Le Tour 2010 - Stage 14 - Interesting to watch but basically fizzer. Looked like a fun training ride

Fun for some, anyway. Schleck and Contador look as happy to chat and play cat and mouse games as to actually race. When do they get serious? When Menchov gains minutes instead of seconds? What if Menchov blitzes them both in the long TT? Will this gamesmanship be enough to keep me watching? Probably.

Contador: Andy And I Marked Each Other | Cyclingnews.com

“We went head-to-head and didn’t really watch the other riders too closely,” said Contador. “We controlled each other and I think that the fact that we came in together suits me more than him,” he added, alluding to the fact that the Spaniard will be heavily favoured if his deficit on Schleck remains at 31 seconds going into the Pauillac time trial on the penultimate day of the race.

Schleck Plays Mind Games At Ax-3-Domaines | Cyclingnews.com

"To win the Tour, sometimes you have to risk something. I'm well aware that it's better to have Armstrong ahead these days than Menchov," said Schleck. "Don't forget that Menchov is far enough down on us in the general classification. For now, Menchov and Sanchez aren't a real threat to us. That means there's a bit of space to [play] poker around," Schleck said.

Procycling's Daily Tour De France Dispatch - Stage 14 | Cyclingnews.com

None-too-impressed with Andy Schleck's descending in the Alps last week, Fignon was dumbfounded today when the current maillot jaune fetched his own food and drinks from the Saxo Bank team car high on the Port de Pailhères.

"I've never, ever seen a captain do that when they've had a teammate in the group. He's playing with fire!" the 1983 and 1984 Tour champion gasped.

No such fun for McEwen...
Procycling's Daily Tour De France Dispatch - Stage 14 | Cyclingnews.com

Robbie McEwen, also a victim of the second stage crash-derby, has been struggling just to hang onto the laughing group. "Being in the gruppetto?" he asked rhetorically. "[On Stage 12 to Mende] I was with one other bloke – that's not a gruppetto. F***king alone every day, I've hardly been in the gruppetto. [Stage 12], it was me and Bert Grabsch for 120k, just two of us.

"I've had two bad crashes, lost a lot of blood in the first one because I severed a small artery – the UCI anti-doping people said they could see it in my blood profile that I'd lost a hell of a lot of blood. After that, I was given a tetanus vaccination at the hospital which I told them I didn't need; they slid it in there without me knowing, which gave me fever for four days, so I'm absolutely f***king terrible just as I started to feel better.