Chris Horner talks about the ascent up the brutal HC Col de la Madeliene during stage nine of the Tour de France. 

By Chris Brewer

Greetings from yet another hotel room in France.  Stage 9 is in the books and kudos to Andy Schleck as he really animated the race on the Col de la Madeliene, unable to shake Alberto Contador but more than enough to nab the coveted maillot jaune.

Ride of the Day:  While Andy did a great job, my ride of the day goes to his teammate Jens Voigt.  He simply turned himself inside out for his captain, riding to the point where he nearly fell over approaching the final summit.  And then at the end of the race he was mobbed by reporters and somehow found the energy to answer questions before riding off to his team bus and some rest.  And how about that world champion, Cadel Evans?!  While practically everyone thought he’d bonked and was having a bad day, word quickly spread after the stage he has a broken elbow. OMG. (sorry for the emoticon, CMO Lance)

Tour de France
Stage 9: Morzine to Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne, 204.5km/127mi
By Cathy Meh

The yellow jersey is the most valued prize in the world of cycling and BMC’s Cadel Evans was determined to honor the position and do his best to defend in the Tour de France.   But the World champion lost contact on the climb of the Col de la Madelein on Stage 9 Tuesday  and arrived at the finish area more than nine minutes after stage winner Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux) before revealing that he rode with a broken elbow and found it too difficult to follow the moves on the climb.  Casar was part of an original 14-man break that saw four of the riders stay clear to the end.  Second and third places went to Luis León Sánchez  (Caisse d’Epargne) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre).
Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck moved into the maillot jaune for the first time in his young career, a long-term objective for the 25-year old Luxembourger.  Sitting only 41-seconds behind in the classification is Alberto Contador (Astana), followed by Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez of Euskaltel-Euskadi another two minutes down.

Check out the photos from Stage 9 of the Tour de France.

Check out the photos from "Behind the Lines" of stage nine of the Tour de France.

Check out this in race photo from the Col de La Colombiere.
Photo: Graham Watson

Lance gets some help putting on his race number.

High Mountains Stage
Tues, July 13—starts at 1130 local time

About Stage 9
By Chris Brewer
Hope the riders got plenty of rest yesterday, as today is another monster day of climbing.  Five rated climbs, including two Cat 1’s and a finale up the fearsome Col de la Madeleine all lead to a harrowing 32km descent to the line.  Expect a select group to be there at the end going for the stage win, and happy to have survived the day.