So, What Do You Know Today That You Didn't Know Yesterday?

Mercado and Dessel during Stage 10 (photo by Graham Watson)

OK, so which of you brainiacs picked Juan Miguel Mercado of Spain to win Stage 10 (more on that in a moment) and Cyril Dessel to take the yellow jersey after the first day in the Pyrennes.

And wasn't that a sight: Yellow jersey holder Sergei Gonchar (I'm sticking with that spelling) acting as domestique for his T-Mobile temmates. Geez! Let the guy lose the yellow jersey first!

Mercado beat Dessel at the finish in a two-man sprint to win the stage after wheel sucking for 5km or so at the end of the stage. Didn't George Hincapie get beat up for doing something similar a year ago in the Tour?

So, in the GC, Dessel now holds a lead of 2:34 over Mercado. Gonchar clung to third overall, 3:45 behind Dessel. Italian Cristian Moreni is fourth, and American hippie Floyd Landis is fifth, 4:45 behind the leader.

Dessel rides for the French team AG2R. Are the French having their best Tour in years or what? Dessel is the first French rider to hold the yellow jersey this year. "It's a dream come true," he said. "I am audacious. I know how to take risks and it paid off. It's awesome."

Mercado rides for Agritubel.

Landis remains confident (cocky?). "I think I am capable of controlling the race right to the end," he said before the stage.

And what of Discovery?
Said Paolo Savoldelli:
"The first stage of the Pyrenees will put the values of this Tour into perspective and will sort out the hierarchy of the interior of Discovery, in which everything still remains a bit blurred."
Uh, still blurred, Paolo.