Talk

After watching five hours of bike racing yesterday, I decided to go to bed rather than write up a report that practically no one will read. I want to get my prediction before the next stage though, so better late than never.

I thought I'd called the stage winner when Di Gregorio went clear over the Tourmalet with a seven-mintue lead. When I saw how fast the gap was closing on the descent, however, I knew he wasn't going to make it. Sastre was a bit of a disappointment too. He made one attack, which failed, then he followed wheels. Perhaps he's saving himself for the Alps, and he's certainly still in contention, but Frank Schleck is looking like the new captain of the CSC squad. Schleck went clear with Piepoli and Cobo but couldn't quite stay with them all the way to the finish. Drifting in about 30 seconds after stage-winner Piepoli, he came oh-so close to wearing Yellow. In the end, Cadel Evans aced him out by a single second.

A few favorites faltered in the mountains. Valverde was the most notable, though he's not entirely out of the picture at only 4:41 back on GC. Damiano Cunego is almost certainly out of contention at 5:37, and Haimar Zubeldia doesn't have a snowball's chance after losing 28 minutes on the day to plummet to 33:52 down. So much for picking him to finish in the top ten. Things should get interesting in the Alps. I'm nearly drooling at the thought of an epic race-changing day on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez.

Stage Eleven: Lannemezan to Foix — 167.5 Kilometers

Traditional wisdom says this stage is ripe for a breakaway to succeed: it follows a rest day, it's a "medium mountain" stage, and the GC race is pretty much settled down to a handful of riders. That said, I think the tomorrow's stage will end in a bunch sprint. Sure, there's a Category 1 climb right in the middle of the stage, followed by a Category 3 speed bump 20 kilometers from the finish, but there's plenty of time for the peloton to close the gaps. I think Credit Agricole will be especially interested in delivering Thor Hushovd to the line, as they have no GC riders to worry about. Oscar Freire should be near the front, as Rabobank will be working to keep Denis Menchov's 5th place safe. The hills might be a bit much for McEwen and Cavendish, but I think Zabel will get over. With those considerations in mind, I'm picking Thor Hushovd to win the stage.  ¶ 12:14 AM