Yesterday, one of the staff members from the Team told me that there would be two Discovery Team riders in the top five after the Individual Time Trial.  After a long day in the cold rain, they were exactly right.  Alberto Contador finished in 7th and Levi Leipheimer in 9th, good enough to move them up to 3rd and 5th respectively.  For a little icing on the cake Popovych also placed in the top ten on the day.  Not a bad day for the "green team," not bad at all.

It was an interesting race today.  Most of the riders had to face a rain soaked course, the few that did not were lucky and had a distinct advantage over the rest.  Rain or shine Astana was unstoppable today.  Vino looks to be back in full force; he was so good today that he almost clawed his way back into the race, almost.   It was all around a surprising day.  The course brought more of the top contenders tumbling down.  The biggest surprise to me was Valverde, he crumbled hard today.  With each of the early favorites starting to falter, the chances of seeing a Discovery rider or two on the podium in Paris are better and better.

Pictures are not loading so check back, I will get them up as soon as possible......