I guess Samuel Abt got some of the action he wanted today.
Lance Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team took advantage of a strategic opportunity and put significant time between Armstrong and the other favorites for the General Classification. Ivan Basso won the stage, but Armstrong thumped Jan Ullrich, Roberto Heras, and Tyler Hamilton. Even Iban Mayo lost over a minute, despite his previous performance successes against Armstrong this season.
I guess this will answer half of the questions that people had about Armstrong, primarily was his “advanced age” (32) an obstacle to further dominance of the Tour? But, his dominating performance probably makes the cynics in the European media even more suspicious of him.