Had a nice ride this morning. I skipped going over to Columbia because I wanted to do my own thing in prep for Soulard. And, frankly, I didn't know if anyone else was going over there. Instead I went into Fenton. There were some hard efforts but it was all about keeping the legs fresh for tomorrow. The legs felt reasonably strong and they had some hippy-hop in them. This gives me some good sensations for tomorrow.
------------
The first mountain stage of the Tour was rather uneventful. There was a slow selection among the peloton but the race favorites did absolutely nothing. Not one attack. Gerdemann's solo win was a nice effort and he looked truly happy to be on the stage for both the stage win and yellow jersey presentations. Good for him. I also give a hand to Mauricio Soler of Barloworld. He attacked out of the peloton fairly early on the Colombiere and the cameras never showed him again but he stayed away until the end and actually closed the gap some on Gerdemann. A nice ride by an unknown rider.