Deprived of a start for Andy Schleck – the one rider who was to be its leader for the individual general classification – RadioShack-Nissan has a wealth of talent but no longer a potential title winner in the individual rankings. Still, the quality of the collective is obvious and the squad's domination of the team classification continued at La Toussuire. Remember, this is based on the times of the three best each day and, in stage 11, they were Fränk Schleck (10th), Chris Horner (13th) and Andreas Klöden (14th). And then there is Haimar Zubeldia in 16th place just to remind us of the quality that exists in a team without a true leader.
The commanding performance of the RadioShack-Nissan team in the overall rankings is even more impressive when it's noted that Sky is second best... but a massive 12 minutes 31 seconds behind. That's quite a void!