Result: Andy Schleck won the stage after an incredible performance in the mountains. He attacked early and gained 2’15″ over his nearest rival Cadel Evans to finally stamp his authority on this year’s Tour de France.
Here’s how it happened: It was a gruelling day in the saddle as the route included three Hors Categorie climbs, with the finish line the highest it has ever been in the Tour, atop the Col du Galibier at 2,645 metres.
On his third consecutive day of trying, Nicolas Roche finally made it into the break of the day. He formed part of a 19-man group which broke clear of the peloton about 45km into the stage.
On the penultimate climb of the Col d’Izoard, with 60km to go to the finish, Andy Schleck attacked and nobody caught on to his wheel. He reached the top of the climb with about a two minute advantage on Contador, Voeckler and the rest of the big favourites.
Schleck’s team-mate, Maxime Monfort, had been in the break of the day with Roche at the front of the race and he waited for Schleck to aid him on the descent of the Col d’Izoard. Monfort shepherded Schleck to the foot of the 23km ascent up the Col du Galibier alongside Roche and three others.
The six man group containing Schleck and Roche had a 3’40″ advantage over the G.C. favourites behind as the rest of the original 19-man escape had been obliterated on the steep Alpine slopes.
But with 9km to go, Roche began to crack under the relentless pace being set by Andy Schleck which saw his lead over the favourites extend out to 4’30″ as Contador, Evans and Basso behind looked at one another, all refusing to take up the chase.
Eventually, Evans blinked first and upped the pace in order to reel in Schleck. The Australian set the tempo for most of the way up to the finish but he ultimately conceded 2’15″ to Andy Schleck, finishing just behind Frank Schleck and just ahead of Ivan Basso.
But up front Andy Schleck won the stage and took a giant leap towards winning his first Tour de France as he now sits almost a minute ahead of his most likely challenger Cadel Evans.
The Big Winner: Thomas Voeckler. Even though he has lost the majority of his lead, amazingly, he is still in the yellow jersey. He hung on to the back of the Evans group until the final 200 metres.
His advantage now has been cut to just 15 seconds thanks to the brilliant performance by Andy Schleck. The Frenchman continues to defy logic with his gutsy performances and he will deservedly wear yellow once again tomorrow with only three more stages to go.
The Big Losers: Alberto Contador. With 2km to go, the Spaniard cracked completely and began to be distanced by Evans, Basso and Frank Schleck.
The reigning champion ended up losing 3’50″ to Andy Schleck and with it almost any hope of winning the Tour de France as he is now 4’29″ behind him in the GC.
Samuel Sanchez also lost a chunk of time as he was dropped just before Contador. He has fallen from fifth place overall down to eighth.
What about the Irish? Finally, Nicolas Roche was in the thick of the action all day. Perhaps his bad day in the Pyrenées when he fell down the G.C. pecking order last week was a blessing in disguise, as he seems far better suited to aggressive attacking riding than conservative GC riding.
Unfortunately, he was caught and passed by the Evans group with 3km to go and ended up finishing the stage in 19th place 4’58″ behind Andy Schleck. But he put in a fantastic performance to remain with Schleck for so long and it was great to see him at the front end of the Tour de France trying to win a stage.
He is now in 19th place overall, having moved up slightly from 21st.
So what happens tomorrow then? Alpe d’Huez. The famed climb is back in the Tour de France having been on a two year hiatus. It is often said that the Tour de France is always won on this mythical mountain. As the GC currently stands, there are probably four riders which could yet make this statement true.
The stage also includes the big Alpine climbs of the Col du Télégraphe and for the second time in two days, the Col du Galibier. At 109.5km it is an usually short stage. Although this may have been designed to encourage attacks from the favourites throughout the stage, it is unlikely that we will see any major action until the final climb up ‘The Alpe’ as it is widely known.
Alpe d’Huez is the final mountain of this year’s Tour, and with a time trial to come the following day, Andy Schleck might look to increase his 57 second advantage over Cadel Evans as the Australian is superior in tests against the clock.
