Le Tour is killing me!

My eyeballs feel like they are cracking, and my head is dull and pounding with the lack of rest. I have no energy; the legs are listless and barely manage to rotate, and my entire body aches from the exertion of the previous two weeks. It's interminable: day in and day out I push myself onwards and upwards with no end in sight. Why am I subjecting myself to this?

Watching Le Tour that is!

Man, if this is how the riders feel, then I'll shelve my plans to do Etape du Tour one of these days! All these late nights are turning me into a zombie (mmmm – brains!).

Tiredness aside, it's been a fascinating Tour: all the drama, contrivances, wheelings and dealings and egotism of a soap opera at its finest.

So, after stage 15 ending on the climb to Verbier things have gotten more than a little clear – well at least logically.

'Bertie' Contador has shut the door on who should be the leader of Astana – we'll see if that pans out – and with the team's support looks set to be a winner come the finish. Unless he forgets to eat (pretty sure his mistake during the Paris-Nice this year won't be repeated) or has an off, he looks the goods.

Andy Schleck is my next favourite, with a proven climbing record, and a strong team including his dedicated brother Frank. I think he'll flourish on the remaining climbs: still, his individual TT prowess (or relative lack thereof) may be a weak spot, so he'll need to climb into a strong second prior to that. But, 2nd for mine.

Third step on the podium is a bit of a lottery, but:

Carlos Sastre is a dark horse: I liked his climb up Verbier after the early pace put him back on his heels. He didn't panic, got himself below the red line, and motored back toward the end. Plus, he strikes me as more of your diesel style climber, which I think the final stages will suit. He can also ITT OK, and he's had a pretty quiet time of it up 'till now. My best guess for 3rd.

Bradley Wiggins has been a bit of a climbing revelation thus far, but his new-found ascent abilities haven't been really tested: Verbier isn't the primo grind and there's more 'to-the-sky' stuff to come. Plus the individual TT, a strength for him, comes a couple of days before a jaunty little plod up something called Mount Ventoux: overcook it at the ITT and he may not like that particular ascent. Maybe a podium?

Lance Armstrong isn't going to hold second and I think will finish off-podium. The leadership 'battle' at Astana is over and he's gotta work for Contador now, so he can't really expect Kloden to drag him around on the coming climbs anymore. I see him slowly losing time to some of those currently below him in the standings over the next couple of days: guys like Cadel Evans, Frank Schleck, Nibali, Kloden, and possibly Kirchen, Martin and Krueziger. Maybe his ITT will gain him back sometime, but I don't see a podium for Lance. Mind you, at 38 and after a prolonged lay-off, I don't really care – it's been a great effort in and of itself.

As for Cadel Evans: well, it's been a good effort, but after the more than 2:30 timesink of the TTT, plus some losses on other climbs, I can't see him clawing back 4:27 on 'Bertie. Plus, Andy Schleck and Carlos Sastre are at least his equals in climbing, so unless Cadel has a phenomenal ITT I think there's no podium for him. Still, there's hope whilst he's still on his wheels: guts and determination count for a lot, and he's got that in bucket-loads, so we'll see how far he can climb up the GC standings, which I'm sure he will.

Good luck to all, and here's to another couple of sleepless nights!

Ride safe!