what the hell is going on ?

Can anyone explain yesterdays stage to me ?

Saxo were driving it into the climb. That much I get. They have the best climbers and they think that by making it hard and positioning their guys, that they'll have the best chance of taking advantage of a climb that wasn't really all that hard on its own.

But when Saxo absolutely drilling it, why would Milram come to the front ? And what the hell was Liquigas doing. Neither of those guys have a dominent climber. And if someone is already doing the race, why contribute ? The reponsibility of doing the work was on Astana, Saxo, or maybe even Ag2R. And neither team really did much of anything except get their jerseys on TV for the 3 minutes they were pulling anyway. Maybe that was the point.

Then the attacks started and things got really weird. COntador attacked, and Armstrong !!! pulled him back. The when Contador and A. Schleck got away it was (first) Kloden and Armstrong leading the chasing group behind. And eventually F. Schleck attacked and effectively helped two other riders close the gap to his brother. With Garmin, Liquigas and Columbia riders all in that group, why the hell would the two teams with guys up the road initiate the action ? Baffling !!!

Then after the stage Armstrong, who might be in better position for the overall than before, conceeds the race. If Contador crashes, gets sick or has a bad day, Armstrong is poised to win this thing and is already starting to pack his bags.

Oh yeah, can yesterdays stage finally end this nonsense about Evans being a grand tour contender ? I mean really.