Stage 14 - Riblon Rules The Road

If we were expecting a big show-down between Contador and Schleck as the Tour hit the Pyrenees, then we were in for a bit of a let down. The two of them seem to be so evenly matched, that they eventually gave up trying to get one over on each other. And at one point it looked like they had decided to have a track-stand competition to decide the winner.

The go-slow by the top two gave Dennis Menchov a chance to attack, and he was closely followed by Sammy Sanchez. Off they went, and eventually Schleck and Conatador decided to start racing again and gave chase. Come the finish line they only managed to gain 14 seconds over the top dogs and Sanchez kept hold of third overall.

While all this was going on though, hero of the day was Christophe Riblon, who did a great ride to attack from the day's break and solo on to the finish.

It wasn't easy for Riblon, it was a hard ride as he rode through the roadside crowds - including supporters of rival French teams with mullets.

The Tour is one of the few events where the fans can get so close to the stars. Here in the States, if you try that sort of shit you'll get Tasered.



The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed yet another character amongst the "roadside zoo" at the Tour this year. Yes, it's Mr Clean Bottle, who seems to be doing quite well at getting some free TV advertising during the race. Why he's hanging out with Welsh people I'm not sure.

Phil&Paul like to spot him every day. Just in case you didn't know, its a bottle that unscrews at both ends for cleaning and the like. Is it a revolution in bottle technology? The cleanest bottle ever? I'm not sure. But I did happen to see possibly the gayest bottle ever yesterday.

The scores are still lagging a bit behind. We're now up to stage 13 and the mini league table looks like this.

So on to stage 15. More hills. More fun. Bring it on.