Surprise

When I switched on the TV this afternoon to watch the third stage of this year's Tour de France I was expecting to see one of those long flat boring sprint stages: an early escape that is caught some kilometers before the finisch line and a bunch sprint.
Well, there was an early escape, it ended with a sprint, but it wasn't boring at all: approximately 30 kilometers before the finish Team Columbia split the field into two halfs and suddenly there was some excitement. Most of the contenders for the general classification were in the second half. Armstrong and two of his team mates (Popovych and Zubeldia) were in the first group, the rest of his Astana team were in the second one. Interesting to see how they (in the first group) behaved. At first they didn't ride in the front but finally they took some turns and helped to keep the lead - and helped Armstrong to gain some time on other contenders, including his team mate and official team leader Contador. So at the end of the day he suddenly became the best Astana rider in the classification.
Some might say it was unfair to Contador but I think that Astana has improved their chances (more riders closer to the front of the general classification). There are still so many stages and mountains to come!