Welcome back to the Tour. Talk about a slap in the face after a day off. Today?s stage will be brutal when the peloton faces the highest point in the Tour immediately after they start.

Jose Arrieta attacks early and a bit later Popovych squirts away from the peloton and joins him. Popo goes over the top solo with teammate Gusev in pursuit. I wonder who?s hurting more, Popo on the climb or O?Grady with broken ribs. It probably only hurts when he laughs.  Eventually, Gusev and four others join Popo. Discovery obviously has a plan today.

Good grief, more bad luck for T-Mobile. First, Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a pedestrian after stage 8 and put both of them in the hospital. He can?t continue today. Then, a dog strolls in front of some racers today and Marcus Burghardt t-bones the dog! The dog and rider are ok but his front wheel isn?t. Can you say taco?

After the lead grows to 3:50, Soler gets bored and attacks. Who is this guy? It doesn?t take long and he is with the leaders. Check that, he was with the leaders. He didn?t even slow down to say hello. He puts the hurt on the front group and Popo shadows him. After a bit, Popo can no longer hold on as Soler cranks alone in the lead.

Now, its torture time in the peloton. Valverde attacks. Vino can?t respond. Valverde attacks again. Ouch! Now, Contador gives Valverde a taste of his own medicine and leaves the yellow jersey group. He must have decided these guys aren?t fun to play with anymore and wants to join Popo.   By the way, anyone seen any sprinters? Little gaps come and go until there is only one chase group behind Soler that contains the GC notables. Rasmussen and Leipheimer finish with the same time. Did Levi work very hard today? Vino is gone.

Soler wins with adrenaline, skill, and ability (and I thought Columbians were only great in soccer). Congratulations to Juan for his win today. His pride will help diminish his pain.