from Allen Lim, PhD

Yesterday when Christian moved into third place, he and the rest of the team were happy, but no one really seemed to make a big deal out of it. It was definitely a hard day, but we were all trying to stay focused on today. In our minds, the Tourmalet and the Hautacam were going to be the real first test of the Tour. At the same time, the performance Rico put in to solo win was just incredible. So much so, that it can screw with your head as a rider, and I sensed that Christian was a bit reticent to really believe how astounding his form is right now.

To catch up, yesterday was a super hard day. Long story short, on the final climb, the group that Christian was in came over the last 5 km at a rate of ascent or VAM of 1650 meters per hour. At an average grade of 7%, that put him at a power to weight of about 6 watts per kg. On the other hand, for Rico to put just over 1 minute on that group in that same 5 km meant that he had to do a VAM of 1790 meters per hour, putting him at a power to weight of 6.5 to 6.6 watts per kg for just over 12 minutes at the end of a really long stage.

While on the massage table, Christian was reeling about how amazing of an effort that was. And while it was, I couldn’t help but wax philosophic with him a bit and point out the obvious -- that it shouldn’t concern him, cause unless Rico could repeat that kind of effort on the Hautacam and then in the Alps, he wasn’t going to be a GC contender and that most importantly, if any of his GC competitors were capable of that kind of performance they wouldn’t have been hanging out back with him in the peleton. The simple epiphany was that there was a reason why Rico was alone.

Today, however, was a very different story. The Saunier Duval boys definitely handed it to everyone today, but Rico wasn’t there. Instead, it was Christian who had another incredible yet consistent and even day. If anything, he was disappointed that he didn’t just go with Kohl and Schleck when they attacked. I think, and I know he’s starting to believe that he would’ve been right there with them, which would’ve put him the Yellow jersey today.

But would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Whatever. His instinct while in the heat of the moment was to follow who he considered to be the biggest GC threat – namely Cadel. And that was the smart play. We’ve got a lot of days and some really hard stages to come. He didn’t burn any matches and his 51:03 min:sec effort on the Tourmalet, which gave him a 1551 VAM at hard but do-able 5.4 watts per kg, as well as his 41:34 min:sec performance on the Hautacam, which produced a 1543 VAM at 5.45 watts per kg, shows that he is well within himself and incredibly consistent right now.

All that translates into a cautiously optimistic 3rd place. A 3rd place with a lot more belief and a lot more anticipation than yesterday’s 3rd place. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a 3rd place that has me pumped. Why? 'Cause I’ve always believed. This whole team believes. And what we all believe now has me going to bed giddy tonight. It’s starting to get really fun here in France.