Alexander Vinokourov won stage 13 of Le Tour today with a late stage attack. He jumped clear at the bottom of a small climb 10 km from the finish. He managed to hold a 10-second advantage over the sprinter’s teams who were probably driving the peloton at speeds approaching 60-65 km/hour on the flat.
Needless to say that one rider maintaining a 10 second advantage (for 5 kilometers) over a peloton that is accelerating for a sprint finish requires quite an effort.
That does not necessarily mean he is on the gear though. But the fact that he spent the entire previous stage also in a breakaway makes makes me a bit suspicious.
Riding in a breakaway uses more energy than riding in the peloton, so riding 150km in a breakaway one day, generally means you will be shattered the next day.
In 2008 a guy called Stefan Schumacher seemed to be in every breakaway. Then, amazingly, he starting winning time trials too. A few weeks later, he was busted for being on EPO.
So here is TTTE’s first Tour prediction. Vino is back on the gear (oh yeah, he’s been suspended before).
Thomas the Think Engine 
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