Strange days. Not only because the weather was bad, but because the riders seemed to take a day off for the first time in this year's race -- if you can call riding 200 kilometers in rain and wind a day off! I suppose that's not surprising after the hard opening days of the Tour de France and the day after the Team Time trial.

Armstrong won't be too worried about relinquishing the lead, as I think he needs to rest his team over the next few days before we get into the mountains. They have been under pressure, not just physically, but due the number of crashes his teammates have been in.

He knows that he needs his team to be strong in the last week of the race. And now that he has lost the race lead to a small French team, Brioches la Boulangere, the pace making on the front will be done by them. This small team will do everything they can to keep the lead on Thomas Voeckler's shoulders for the flat stages to come.

This allows Armstrong to take a back seat. It also means that he is not obliged to attend all the press conferences etc. that the leader needs to do after every stage, allowing him to get back to his hotel as quickly as possible every night and recuperate.

I always remember the first lesson I learned about the Tour: "The Tour de France is won in bed.” Meaning whenever possible, you need to recuperate. An extra hour a day sleep over your rivals is almost 24 hours of sleep at the end of the event! That's why Lance lost the lead today.