Tour notes: Sheepish in France

As the peloton navigated the second climb of Thursday's Stage 17 at the Tour de France, there were many outside factors to deal with: Fog, reduced visibility and spectators on the road.

But near the start of the Col du Soudor, some riders were forced to scramble and swerve when a group of sheep suddenly appeared from the side of the mountain and crossed the road.

There were no injuries (to the humans or the sheep), but the incident created a few moments of chaos as riders frantically squeezed their brake levers (some even dismounted to avoid crashing).

Two thoughts on this:

- It's a good thing the sheep did not appear during the dizzying descent. If something jumped in front of the riders while they are traveling 40-50 miles per hour, the situation could have been real ugly.

- It's surprising that nobody took advantage of the situation and quickly spun a wool sweater. Temperatures atop the next and final climb up the Col de Tourmalet were 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

There was no official count as to how many sheep were in the pack, but at least that will give the riders something to think about in their beds tonight.

Sarkozy says hello
French President Nicolas Sarkozy rode in one of the red official cars during Thursday's stage, and photographs showed him waving to spectators through his open window. He greeted winner Andy Schleck and overall leader Alberto Contador, who staged an epic duel on the Col du Tourmalet, at the finish. Contador leads Schleck by eight seconds.

"The image of Alberto and Andy side by side was a great image of sport," Sarkozy told the Associated Press. "Alberto may win, but Andy will win next year."

The president also spoke with seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who at 38 is in 23rd place, 37 minutes, 58 seconds behind Contador. Armstrong's Team RadioShack crew posted this photo of the two on Twitter.

"I admire the performance of the man," Sarkozy said of Armstrong. "It's a great thing to see a guy who has won the Tour seven times prepared to ride 35 or 40 minutes back."

Sarkozy did not comment on Armstrong's legal troubles, which have him being investigated for fraud and doping charges.

Quotables
Schleck on his dwindling chances at winning this year's Tour: "I've got everything that it takes, I've got the best skills to win the Tour. Maybe next year, maybe two years, but I want to win it, that's for sure."

Contador on his decision not to attack Thursday, choosing to instead stay behind Schleck: "What matters is not to attack but to wear the yellow jersey in Paris."