The Big Loop!
Lance struggled a bit in the prologue and kind of got walloped by his team mate, Contador and local boy Cancellara.
Lance showed his savvy on Monday reading the wind and making the break with 29 other riders that gained 40 seconds on most rivals wiping out his loss in the prologue and moving him into 3rd. Cancellara was with him, so he was still 40seconds out.
Yesterday was the Team Time Trial. I have a difficult time understanding how some people can virtually spend their lives on two wheels, but still not learn how to ride. The course was technical, but still there were more falls than a vaudeville show. One of the favorites Denis Menchov went down on the first tricky corner. No surprise, he managed to fall going up hill last year.
Another team had 4 of 9 fall on a single corner - independently.

The highlights:
Cancellara practically dragged his team over the last kilometers to finish 40 seconds down to Astana and hold yellow for another day although even on time with Lance.
Astana showed their power as a team and won by 18 seconds over the American team Garmin-Slipstream.
Garmin-Slipstream is worth noting as they are not known to be a powerhouse, in fact they lost 4 of their 9 in the first half. Time stops on the fifth rider. The five remaining were 2-Americans, 2-Brits and a Canadian.