Rainy Stage 13 Recap, 14 Preview

Well there was a shake-up in the GC competition today but unfortunately it all started before the race had even begun. Astana and American Star Levi Leiphiemer, who was 4th in the race for yellow and seemed in line for his second podium finish, was forced to abandon the race as he suffered a broken wrist from the a crash 2k from the finish in yesterday's stage 12. Levi seemed okay, as he rode in fine after the crash but reportedly felt pain in his wrist leading him to get an x-ray and unfortunately the results were positive for a fracture. This loss did not seem to effect the Astana team much today, as they rode tempo at the front of the peloton on the climbs making sure no GC contenders could make big moves. But Levi will be surely missed by his team as a force in the alps and the TT, and his loss will certainly change the team's tactic. At 35 Levi doesnt seem like he will have too many tours left and this year he looked like he was in top form, so it is too bad to see him go down this year when he was riding so well and had such good position in the race. He had a great shot at the podium is the deepest field the tour has seen in years. But there was still a stage to be won, and though surprisingly and disappointingly the race favorites continued to play the waiting game, leaving Rinaldo Nocentini as the race figurehead, two big name classics riders who were well down in the GC standing were able to form a healthy breakaway on the category 1 climb just over half way into the 200 kilometer stage. Heinrich Haussler of the Cervelo Test Team and Quickstep's Sylvain Chavanel were able to brake off  on this rainy day in eastern france to form a quick 6 minute gap on the climb. But a strong Haussler showed he would need no one else's help the rest of the day when he gapped a surprisingly weak Chavanel on the decent and rode solidly over the remaining 2 smaller climbs to finish over 7 minutes ahead of the peloton (that is a lot but he was 55 minutes down going into the day)and get the stage win for germany. 3 others on failed breaks including Chavanel trickled in before the peloton. But there was some significance to the peloton's finish today, because while Mark Cavendish mailed it in on the climbs, not surprisingly, his rival for the green jersey Thor Hushovd hung tough on the back of the peloton on the climbs and slid in for a 6th place finish in the sprint. Those valuable points reclaimed the points lead for the big norwegian but only but a mere 5 points. This race has really heated up in this last week, as Cavendish is untouchable in a field sprint but Thor has been able to mop up solid points behind him on the flats and then make up for it by picking up points on hilly stages and uphill finishes. The Green Jersey likely won't be decided until the Champs Elysees.

Look for more green jersey excitement tomorrow with a relatively flat stage that will feature 2 category 3 climbs in the middle. Though the cat 3s give at least give the breakaway a chance, but with only 2 more sprint opportunities after this, I look for team Columbia to take this stage seriously. They will again likely do the work out front to try and put the Manx Missile in position for another stage win and to take back green. But look for Hushovd to at least minimize the damage and Farrar to be up there. Mountain top finish in the Swiss Alps on Sunday cant come soon enough.