Samu inches ever closer to podium

Samu put in another blistering ride to hang on to his third place overall and move closer to second as Andy Schleck suffered that ill-timed chain-drop. Samu, worryingly isolated by his team-mates by the way, was right there when Schleck suffered his mishap and went after Contador when the sleeky Spaniard decided to capitalise on his (former?) friend's tough luck. I'm of the opinion that Contador should have waited. He's far too good a rider and far too big a champion to pull off something like that. Full stop. I'm aware I might sound biased now, but I'm also of the opinion that Samu and Menchov were in the right to go after him. Why? Because when Contador decided to jump the damage was already done. Samu and Menchov were behind him at that time. They HAD to follow. Stopping then would have made no sense. The guy at the front of the race dictates the race; that's the way it is. Schleck was no doubt hard done by, but there's a feeling inside me that Saxo Bank, if not Andy himself, got what they deserved after that disgraceful stage 2 to Spa. I'm not going to go all ballistic at Saxo Bank again, but that Cancellara-inspired boycott still enrages me. That's probably why I'm not feeling too bad about today's actions, but I do pity Contador for not racing like the champion he is. Anyway, back to Euskaltel... As expected Samu looked fluent and on top of his game on the descent to the line. I should have been used to it now, but it's still a marvellous sight to watch a non-pedalling Samu just wizz past his rivals who are all going full throttle. He crossed the line alongside El Pistolero and the impressive Menchov to cling on to his third place. He distanced the other podium hopefuls though, so it's now a two-man race for that last podium place. It's a dead-cert it's either going to be Samu or Menchov taking that third place judging on form and the concluding time trial. The other Euskaltel riders did their utmost for their captain throughout the day but didn't manage to stay with him when the going got tough up the Bales. Iván ended up 45th at 8:35 and now occupies the same place on GC, while Iñaki was 49th at 9:35, Egoi 97th at 24:01, Gorka 109th at 26:04, while Alán and Rubén finished 138th and 140th respectively at a big 28:49. Post-stage Samu was again going on about the difficult task ahead to maintain his podium place. "It'll be very difficult to finish third. Menchov is very strong and a great rider. It's been another hard day; the Balès seemed never-ending. It was a lot of suffering, but we came through another day soundly."