Iban rocks in Tignes

Iban had a fantastic day in the saddle today. He claimed second on the stage, ahead of all the favourites, and now occupies the 3rd place overall. What an achievement! It was absolutely marvelous to see how Iban danced his way up the mountain and attacked relentlessly. It was so reminiscent of the Iban of the Tour 2003. Unfortunately it was impossible for him to claim the win, as Rasmussen had too big a buffer going into the last climb. Rasmussen had attacked some 60 km earlier, and his win never looked threatened. Though, the main contenders for the podium wasn`t about to let that stop them attacking each other. Moreau jumped clear 3 km into the climb. Iban sensed the danger and went after him. Glued to his wheel was Evans, Schleck, Valverde, Kasheckhin and Contador. These 6 easily caught up with Moreau, and the attacking started. Everyone but Kasheckhin attacked, as he had Vino in the group behind. Iban tried to get clear something like 3 times, but didn`t succeed initially. Though, he showcased his form in a brilliant way, and really lit up the race. Iban eventually managed to jump clear from these six with roughly a thousand metres left to go. His attack left everyone trailing in his wake, and he went on to claim second 2 minutes and 47 seconds down on Rasmussen. Valverde came in third a futher 25 seconds back, while the rest of the favourites came in one after the other further back. It was excellent stuff from Iban, and he showed that he`ll be a contender for the podium if he continues like this. He was in a class of his own compared to the other GC candidates, and now lead them all on GC. Iban is 3rd overall going into the first rest day, with only Rasmussen and Gerdemann ahead of him. It`ll be exciting to see where Iban will end up, but my prediction is top 3. Aupa!