Alberto Contador all but assured he would win the 2010 Tour de France on Stage 17, a 174km battle from Pau to the Col du Tourmalet, when he finished alongside great rival Andy Schleck at the top of the mythical Pyreneean summit. But it is the young Luxemburger who will have won the hearts of cycling fans worldwide, after Schleck recorded the second mountain top stage win of his career in a mano-a-mano battle on the final climb of this years Tour. Spaniard Joaquin Rodriguez finished the stage in third.
The final mountains stage of this years Tour lived up to the hype, after Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, first and second on the general classification going in to the days stage, staged a titanic battle on the final ascent of the Tourmalet. Their battle was unmatched by any of the other riders in the peleton, with the two finishing over a minute head of their nearest rival, Joaquin Rodriguez. In the end it was Schleck who got the much deserved victory, ahead of Contador, who all but sealed his third Tour de France crown by conceding no time on the stage. It was Schleck who instigated the attack that devestated all but Contador with just under 10km to go and the two powered away from the rest of the field like angels ascending through the clouds to heaven. Try as he might, Schleck could not get the clean break on Contador he needed to surge ahead and gain the time he required on the great Spaniard before Saturday nights time trial. Contador was happy to sit on Schleck's wheel, although he did try one blistering attack with around 5km to go. Schleck had to dig deep, but he bravely dragged himself up to the Spainards wheel before giving him an almighty stare! That attacked signalled a semi truce of sorts and for the remainder of the climb Schleck led Contador as the two continued to put time into the rest of the field. Given Schleck had done 99.9% of the work, there could only be one winner at the summit, and Alberto graciously allowed Andy (surley the two are on first name basis by now) to take the glory on the day....after all, he had won the war.
So with only the final time trial likely to change things the overall standings are as follows. Alberto Contador leads Andy Schleck by just 8 seconds. But given that Contador is one of the best time-triallers in the world, it will be more than enough for him to hold on to the Yellow Jersey in Paris. Sammy Sanchez (despite apparently injuring his 'sternum' on the stage overnight - seems a tough area to hurt on a bike) is over 3:30 back in third, and has just a 20 second lead to Denis Menchov for the final podium position. Given Menchov's ability in races against the clock the battle for third looks certain to go right down to the last second on Saturday night. Jurgen Van Den Broeck should be able to safely hang on to his spot in the top 5. He is over 5 minutes behind Contador but has an 80 second buffer over Robert Gesink in 6th. The big mover over night was Chris Horner, who suprisingly took the team lead at Radioshack by moving up to 10th, after finishing an excellent 8th on the stage overnight. Andy Schleck's mesmeric performance also saw him increase his lead in the Youth Classification and he now holds the White Jersey by over six and half minutes from Robert Gesink.
With no more classafied climbs to come in this years event the King of the Mountains classification was decided overnight, and as expected Anthony Charteau held on to take the Polka Dot Jersey by 15 points from Christophe Moreau with Andy Schleck finshing third. Honestly Charteau must go down as the worst winner of the jersey in 25 years (potentially ever!) after he was able to garner a lot of his points on early small climbs and by getting into breakaways on the big mountain days. When the real pressure went on on the big climbs he was usually dropped fairly easily. Unsuprisingly, given that the stage finish was located over 2100m above seal level, there was no change in the Points Classification with Thor Hushovd maintaining his slim hold on the Green Jersey. The battle for this particular prize will go all the way to the finish line on the Champs Elysee in Paris.
Yellow Jersey - Alberto Contador
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Anthony Charteau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Back to normality for the Tour tonight as Stage 18 comprises a dead flat 198km run from Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux. After suffering through the mountains the sprinters will be keen to warm up their legs for Paris with a bunch sprint here, and with the race for the Green Jersey still very much alive I can't see any result except a sprint finish. Given that, it is hard to go past Mark Cavendish for the win, given that he probably needs to win here and in Paris to have any shot at the points classification. Get ready to watch the missile fire!
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