Today is the Tour's second rest day; tomorrow begins the first of four Alpine stages (including two mountaintop finishes, one atop the Col du Galibier! and one atop Alpe d'Huez!).  After that is the long ITT in Grenoble, and the finishing parade in Paris.  Rainy weather is predicted and it should be an amazing shootout all week; I can't wait.

In the meantime here's some pictures from the first two weeks:

stage 1: the Passage du Gois

stage 2: Led by Thor Hushovd, Garmin win the team time trial

stage 3: Tyler Farrar wins his first TDF stage

stage 4: Evans asserts himself to beat Contador, win stage

stage 5: crashes in a nervous peloton

stage 6: Bossen Hagen wins amid more crashes

stage 7: the peloton in a quiet mood, for the moment

stage 8: Vinokourov almost pulled it off
this is how I will remember him as a rider, on the attack

stage 9: lots of climbing, a breakaway which succeeded, and more crashes
(including a runaway TV car which took out two riders in the break)

stage 10: sprint, with Andre Greipel edging Mark Cavendish

stage 11: the beautiful sunflowers on a rainy day

stage 12: Pyrenean mountains, wow, the climb up to Luz-Ardinen

stage 13: more mountains, and a long descent to the finish let Thor Hushovd escape

stage 14: Plateau de Beille with perhaps the steepest finish of this Tour

stage 15: Voeckler in yellow, amid his team; they had an amazing week

It is truly the calm before the Alpine storm.  Will Voeckler hold yellow?  Can Evans finally win?  Will the Schlecks attack, and will it work?  Can Contador defend?  We'll see ... onward!

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