Hello, and welcome to the Queen Stage of this year's Dauphine Libere! With all the favourites being as close to each other in the classement as they are, today's stage will probably be very decisive. Michael Rasmussen will have to watch out - not for the doping controls, but for the great amount of riders who are interested in the jersey he's currently wearing.
Before we get an answer, the riders will have to go up 7 mountains / hills. The last one is pretty much the same as the mountain in the mountain time trial. Up, up, up, steep up - so, everyone will be under pressure today.
No breaks were allowed to go on the first two hills. Kashechkin obviously wanted to protect his mountain jersey, and therefore he was involved in pretty much all breakaway attempts. With his position in the GC, Carlsberg simply had to chase them down.
Therefore, the breakaway riders had to have patience. They were not allowed to attack until the peloton had passed the two mountains. After that, these riders got away: Solis, Van Houts, Raabe, Vandevelde, Cancellara, Lelarge, Kohut and Van Goolen. A group of 9 quite mixed riders.
The fact that the group was very mixed was already proven on the third hill of the stage. As expected, Solis simply dropped them all. But what was more interesting was that a new break had formed behind them in the meanwhile -- a group of pretty strong riders: Jufre, Abal, Moncoutie, Mercado, Leipheimer and Casar. Most of them are pretty far behind in the classement -- except for Moncoutie who's just 1'48 behind Rasmussen. Nevertheless, the group seems to have got a green light from the peloton.
Solis were caught again by the group behind him on the descent. But on the following mountain, it split up again - for good. Also, the "strong-rider-group" had managed to gain contact, but with the pace set by Solis it was difficult for most of them to hang on. Therefore, it ended up looking like this:
E1: Solis, Leipheimer, Moncoutie
E2: Mercado, Kohut, Raabe, Lelarge
E3: Cancellara, Vandevelde
E4: Van Houts
E5: Jufre, Van Goolen, Casar and Abal
There's 80 km to go, and Moncoutie is by far in virtual yellow. The peloton is 8'48 minutes behind, and the Carlsberg-team will definitely have to go to the front soon.
But - they didn't. 30 km later, the gap has actually increased to 9'38 minutes. They are descending from the third last mountain and getting closer to the 2nd last mountain.
Just before the top, Andy Schleck launches a surprise attack. Once again, Schleck proves he has guts Meanwhile, the front group has already passed the 2nd last mountain and is descending towards the foot of the last mountain. They have lost a bit of time, but still has 8'42 minutes with less than 40 km to go.
Let's forward 30 km. There's now just 10 km left for the breakaway, but they are all uphill. Leipheimer and Moncoutie seem very tired, and both are dropped by Solis. However, a few km later, they regain strength and gain contact with Solis again. Although Solis has been out in a breakaway for the longest time, he does seem to be strongest of them.
Back in the P -- they have just reached the foot, and Rasmussen has realized he needs to do something. Evans and Rasmussen attack, and in no time they have catched all the riders who were caught in between. They are now together with Schleck. Later, both Sastre and Valverde manage to get up to the group as well. Now, there are just two groups in front: Mercado, who's going solo, and the Leipheimer-Solis-Moncoutie-group. They have 4'44 minutes up to the front, and there's 7 km to go.
Fast forward a few km. The Rasmussen-group is getting closer, and they have now dropped Schleck who's suffering from his early attack. The Leipheimer-group seems tired. Solis once again drops his two fellow men, and a stage victory seems possible. And here we are with 1 km -- Solis will most probably take this one -- or will he?
Yes, he does take the win! Amazing victory for Solis. He was one of the first to attack, and he's the first to cross the finish line after having passed 5 mountains while being in a breakaway. Cycling 24 will be proud.
Behind him, we can see that Moncoutie has regained some strength. He's fighting for the overall jersey, but will it be enough?
Rasmussen comes in c. 1'50 behind the winner, Solis. He's the first from the "peloton" to get to finish line, and he even manages to keep Valverde behind him. Rasmussen really wants to keep the jersey -- but will he? It's a matter of seconds.
(Also notice the fan who's also passing the finish line )
Meanwhile, the front group has already passed the 2nd last mountain and is descending towards the foot of the last mountain. They have lost a bit of time, but still has 8'42 minutes with less than 40 km to go. 
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