Seeing the Belgian roads and countryside brought back some memories for me, today. It's a beautiful country. Oh, and the rain. It only rained hard briefly, but riding in that can really suck, at times. Heading into a city, especially. Paint and railroad tracks. Ghent is not so bad on the outskirts. It's easy being an armchair critic, sipping coffee in bare feet and boxer shorts. The three riders that were away all day, that looked painful. I did not envy them. It's always funny to watch a group like that turn on each other at the end. Today the attacking came out of frustration, human nature, or three 'never say die' attitudes, but that break had no chance without a Quickstep rider in it.

The finish was exciting, today. My heart rate went up, and it wasn't the coffee. It's not often there is a crash that entirely severs the group. You know it was a really hard finale when riders can't even change places in the last 500 meters. McEwen stayed in the same spot, and Zabel slipped some places, but aside from that not much changed. Obviously, not a good style of finish for McEwen. Honestly, I don't think we will ever see Zabel win another stage of the Tour. His speed is waning, and the stress of the year that he's had has probably taken even more out of him.

Steegmans and Boonen stood in their DeFeet socks on the top two steps of the podium. One note, Dave Z. is doing a ton of riding at the front every day for Cancellara. If he has extremely good form, like 'best of life' form, he will still have his chances in some stages. If he's off just a little, it will make things harder for him, later.