Just behind the fireworks of the stage-7 breakaway, Discovery Channel quietly placed four riders in the selective, 35-man front group. Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych, Alberto Contador and Vladimir Gusev all cruised in with the Tour’s top climbers. All looked quite comfortable.

Leipheimer only needed a few seconds after crossing the line to catch his breath.

“It went as planned,” the Californian said. “It was about as many riders over the last climb as I thought. I was thinking maybe a few less. It was a hot day. It was important to eat a lot and drink a lot. The first day of the mountains. I’m sure there was a selection made. I didn’t really look around too much, I was just focused on staying at the front.”

“It’s too bad the breakaway wasn’t reached, because Popovych had a good chance [at winning the stage].”

Discovery rider and U.S. national champion George Hincapie was dropped from the main front group, finishing the stage in 61st, 7:04 down.

Hincapie, the man from South Carolina who came into last year’s Tour as Discovery’s leader, now sits at 54th on the general classification after starting the stage in sixth overall. He will now likely be riding in support of his four teammates and, if the opportunity presents itself, going for a stage win.

After crossing the line, Hincapie succinctly summed up how his day went: “Not good.”

For his part, Leipheimer said that while he was uncomfortable on the category-1 climb near the stage’s end, he was never in trouble.

“I was always in the first six or eight riders [in the front main group] - so that’s a good sign,” he said.

Discovery now has four riders in the top 20 overall. Popovych, Leipheimer, Contador and Gusev are all within 25 seconds of Astana’s Andréas Klöden, the highest-placed race favorite. And that, too, is a good sign for Leipheimer and his squad’s chances in Paris.