Samu at ease in Mende

Samu showed his class to stay with Schleck and strengthen his third place overall in the Tour yesterday. Contador and Purito attacked on the steep slopes of Jalabert's climb to gain 10 seconds on a quintet containing Schleck, Samu, Van den Broeck, Menchov and Klöden. Samu looked perfectly at ease with the infernal pace set by the yellow jersey and further strengthened his podium place by distancing some of his rivals by a few seconds. Brilliant ride! Gorka and Iván also shone yesterday. Gorka through being part of the day's main break, while Iván stayed with the front riders for quite a while up the last climb. Eventually he crossed the line in 32nd place just 1:20 back, ahead of riders like Garate, Rolland, Devenyns and Rohregger. He's coming into shape just at the right time. Egoi took it easy up the climb and conceded 2:17, while Alán, Rubén, Iñaki and Gorka all came in towards the back-end of the pack more than five minutes down. Good day for the team overall though.

"I felt good on the climb to Mende", Samu said after stepping off his bike. "It's a very explosive ascent and I decided to maintain a steady pace, keep concentrated and staying next to the leader, Menchov and Van den Broeck. For me it was the hardest stage so far in the Tour. In this Tour there are no easy days..."