The favorites in the 2010 Tour de France had an uneventful day. Stage 10 was a classic rolling stage with a break of riders too far down the general classification to raise the interest of the peloton. Radio Shack’s Sergio Paulinho took the two man sprint for the win. Fourteen minutes later the main group sprinted in for personal glory and the remaining green jersey points. However it wasn’t a completely uneventful day for BMC’s Brent Bookwalter. The Athens resident had a tough day in the saddle.

“It was frustrating. Of course everyone was really battling for the break today since it had a good chance of going to the line and the French were motivated with Bastille Day. They raced us through some really urban roads from the start, tons of traffic islands, speed bumps, road furniture.”

With all this “argy bargy” Bookwalter became mixed up with another rider.

“We managed to stay safe through there, then came out onto a bigger road before the first point sprints. Classic case of everyone pushing forward and not giving an inch. There was some touching of wheels, I started to get tangled with the guy in front of me. Then I was clipped from the side or behind as I was off balance and went straight to the pavement.”

In a post-stage Twitter post Bookwalter said, “Forgot how much it sucks to hit the ground at 50 kph. Missing half a butt-cheek & wicked sore neck, but think I’m ok. Never a dull moment.”

That’s the Tour de France – never a dull moment.