Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck seized the Tour de France yellow jersey with two days remaining as last year’s champion Alberto Contador restored his pride with a relentless day of attacks on the mountainous 19th stage to l’Alpe d’Huez.
Schleck took the overall lead from Thomas Voeckler, but there was joy for the host nation as Pierre Rolland broke clear to overtake Contador near the finish to give France its first stage win this year.
With yesterday’s 42.5km time trial to come before the ride into Paris, Schleck now leads his brother Frank by 53 seconds, with Australian Cadel Evans 57 seconds back.
Photo: AFP
Contador, who beat Schleck into second place in 2009 and last year, blew the peloton to pieces with a series of attacks to salvage his damaged pride and was only denied a stage victory when Rolland surged late on.
The Spaniard attacked from the first corner of the Col du Telegraphe, taking Andy Schleck with him, and even though their group was caught 60km later on the descent of the Galibier pass, he struck again in the final climb.
His aggressive and stylish display was fatal to Voeckler’s slim hopes of retaining the yellow jersey he had worn for the last 10 days, although his own hopes of a fourth victory in five years have disappeared.
Photo: EPA
Voeckler began the day with a narrow 15-second lead, but ended it trailing by two minutes, 10 seconds.
With Evans expected to be strong in yesterday’s time trial in Grenoble, the Tour is heading for a thrilling finale.
“Schleck, Schleck, Evans to be one and two, two days before Paris, what more can you ask for?” asked Andy Schleck, winner of the previous stage in the rarefied air of the Galibier, the highest ever finish in the Tour’s history.
Photo: Reuters
The question for the Luxembourg siblings was whether they can challenge Evans in yesterday’s hilly ride around Grenoble, a time trial that looks tailor-made for the Australian’s qualities.
“Cadel is about a minute adrift. It’s a lot. And the yellow jersey will give me wings,” leader Schleck said. “After 20 days of racing, a time trial is not the same.”
“Cadel is as tired as the rest of us. I might lose the jersey, but I will give it my all,” he said.
Photo: EPA
Evans, also twice a Tour runner-up, is ideally placed as well to go one step higher on the final podium, but he refused to be drawn into forecasts.
“I don’t know about winning the Tour, we’ll see tomorrow. I’ll just try to ride as fast as possible,” he said.
While the overall winner will be decided against the clock, -Contador, out of contention after suffering on the Galibier a day earlier, was eager to finish the race on a high note.
The three-times Tour champion has been slightly jaded after winning a grueling Giro d’Italia last month, while the final decision on his positive dope test on the last Tour has also been a background distraction.
However, he showed his rivals that he is still the master when the road goes up.
The Saxo Bank team leader was 2km short of achieving his goal and there were signs of frustration when he punched one of the countless spectators dressed in sometimes funny, more often ridiculous, outfits on the roadside.
A few hundred meters later, he was caught by Rolland and his compatriot Samuel Sanchez, who went on to fight it out for the stage laurels with Rolland proving the fresher.
“I didn’t just win a stage, I won in l’Alpe d’Huez,” said Rolland, the first Frenchman to win at the top of the famous 21 corners of the ascent since Bernard Hinault in 1986.
As for Voeckler, he paid the price for trying too hard to chase Contador in the Telegraphe pass.
“I’m disappointed, but I’m glad for Pierre. He deserved it,” said the Europcar team leader, seen smashing a bottle on the tarmac in frustration when he realized his hopes were vanishing.
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