lol the Schleck sandwich is a classic, and it's fair if you watch what they do to, for example, Contador.

This is a great tour, indeed, but I can't consider the best I've seen (first being 2001) when my man Alberto has been suffered so much, but the "heroe" fact is really cool. Stage 17 was the best I've seen, I swear. Andy was fucking heroic with that early attack, and I've never seen Cadel in a better form (at least in Le Tour), he's got to take it tomorrow, if it isn't tomorrow then I don't know when he can win. He'll take the TT over the bros. for sure (last year Contador had an awful TT, that's why he only got 30'' over Andy), but I don't know if he can do it with a minute down. I mean, Andy is not good at TT but he's wearing yellow and, as stupid as it sounds, that shit gives you fucking wings. Check out Voeckler, he was outstanding with the yellow, showing things we didn't see before. That maillot means a lot.

I predict Andy with 20'', but I wish good luck to your Aussie.

What will be interesting is if either Schleck or Evans has say a 3 or 4 second lead going into the final stage. Would whoever's in 2nd attack or accept the most narrow of losses?

I have no doubt Cadel is capable of taking a minute off Schleck. In fact, if it was at the start of the tour I'd say it was about 90% likely. Andy struggled in the team time trial, barely hanging on, while Cadel did the majority of the pulls for BMC. It's just the 3 weeks of riding factor, it's really hard to tell how it will affect things.

It's pretty amazing actually that Andy didn't have a worse day in the last stage given his attack from 60km's out the day before (and he also worked a fair bit yesterday with Contador in their break yesterday). I think he's due a bad day.

Oh there's an Aussie involved? Sid, I'm on board - I'm well interested now. Go the other bloke

You'll like Andy Schleck Nick, he's a massive, massive whinger.

Oh yeah, what's he said?

Oh come on. Andy is a gentleman. For real, he looks like a really cool kid. I don't know what he said, though. Remind me, please.

Don't worry about it, Sid, it's probably another of Mint's lies. Some Australians are terrible, terrible liars, sorry to say. Tragic shame.

When he lost about a minute on stage 16 because he can't descend well he had a massive whinge saying they shouldn't have finishes on descents.

"It was a dangerous finish. I was not feeling great when he attacked and I did a bad descent," the Leopard-Trek rider told reporters.

"People don't want a race that is decided in a downhill. We don't want crashes or thoughtless risks."

"We have families waiting for us at home. Do the public want a fair race or a race which ends in hospital?," Schleck, who is fourth overall 3:03 behind France's Thomas Voeckler, added.

Descending is a skill of cycling. The tour tests all skills. Evans, Contador and Sanchez gained serious time on him in that stage because they are more skillful descenders. That was a great stage and very exciting finish because of the descent. Yet Schleck thinks he can speak for the people.

He whines a lot though. Even in the last stage he was whinging because Evans wouldn't pull him up the mountain. And in one of the stages in the Pyrenees he whinged that he and his brother were the only ones 'racing' ... when it was completely up to them to try and gain time. He was just whinging because none of his attacks worked.

Well, he's an offensive player, no doubts. I saw him talking with Cadel, probably wanting some help. Cadel didn't help, give Andy that. About the downhill, yeah, he was faggy but that's 'cos he's not good... and it is kinda dangerous to go down sometimes.

But let me remind you, Mint, what happened last year, when Andy lost time with his chain. That was the only reason he didn't win last year. And no, I'm not saying Alberto should have waited for him (this is not a friendly race) but Andy could have gone bitchy with that attitude and he did not. He kept things cool.

Yeah, but we Argies are whingers, so it's kind of hard for us to recognize fag attitudes.

I feel sorry for you Nick. You don't watch le tour, the greatest sporting event there is.

It's like test cricket. An acquired taste that gets more and more satisfying the longer you watch. A tour de france mountain stage is as good as sport gets. Particularly ones like the last 2 days.

"It has been nerve racking race this year with lots of narrow roads and dangerous descents," a relaxed Cadel said.

Sounds like they both agree it's a dangerous descent. And a serious point, if you'll permit it, Mint - given that a cyclist has died this year already, aren't participants allowed to flag up potential dangers? Or should they refrain for fear that they'll be lambasted as whingers? From my little bit of reading around it seems like Schleck was mentioning the dangers before that particular stage, ie before it cost him ground in the race.

The tour's the greatest sporting event there is now then, eh? It was the Olympics a few months back wasn't it?

Can't watch em all mate. Rest assured I'll be keeping my finger on the pulse of all Australian sporting failures where humanly possible though. Granted it's extremely busy work at the moment, but I'll try my damndest.

He did bitch last year though. Contador is just quite devious and clever. After that stage he wrapped his arm around Andy and smiled at him...giving Andy no choice but to go along with it.

I think Contador probably should have waited. It is cycling etiquette to wait in that circumstance.

Andy should have won last year's tour anyway though. He was stronger than Contador but didn't have enough killer instinct.

And yeah Cadel didn't help because it would have been stupid for him to help tactically. Cadel knew that Contador was no threat while his lead was only about 1 minute, and it was smarter for him to sit on Andy's wheel and try and attack him at the end to try and get some time back. On the other hand Andy had to do everything to try and gain more time on Evans because 57 seconds is quite precarious for him. Frank Schleck did the exact same thing to Cadel earlier in the stage and in the stage yesterday to the summit of Galibier so it's a little rich of Andy to whinge about it.

Technical descents are part of cycling. Cadel attacked on one of them to gain time. On the next stage Contador did the same thing. Andy lost time because his descending skills are not very good and then whinged, he didn't do it before it cost him ground in the race, he did it straight after. He went down as fast as he could without putting himself in too much danger, but better bike handlers go down just as safely, just faster because they're better at it.