It was a bitter sweet victory for Richard Virenque on Bastille Day, Stage #10, the first day in the mountains. Virenque’s victory added to some great stage successes he’s had in recent years in the Tour, including Morzine last year, and Mt. Ventoux the year before.

Richard Virenque -- the disgraced rider involved in a doping controversy stemming from the Festina scandal of the 1998 Tour -- has redeemed himself in the last years of the Tour. He has been subjected to a tremendous amount of doping controls, so at this point, we have to enjoy his victory -- even though there still is a cloud of doubt that lingers over him It took him so long to admit to wrongdoing, while his teammates all admitted to it and spent a year outside of the sport. Virenque eventually confessed to using doping products and being a part of the systematic doping program that the Festina team used for years, finally coming to a head in 1998.

For the GC riders, it was a pretty reasonable day out on the roads. JanUllrich and Lance Armstrong had no trouble at all staying in the front of the race.

There was a furious dash to the line for 2^nd place, taken up by Andréas Klöden and Erik Zabel A gap was opened up behind Lance Armstrong, with Tyler Hamilton caught in it. Ullrich was paying attention, and Lance of course, is always attentive.

Tomorrow, it’s a pretty hard day.

And then … Stages 12 & 13 -- big mountain passes, including the Aspin and Mongie on 12. And monster stage #13 to Plateau de Beille.