[Duke]

Wow, all I can say is WOW, what a terrific Stage 10 today!

Kim Kirchen of Team Columbia finally lost the Yellow Jersey today as he was just over 4 minutes back of stage winners Leonardo Piepoli and JJ Coba of Team Saunier Duval. Regardless of the fact Kirchen lost Yellow today you had to give him credit because he really let it hang out on the mountain and did well to take 15th.

There were a number of surprises today such as noted climber Alejandro Valverde completely falling apart and perhaps seeing his hopes of winning the Tour slip by in the Hautacam. Adding insult to injury was an equipment problem (bike chain) in which a spectator jumped in to help with. Of course the chain wasn't the reason for Valverde's day and some speculate that he still hasn't fully recovered from his crash a few stages back.

The big surprise (at least for me) was Cadel Evens. Even after his somewhat gruesome crash in Stage 9 he came back to take the Yellow Jersey by one second over Frank Schleck. If you saw the end result of Cadel's crash, the ripped back of his jersey, ripped shorts, cuts, etc., you'd be in awe as well of his performance today as well.

It wasn't just the uphill battles that were exciting either because the treacherous downhills saw a few riders a little too close to a rather sizable drop down a sheer ledge.

Overall a nail biter of a finish because of the Yellow Jersey up in the air.

Tour de France Stage 10 Results:

1. Leonardo Piepoli, Saunier Duval, Italy, in 4:19:27
2. Juan Jose Cobo, Saunier Duval, Spain, same time
3. Frank Schleck, CSC-Saxo Bank, Luxembourg, @ :28
4. Bernhard Kohl, Gerolsteiner, Austria, @ 1:06
5. Vladimir Efimkin, AG2R-La Mondiale, @ 2:05
6. Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval, Italy, @ 2:17
7. Carlos Sastre, CSC-Saxo Bank, Spain, same time
8. Cadel Evans, Silence-Lotto, Australia, s.t.
9. Denis Menchov, Rabobank, Russia, s.t.
10. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin-Chipotle, USA, s.t.