Oui, Oui, He's French!

Blogger was cranky Thursday, so Cranky couldn't blog.
And that's a shame considering the fine Dauphiné Libéré that the current man in yellow, Levi Leipheimer, is having.
Let's start with today, and I'll add some comments on Thursday's assent of Mont Ventoux.
Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) soloed to victory in a tough 155km Stage 5 race from Sisteron over the Col d'Izoard to Briançon (don't you just love these names?).
I mention this first, Granny, because, yes, mon ami, Turpin IS FRENCH! With a first name like Ludovic, I would have thought he was Slovak. Shows you what I know, especially after my Phillipe Gilbert Belgian-for-French error!
The overall race leader remains Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner), who finished in a small group of major contenders, including Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Turpin teammate Christophe Moreau, 48 seconds behind THE FRENCHMAN.
George Hincapie (Team Discovery) finished sixth for the day at :48.

Leipheimer took over the overall lead Thursday after a superb performance up Mont Ventoux.
The 2005 Vuelta a España winner, Menchov (Rabobank) -- we won't get into Roberto Heras right now -- won the stage ahead of Moreau in the 186km-fourth stage after the pair rode Leipheimer's wheel up the final 5km of one of cycling's most feared climbs.
Here's what Levi had to say (and don't we pay far too little attention to this superb American rider?):
"The most important thing today was taking the jersey. I want to win the Dauphiné this year because this is one of the most beautiful races in cycling. Last year, I let it slip away and I don't want to see that happen again.
"You can never train as hard as you race here (something OBL understood but Jan doesn't). If I won here, it would give me confidence ahead of the Tour. I could also afford to rest a little while the others would have to continue training. There are different approaches to preparing for the Tour.
"A lot of those guys are coming back from breaks, so maybe they were afraid to suffer and maybe they decided to ride conservatively. I learned last year Ventoux is a mountain you should respect. This is a climb when you have to wait, wait and you have to have patience. Maybe I could have waited even a little longer today."