I met Bert by chance, a few days after the season started. I was wandering back to the digs the leisure resort’s management had provided for the summer staff, when I noticed a pall of grey smoke pouring out of the propped-open door of a garage next to one of the Thirties houses I was walking past.

Thinking there was a fire taking hold, I rushed up the driveway and yanked the door fully open. I was just about to bellow something about the fire, when I heard a muffled curse, and caught a glimpse through the gloom of a blue flame being extinguished. The garage’s occupant, an elderly man in blue overalls, was standing and turning to face me. He was removing an old-style pair of welding goggles, and didn’t look too happy.

“Bloody hell, you scared the life out of me! What do you want?” he said.

“Sorry mate, I saw smoke and thought something was burning in here.”

“Just doing a bit of welding, you fool! Nothing to worry about.”

I was suppressing a giggle. The welding had grimed up his face, but the goggles he’d taken off had revealed ovals of clean skin around his eyes. At that moment, it was as funny a sight-gag as I’d ever seen.

“Something funny?”

“No, no.” I half-snorted a chuckle. “Sorry, it’s just that you look a bit like a panda now you’ve taken the glasses off.”

There was a little pause while he twigged what the strange man was talking about.

“Oh, I see. The eyes. I get it.” A little smile played at the corners of his mouth. Maybe now he wouldn’t hit me round the head with the nasty-looking welding implement he still held.

“Anyway, like I said, I thought something was on fire. I’m sorry I made you jump.”

The smoke was clearing now, and I could see more of the inside of the garage. It wasn’t a garage at all, more an immaculate workshop. Workbenches, vices, a big circular saw, a shadow-board on the wall, with every hand-tool in its place. A metal framework, looking a bit like the prow of a small boat, sat on the floor, with the welding gear next to it.

“Great workshop you’ve got here. My grandad used to have one like this in his shed.” I gestured at the frame. “What are you making, a boat?”

“No, it’s a flying machine. For the Birdman. I was just welding on the wheel-mounts.”

The penny dropped. The town was holding its first ever Birdman event on August Bank Holiday. I’d seen it in the local paper. Dozens of charity fund-raisers and traditional Brit-eccentrics would leap off the pier in their home-made, unpowered flying machines. Prizes were on offer – longest distance covered, longest time in the air, cleverest machine, silliest machine. The town’s council had realised how much trade similar events brought to other seaside resorts, and had decided to take a leaf out of their book.

“Oh yeah, I read about it. So that part is -”

“Fuselage. She’s nowhere near ready, of course. But I’ve got a couple of months yet, and I reckon she’ll be a beauty by then.”

We seemed to have reached the end of the conversation.

“Right, well I’d better leave you to it, then. Very nice meeting you. And sorry again for startling you”. I told him my name, he told me his – Bert. A quick, stilted handshake, and I was on my way. Turning left at the end of his driveway, I saw him retreat back into the shadows of the workshop.

I took on as many shifts as possible at the leisure complex, which meant I walked past Bert’s place almost every day.  I would go past at all hours, and every time I did, he seemed to be working away on his flying machine. Daytimes, I’d see one of the doors propped open. Nights, the doors would be closed, but tiny chinks of light would shine out through the gaps in the wooden panels.

I would sometimes knock on the door, shout a hello, and crane my head around to look inside. Bert would always be working away on some part of the contraption, whether planing a length of balsa wood, nailing down a piece of canvas, or bolting on a wheel. We would chat. His demeanour was always friendly, but slightly reserved. I learned about his Army life, his subsequent career on civvy street, his retirement. But there always seemed to be something missing, something he wouldn’t mention.

One evening I suggested we go for a quick pint at the pub at the end of the road.

“Oh, thanks but I’d better not.” And saying that, he seemed to make one of those barely-perceptible sideways nods, in the direction of the main part of the house. Or did I imagine it?

I figured it out in an instant. He must be married to some domineering woman, who kept him on a tight rein, and wouldn’t take kindly to his disappearing down the pub. The poor sod had probably been unhappy for years, hen-pecked and marginalised, his only pleasure building strange stuff in his workshop-sanctuary. I understood now why he hadn’t mentioned her in our conversations.

“Well, I know you’re a busy man. But if you do fancy a beer sometime, just collar me when I’m walking past. I’m buying.”

The weeks wore on. I served meals to the tourists, cleaned their toilets, changed the linen on their beds, broke up their fights in the bar, sold them sunburn remedies in the shop, and saved their kids from drowning in the pool. I was exhausted. The end of the summer couldn’t come soon enough – not only so I could leave the place behind, but because I wanted to see Bert’s machine in action.

