i think my favorite part of this stage was listening to andre greipel arguing with sylvan chavanel at the back of the pack after their minor crash like a couple of Cat 4's.....

This isn't to suggest he's clean.  However, he does deserve some kudos for addressing it without the histrionics of some other wearers of yellow.  

As for Sagan, I don't know if he's lost anything.  Kristoff climbed surprisingly well.  Sagan is the man to beat, which is why he's been trying the attacks.  yesterday and Sunday, he probably felt it was necessary to go on the attack because he'd have to parry attacks in the final few kilometers anyways.  By taking advantage of the descents, he could bring out a group that was willing to play with him knowing they didn't have a chance in the bunch sprint anyways.  

His team is in a difficult position.  If they don't ride early, the break sticks for good.  So they roll the dice and figure if they can keep it close until the final kilometers, Sagan is a top freelancer and can take the win anyways.  On stage 1, they were in pretty good position until Fabs pulled the attack at the kite.  Sagan arguably went too early, but Kittel was on fire.  On the second Kittel victory, I don't think anyone could have beaten Marcel.  Viviani and Sabatini are arguably on the squad as the final pilots for Sagan, but they've been called to duty much earlier in the day on the flat stages, and on the hilly ones, De Marchi and Marcato have done pretty well--you could suggest that they vacate the front on the final climbs of the past few days to save themselves for the end.  And maybe that would have been better, but then they would have been playing chicken with other teams, and might have ended up with nothing anyways.

Yesterday, Sagan reported being sick post-stage.  His downhill attack was excellent, but he probably needed a smaller group to succeed.  

The bigger surprises were on the stages to Sheffield and to Arenberg.  In Sheffield, it was surprising that Contador and Froome ride away in the final km.  It would have been more likely that the top three pre-race favorites would neutralize each other and allow the long-shot gc hopes and single-day riders to attack for the stage win.  In Arenberg, it was expected that Sagan, Cancellara, Boom, and Vanmarcke would ride away.  Kwiatkowski flatted ust in front of Cancellara and Sagan on a stretch were there was only one line on the stones.  But those two couldn't close the gap.  

Can't wait to see the science of sport data analysis of that climbing performance!

When Nibali attacked, Valverde let Pinot work, shrugged off a request for help, attacked Pinot, failed, and then sat on Pinot until the final 200m, where he got three seconds on the Frenchman.  Meanwhile, if he had helped Pinot, he almost certainly would have pulled back far more time on Nibali.

I kind of loved this year's tour and we still have the sprint for Champs Elysees.  Kittel was looking gassed compared to Greipel in the mountains, but then again he may have been stone chillin' to save his legs for the final sprint.  Kristoff is also looking dangerous with 2 stage wins.  I think Phil and Paul randomly mentioned that Renshaw is hoping to give it a go, but I don't think he can hang with the big boys.  Sagan will take 2nd or 3rd again...