Stage 16 Review
By Paul Sherwen

We expected fireworks in the mountains and we were not disappointed on the slopes of the Petit Saint Bernard. Perfectly set up by the team Frank and Andy Schleck did the business. Their accelerations quickly split the group and caught Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans out.

Also caught out initially was Lance Armstrong but he came back to the leaders with an impressive display of speed and agility. That demonstrated to me that he can still look at a podium finish in this year's Tour. He took no prisoners coming across the gap and even had the power to speed by an astonished Frank Schleck.

Carlos Sastre recovered and clawed his way back into the group but Cadel Evans definitively ended his Tour podium chances on Italian roads today. I was also very impressed by Brad Wiggins who if the other contenders are not careful might find himself close the yellow jersey after the time trial stage in a couple of days.

10/10 for Franco Pelizotti who laid down the foundations for a probable King of the Mountains competition win. He got maximum points on all the passes and that coming after he had told everyone that he would attack from the start. You have to go back to Claudio Chiappucci in 1992 to see an Italian win this competition at the Tour and the current leader took out serious options.

Another high score as well for Mikel Astarloza who since he turned professional in 2002 has never won a road race (although he did win the overall at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under in Adelaide). It's always nice when a good guy gets a win and he has been in the breaks on a number of stages in this year's race - this time he was rewarded with the win.

The joy on his face was pure and refreshing to see, his team also deserved the victory as they are always on the attack animating the mountain stages.
Don't miss tomorrow's stage which we will be covering live again from start to finish- the Grand Bornand is gonna be a whopper.