What a roller coaster ride

Day's Highs:

Chicken -- launching a late attack in the final kilometer to beat back the two charging Discovery boys; decisively winning the stage; extending his overall lead; and confirming why he wears the maillot jaune. He was unbreakable.

Leipheimer -- showing signs of life in the final hill stage and finishing second. It is now all about gaining time over Evans and landing on the podium for Leipheimer.

Soler -- Rightfully winning the maillot rouges by finishing fifth and gaining additional points.

Barloworld -- signing Soler to a new two-year contract. I would not want to lose him either.

Sastre -- applying pressure early in the race in a last ditch effort to pick up time.

Rabobank's dynamic duo -- Menchov and Boogerd worked relentlessly at the front to protect the yellow jersey.

Evans -- fighting up each of the climbs to try and solidify his spot on the podium.

Chris Horner -- He has been the most reliable, consistent domestique for Cadel Evans AND he is currently in the top 20 overall.

Popovych -- drilling it again up the mountains for Leipheimer and Contador.

The withdrawal of the entire Cofidis team -- Making an entire team accountable for one rider's poor judgement sends a strong message to dopers.

Accepting wrongdoing and not asking for a B-sample -- someone finally admits their guilt.

With Rasmussen out, Contador moves into the race lead and Leipheimer moves into third -- That is two potential podium spots for Discovery. Johan Bruyneel must be licking his chops.

Teams with zero-tolerance policies.

Day's lows:

Cristian Moreni of Cofidis testing positive for testosterone. This result is the second positive of the Tour.

The Rabobank team manager withdrawing Rasmussen from the tour and sacking him from the team for lying about his whereabouts when he missed his out of competition tests in June. Why didn't they announce this at the end of June and prevent Rasmussen from starting the TDF?

Results of tests performed at the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory -- leaked by the lab to French newspaper L'Equipe. Another leak!

A final epic hill battle between Rasmussen and Contador. It never really happened. Contador just didn't have the legs to respond to Rasmussen's attacks today.

Menchov and Boogerd killing themselves for 10 days for nothing. If I was Menchov, I would be pissed off.

What's next??