grin and bear it

There's nothing quite like watching a rider completely bury themselves in pursuit of victory. Mikel Astarloza's stage win today made for great viewing as he broke away from a group of four with under two kms to go. It was bike racing at its best with Astarloza's contorted face perfectly capturing the emotion and the pain that always accompanies a hard fought win. A demonstrative rider like Astarloza, whose toothy grin/grimace is something of trademark, is always more fun to watch than a rider who masks the huge effort you know he has just made. Elsewhere, Andy Schleck attempted to claw back some time on Contador on the last climb but Alberto looked more than comfortable and never lost Schleck's wheel. Other GC contenders also looked at relative ease despite Schleck's turn of pace, including Wiggins. Armstrong too looked good, jumping from a select group (and leaving them in his wake) to rejoin Contador, Schleck, etc. before they reached the summit. I'm sure Schleck will give it another dig tomorrow though...