Today’s 230k went by as fast as it possibly could, given the conditions.

Out on the road it was more than 100 degrees all day and the pavement was rough. Some of us were still a bit tired after the mountain day yesterday that took us over the famed Galibier. It was a great mountain stage that started at the bottom of the Col de l'Iseran in the ski town of Val-d'Isère. The Iseran goes straight up to 2770 meters (9088 ft.) and there ain’t so much air up there.

I went with a few attacks and every extra effort was rewarded with a straight-up bout of dizziness. Then we raced down to the bottom of the Telegraph, which then leads straight into the Galibier which goes higher than the later and then descending down in the town of Briançon. That’s 45km of climbing, combined with insane downhills. It sure made for a great stage. The favorites all established themselves and maybe showed a few cards, but nothing really changed.

Today, Cedric Vasseur saved the day for the French, winning the stage. He’s about to turn 37 and 10 years have elapsed since his first stage win. On top of that, he has the honor of being the first French stage winner of the year. It was long and brutally hot but that didn't stop the teams who lacked a stage win from attacking for the first hour-and-a-half. Finally, a group got away and we could peacefully ride to the finish. It was boring and uncomfortable and I now have a horrible tan.

While the 11 guys up the road were riding off to a stage win, we settled in for a long ride on baking roads. Zabriskie lost his mind under the hot sun, much to the amusement to those of us around him. And, of course, we all got sun burned.

I did manage to catch up with a few friends and tossed water bottles at cars. Fabian had an impressive John Paxon-style three pointer today. He pointed out a van on the side of the road with the door open. Once he had our attention, he hucked one across the road, right into the back seat. I was impressed as hell that the Swiss bear could shoot so well. I did my best Bulls’ announcer impression, but it was completely lost on ol’ Toblerone. This is not as easy as it sounds. We are rolling around at about 25 to 30, so you really have to time your throw or else you could put it somewhere you shouldn't, like where I did when I tried to copy his shot. I mean I… well, no comment. Suffice it to say, I’ll stick to golf.

So, all is well, we are chugging along in the guts of the race right now. Some in the peloton are thinking of what could have been and some of the guys still have big dreams. One big loser of the week and I use that term in the broad sense when it comes to him, is Patrick stinky pits (sorry, I don't know how to spell his last name).

He smashed his face after the race the other day and then found out he turned a positive test this morning. And you thought you were having a bad week?!?

Not that I feel for him in the slightest way. Frankly, if he needs any help re-breaking his nose, I know a lot of people who would love to give him a hand.