Wiggins was 6th in the time trial yesterday, and even finished behind his team-mate David Millar. What the 'experts' fail to recognise is that his physique has changed completely, so he is better at climbing but probably worse at his previous speciality.

Overall standings with 3 stages left

1. Alberto Contador (Spain / Astana ) 73hrs 15mins 39s
2. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Saxo Bank ) +4:11"
3. Lance Armstrong (US / Astana ) +5:25"
4. Bradley Wiggins (GB / Garmin ) +5:36"
5. Andreas Kloeden (Germany / Astana ) +5:38"
6. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg / Saxo Bank ) +5:59"

Very close for 3rd to 6th. Unfortunately I'm not convinced Bradley has enough left to finish on the podium. Great effort all the same, as this event is an absolute man-killer.

I see Armstrong is looking to put together a US-based team of his own for next years Tour - acknowledgement that he isn't going to be the main man at Astana and would have to work for the benefit of Contador next year?

There's supposed to be a British team from September as well. Unfortunately the likes of Cavendish and Wiggins are already contracted elsewhere.

Re: Astana - the last I heard the team principal, Bruyneel, was also set to leave.

Not today.

5th stage win of Le Tour for Mark Cavendish. 9th overall to set a new British record.

What amount of green jersey points are on offer for winning stages and coming in second?? Cav was 30 points behind before today's stage so wondering if there was any real chance of him pipping Hushovd on Sunday.

he's 25 points behind now... not much chance really..., i'm sure he said in an interview that getting to paris was his main aim though, not the green jersey

Yeah, that was after he realised that he had no chance of winning the green jersey.

After he got cruelly stripped of the points he won the other day too...if it wasnt for that then it'd be proper interesting going into Sunday.

True. Having said that, I think Hushovd is the better overall rider. He can't get near Cavendish in a sprint, but he is better at picking up the intermediate points. Overall he is 36 minutes and 25 places in front of Cavendish.

Big day today - hoping to see some exciting riding with the other riders putting pressure on Contador. Can't see them succeeding though - his team are too strong & he's by far the best rider in the race, so I reckon he'll come in 3rd or 4th on the stage. Of course he'll get Armstong's 100% support as well.

Reckon Bradley will lose some more time today - 4th to 10th places may change around quite a bit. I hope he doesn't, but this will be a huge challenge for him.

Happy viewing.

Great stage today. Brilliant defensive ride from Armstrong, Contador helped him every step of the way. Hats off to Wiggins too, he really had to dig deep to hang on to 4th place.

Brilliant performance today from Bradley - neighbours must have wondered what was happening when the cheer went up from my house after he zoomed into sight from the bend at the end. Dealt nicely with that Swedish runner as well - shoved him out of the way!!

Sporting performance of the year for me.

Lance's new team
[urlhttp://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/radioshack-is-lance-armstrongs-new-team-sponsor-22531[/url
Who remembers their shop in the Merrion Centre (one for Leeds-based folks)? Like a poor man's Maplins!!!!

Sweet, so he will be able to take on Contador propley next year then because he was playing team mate quite abit this year, most notably on the climb where he was back marking Wiggins.

As much as I'd like to see it, I suspect Armstrong has won all the Tours he's going to. I don't think it matters, he can bring on new riders, continue to ride well himself and raise huge amounts for charity.
I think we, as a nation, should be ashamed of the fact that someone who has so annoyed so many French people for so long hasn't been knighted


As for Contador, the rumours are rife already (that climb etc). Lemond asking a lot of questions

4400 stores in the US according to Lance's spiel.



Never mind Radio Shack, do you remember Tandy? Like a poor man's Dixons.

Great effort by the Wiggster today to consolidate 4th place by 3 seconds. Never in doubt.

Cav finishes the tour with an outstanding 6th win. He is only 24 as well and he already has 11 stage wins. Nobody can even touch him in a straight up sprint plus his team is the best team around. He won that stage by a country mile and I have a feeling that if it had not been in Paris, he would have gifted that win to Renshaw for all the hard work he has put in for him in this tour.
In the end he missed out by 10 points on the green jersery, Hushvod's brilliant ride in the Alps proving the difference.

Cav was so far ahead he almost had time to stop and pose for a picture before he got to the line. He's stated that everytime he makes a mistake he learns from it - hopefully this will allow him to go one better and secure the Green jersey next year .

Well done Bradley - superb achievement to finish 4th, joint highest for a British rider (alongside one of my Tour heroes Robert Millar). Great, modest interview afterwards - hopefully he''ll go away, stay out of the limelight, practice and emerge as a contender for next year's Tour.

Yep, I remember that one. Crammed full fo apparently crappy hifi gear!

Tandy, Radio Shack, same place!

Funny as article here on Lance's terrible Damien Hurst designed "Real dead butterfly" bike he rode into Paris. Not great for a man who's foundation tries to preserve life. uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/27072009/ ... erfly.html

Funny as article here on Lance's terrible Damien Hurst designed "Real dead butterfly" bike he rode into Paris. Not great for a man who's foundation tries to preserve life. uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/27072009/ ... erfly.html

[url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/8178940.stmThought it was too good to be true[/url

Meanwhile Wiggo has released his test results for public scrutiny.

Still compared to recent years having only 2 positive drugs test (so far) that have been related to the tour is pretty good. (The first one taking place just before the tour with Dekker)
Also none of them major players.
Cycling has a problem, it always has, but it is trying to handle it instead of just turning a blind eye and hoping that it goes away like some sports.