It seems the mantra of this year's Tour is "expect the unexpected," and we got that again today as Carlos Sastre rode magnificently to easily defend his yellow jersey. It's all over bar the sprinting, as traditionally nobody attacks the yellow jersey on the stage to the Champs-Elysees and a breakaway almost never makes it to the line intact.
Evans simply didn't have enough in the tank to claw back his 1:34 deficit on the Spaniard, but he did move up into second overall. Kohl did a great ride to slot into the third GC spot, followed by Menchov, Vandevelde and poor Frank Schleck, who had a dismal day, even being passed by Sastre, who started three minutes behind him.
So it looks like we'll be suppressing any lingering thoughts about doping to applaud Sastre's first Tour win tomorrow.
Before we look at today's Pool result, I received a panicked, pleading email from Steve Proulx this morning. It seems he is being held responsible for the fact that Josee Lamirande's name was on the Wall of Shame. It was I, Josee, who unjustly included your name. It has been removed. Steve is an innocent bystander. Don't make him suffer more than he already has.
Les Boyz picked them right for the time trial, taking the stage over Team Last Minute and Dr. Ed. Ominously for those hoping to win the Tour Pool overall, Remi Berube was fifth on the stage, extending his lead to 31 points over Paul McAneney and 42 over Tricia K (& RP).
It's all going to come down to who sprints best on the Champs Elysees, and who will reap the most rewards on the final overall. That's when the riders who may never have won a stage, but rode consistently to finish well, come into play.
Until then,
KW
Stage: 20
Description: ITT
Date: Saturday July 26
Start/finish: Cérilly/Saint-Amand-Montrond
Distance 53 km
1st SCHUMACHER Stefan
2nd CANCELLARA Fabian
3rd KIRCHEN Kim
4th VANDEVELDE Christian
5th MILLAR David
6th MENCHOV Denis
7th EVANS Cadel
8th LANG Sebastian
9th KOHL Bernhard
10th HINCAPIE George
Young rider LOVKVIST Thomas
Teams GEROLSTEINER
Overall:
Yellow SASTRE Carlos
Team TEAM CSC SAXO BANK
Green FREIRE Oscar
Polka dots KOHL Bernhard
Young rider SCHLECK Andy
Pool stage results:
1 Les Boyz 43
2 Team Last Minute 41
3 Dr. Ed 40
4 Bob Webber 39
5 Remi Berube 38
5 Rob Grondin 38
7 Helena Deveer 37
8 Team mtbrkerz 36
9 Superfan 35
9 Bill Richardson 35
9 Paul Skafel 35
12 Phelan 34
13 Paul McAneney 33
13 Tricia K (& RP) 33
13 Devil's Island CC 33
13 Steve Proulx 33
13 Paul Gagnon 33
13 Earl Wexler 33
13 Stephan Sander 33
13 Luc Mahler 33
13 Flip i Flap 33
13 Jay "GC" Heins 33
23 VIPER 30
23 Mike House 30
25 Julie Deschenes-Furry 29
25 Biggie Flave 29
27 Hamburglars 28
27 Josée Lamirande 28
27 Marc Boudreau 28
27 Gordon Dalling 28
27 Ian Dewar 28
27 Conor O'Brien 28
27 Meylina Kandoy 28
27 Oro Rocks! 28
27 Matthew Ellis A-Team 28
27 Team Kingsmere 28
27 Jeffrey Furry 28
27 Grimpeur Kings 28
27 Alexandra Lai 28
27 Team Nestle 28
27 Team Willow 28
27 Blaine Penny 28
43 Donneli 27
44 Grimpeur George 26
44 Sandy Fulton 26
44 Lisa McMurray 26
47 Fee 25
48 Paul McAneney Team 2 24
49 Kris Westwood 23
49 Linda Gilligan 23
49 Westboro Chiropractic 23
49 Are we there yet? 23
49 Sebastian Robillard-Cardinal 23
49 Chris White 23
55 Jboys 22
56 natbikes.com 21
56 Ian Dalling 21
56 Getafix 21
56 Matthew Ellis B-Team 21
56 Team Twink 21
56 Paul Crowley 21
56 Chris Holzhauer 21
56 Mhairi Gilmore 21
56 Doug Corner 21
65 Erich Zappe 20
66 Barnet Cycling Club 19
66 Richard And Catherine 19
68 Peter Metuzals 18
68 Kiwi Mike 18
70 Richard Swandel 17
70 France in my Pants 17
72 Julian Hine 16
72 Julie Jay 16
72 David Markin 16
72 Old Farts 16
72 Bat of Alpe d'Huez 16
72 Tyler Lawlor 16
78 Sheri Jay 14
78 Deb Hine 14
78 Vince Caceres 14
81 Jay "Green Jersey" Heins 12
82 TinaB 10
83 Ilennod 1
84 K8 Scallion 0
Pool overall:
1 Remi Berube 591
2 Paul McAneney 560
3 Tricia K (& RP) 549
4 Steve Proulx 546
5 Bob Webber 541
6 Team Last Minute 534
7 Stephan Sander 526
8 Les Boyz 522
9 Josée Lamirande 513
10 Meylina Kandoy 511
11 Paul Crowley 506
12 Marc Boudreau 498
13 Matthew Ellis A-Team 492
13 Chris Holzhauer 492
15 Earl Wexler 484
15 Team Twink 484
17 Flip i Flap 479
18 Peter Metuzals 474
19 Grimpeur Kings 465
20 Jay "Green Jersey" Heins 462
21 Phelan 461
22 Jeffrey Furry 452
23 Alexandra Lai 442
24 Devil's Island CC 440
25 Paul McAneney Team 2 436
26 Helena Deveer 434
27 Team Kingsmere 430
28 Hamburglars 427
28 Dr. Ed 427
30 Kiwi Mike 424
31 Team mtbrkerz 416
32 Donneli 413
33 David Markin 412
33 Vince Caceres 412
35 Barnet Cycling Club 411
36 Sebastian Robillard-Cardinal 409
37 Jay "GC" Heins 408
37 Paul Skafel 408
37 Rob Grondin 408
40 Paul Gagnon 404
41 Deb Hine 398
42 TinaB 397
42 Jboys 397
44 Fee 388
45 Luc Mahler 387
46 Superfan 386
47 Team Nestle 383
48 Linda Gilligan 382
48 Westboro Chiropractic 382
50 Oro Rocks! 381
51 Julie Deschenes-Furry 378
52 VIPER 373
53 Sandy Fulton 372
54 Gordon Dalling 370
55 Grimpeur George 367
56 Team Willow 365
57 natbikes.com 349
57 Mike House 349
59 Bill Richardson 344
59 Ian Dalling 344
61 Chris White 340
62 Julian Hine 335
63 Ian Dewar 334
64 Richard And Catherine 325
64 Getafix 325
64 Bat of Alpe d'Huez 325
67 Conor O'Brien 323
68 Richard Swandel 314
68 Are we there yet? 314
70 Sheri Jay 312
71 Blaine Penny 309
72 Matthew Ellis B-Team 307
73 Biggie Flave 302
74 Tyler Lawlor 295
75 Lisa McMurray 292
76 Doug Corner 274
77 France in my Pants 260
78 Kris Westwood 250
79 Mhairi Gilmore 245
80 Julie Jay 242
81 Erich Zappe 194
82 Old Farts 111
83 Ilennod 74
84 K8 Scallion 49