Armstrong has been impressive. I think he could have gone after Contador if he wanted to, but he had to hold back because of team tactics. Either way I hugely respect Lance after these initial stages.
No way. But what he achieved is still amazing though.
It's been a great Tour this season with Cavs and Thor going neck and neck for the Green jersey, the Schleck bros pushing Contador to give a brilliant performance, and Lance Armstrong actually riding as a teammate and proving you can still be successful without winning.
The big question is: What happens next? Astana is assuredly going to scatter to the winds with Bruneyl stepping out and Vinokorav making noises about coming back to the team. Lance is starting his own team to be sponsored by Radio Shack, but it will be interesting to see who follows him there. My money is on Kloden, Sastre and maybe Hincapie but certainly not Lipheimer or Contador. Contador is making noises about perhaps joining the anti-doping American team of Garmin-Slipstream. I could see Levi Leipheimer joining Colombia-HTC or Lotto. It's going to be a crazy off season with many contracts running out and many riders switching teams.
Contador already said he doesn't mind staying with Astana. So he'll probably stay at least one more season, and then join Alonso's Spanish team in 2011. Besides the guys you mentioned, I think that Leipheimer and Bruyneel (manager) will also join Radio Shack.
One of the downsides was the team time trial having too much weight on the GC. They should stop organizing those, or make them easier because it really gives a major advantage for the rich teams, which sucks. Another things that annoyed me from time to time is some rather tough mountain stages not having a finish uphill. What's the freaking point of that?
All in all pretty good Tour. Some nice mountain stages mainly due to the Schleck bros, good battle for the Green Jersey, no doping facts (yet), and some unexpected newcomers with Martin, Nibali and especially Wiggins. It's also great to finally have a Belgain rider again who can compete with the best uphill. Van den Broeck; remember that name, because he'll be creating some fireworks in the coming years.