Greetings from: the McDonald’s across the street from my hotel.  Hey, free wifi is free wifi, and it’s 5 times faster than my hotel’s…  That said, I hope you enjoyed my walk up and down video from Ax 3 Domaines.  When all was said and done, I’d covered 20km /12mi and met lots of “interesting” people, as well as some old friends, too.

Stage 14 outcome: always love to see when a guy sacrifices it all and gets to kiss the girls at the end of the stage, so Bravo! to Christophe Riblon (and he was rocking the LIVESTRONG yellow wristband, too).  I thought for a while Contador and Schleck had forgotten about Menchov and Sanchez, but they regrouped enough to bring it back to a reasonable gap before the stage win.  The Shack’s Levi Leipheimer lost a spot to #7 as well 45 seconds, something really strong is going to have to happen for him to get on that final podium, I’m afraid…

There really wasn’t a big winner today, Riblon aside.  But if I had to throw a rock, it’d be towards Andy Schleck.  He only has a 31 second lead, and if they continue to mark each other AC will smoke him in the Time Trial for sure.  He had at least 6km of tough final riding where he could have attacked his main rival, but for some reason decided to just mark time.  Neither man looked stronger than the other, but Schleck has a lot more on the line.  While stage 15 and 16 are hard, they are probably not decisive, and so he’s left with the Tourmalet now to get the job done.

What goes up: loads of riders challenged Ax 3 Domaines today, and as long as you made it up by around 1pm the Gendarmes were happy to let you summit.  Most riders were rightfully in their easiest gears within 100m of the ascent, only 8km/5 mi to the top!  But the real danger of this, and practically any mountain, is on the descent.  It’s a pro skill not fully appreciated and in my opinion one we amateurs simply don’t practice enough.  Not only will you descend down an incline where you could go over 90 kmh/55 mph, but there are thousands of people walking down as well.  I left before the potential carnage….

Tour Tip: when you’re coming to the race, arrive 15 mins earlier than you need to, know exactly where you want to be, and then park about 2km/1.2mi away or so, facing in the direction you want to leave.  Now you have enough time to get there on time and then book out before the masses.  You’re welcome…

Lance Watch: now the most common question: is Lance Armstrong conserving energy, looking for a stage win? And if so, when?  I don’t think you have to be Johan Bruyneel to know LA wants to go out on a high note.  The problem is everyone else knows this, too, and there are only three realistic stages to do this (four of you include the TT), and if LA goes, so will plenty of others.  Could get a little crowded, so he’ll have to pick his point, not just go off the front from the 0km mark.  Stay tuned…

A Serious Anniversary: today marked the 15th anniversary of the death of Fabio Casrtelli, LA’s teammate back in the Motorola days.  He crashed on the Col de Portet d'Aspet and the race will pass over this climb tomorrow, summiting at the 105km mark.  Three days after Fabio’s death, Lance won a dramatic stage, pointing to the heavens in his memory in what is one of the most famous cycling photos ever.  Cycling really is a hard, hard sport.

Ciao for now, we’ll talk soon – Cb…