Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/9/2011

Young American Tejay Van Garderen pulled on the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey at the end of the 8th stage after getting all of his 5 points on the 2nd category climb on the course. The stage winner, Rui Costa, also has 5 points overall in the mountains competition, but the tie-breaker rules give the jersey to Van Garderen because he has a first place finish on a higher rated climb. The highest rated climb of the Tour so far was the Category 2 climb on today's stage. This is Van Garderen's first appearance at the Tour de France, at only 22 years of age.