I dropped in on Bert the night before the competition. He was putting the final touches to the machine, which was looking fantastic. The colour scheme was gunmetal grey, giving it a militaristic look. Every part showed little touches of individualism and loving attention to detail. He had stencilled tiny, pretend rivet-heads along the wing surfaces and fuselage. RAF roundels and USAF stars-and-bars insignia adorned the wings. Fake exhaust outlets belched orange flame either side of the machine’s nose. On one side of the cockpit was a drawing of Betty Boop. On the other, a stylised, head-and-shoulders sketch of a cheesecake movie belle.

“It looks terrific! You’ve put so much work in, you deserve to win something.”

“Well, it’s not really about winning anything, is it? It’s the taking part, and all that.”

“What’s with the American references?”

“Knew some good Yanks when I was stationed in Germany.”

“Oh, I see. Have you given it a name yet?”

Bert looked away, his eyes skirting around the workshop.

“Of course she has a name. Always has, just haven’t painted it on yet. You’ll see, tomorrow. You are still coming, aren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Swapped my shifts and everything.”

August Bank Holiday dawned bright, with moderate winds and warm temperatures forecast. I wandered down to the seafront around noon, to give me time to grab some fish and chips, and check out the flying machines in the roped-off area at the foot of the pier.

I found Bert standing alongside his machine. He was peeling off his jog pants to reveal swimming trunks underneath.

“Nice day for it,” I said. “How are you feeling?”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Do you think she’ll fly?” I asked.

“Of course not, don’t be daft!” He smiled. “But I think she’ll swoop into the sea very nicely, though.”

“Need any help with anything?”

“No, that’s fine thanks, son. All going according to plan. I’m due on in about 10 minutes.”

“Great. I’ll go and get a good vantage point. Best of luck, Bert.”

I shook his hand and turned to leave. But then I remembered what I’d meant to ask. Turning back, I peered over his shoulder at the machine.

“What did you call it in the end? Spruce Goose, Enola Gay, Spirit of St. Louis? Something like that?”

“Gladys.”

“Gladys? What kind of name is that?”

Bert hesitated, then did that thing where his eyes look downwards and away.

“Gladys was my wife’s name. Passed away a year or so ago. Lovely lass, miss her like mad. Truth is, I’d been moping about a bit, sitting in the house, feeling sorry for myself. Then I heard about the Birdman, and thought I’d pull myself together a bit, and have a go.”

I managed to make it to a clear spot on the pier without crying my eyes out too obviously. I’d stammered and babbled away at Bert, saying how I wasn’t aware of his loss, how sorry I was, apologising in case I’d ever said anything to upset him without realising. But he dismissed me with a wave and a smile, telling me I’d best get a move on and find somewhere to watch from.

Under my breath, I cursed my insensitivity and my heartless assumptions. I had thought Bert was building his machine as an escape from an unseen, uninterested wife. But now I understood. She was gone, and Bert had built the machine as a tribute to her, lavishing his time and love on something carrying her name.

I’d dried my eyes by the time Bert stepped up. The loudspeakers announced his name, and that of the machine. The onlookers cheered, none louder than me. From the open cockpit, his legs dangled down to the surface of the pier. He shuffled the machine forward, shifting her axis round a little, pointing her directly off the launch ramp. Then he paced the machine backwards, giving room for a good run-up. At the sound of the announcer’s klaxon, he grasped the machine’s handles, and ran flat out with the contraption, before disappearing over the edge.

I’d love to tell you that Gladys defied the laws of physics, that she soared over this little English seaside town. But she ended up in the drink just like all the others.

But there was a moment, just one tiny instant, which would always stick in my mind. As Bert and his machine went off the side of the pier, I swear I felt little puff of wind blow through. I might have imagined it, but the wind seemed to catch Gladys’s wings, and keep her and Bert aloft for a tiny fraction of a second.

One thing I know I did see was the look on Bert’s face at that moment. A huge, ecstatic smile, his eyes full of joy.

I rushed down to the shoreline underneath the pier. The organiser’s people were helping a grinning Bert ashore, along with what remained of Gladys.

“I think she held up pretty well,” he said. “The starboard wing has had a knock, but the fuselage looks right as rain.”

I held a bath-towel around Bert while he changed out of his swimming gear. The organisers would take Gladys back to Bert’s garage in their van after the event had finished. We were free to go.

“Fancy a pint, Bert?”

He paused. And then smiled.

“Do you know, I think I do.”

The overall race was of course won by Alberto Contador (Astana). Perhaps not quite in the explosive and unmatchable form which he displayed in 2007 and 2009, he nonetheless did enough to take the yellow jersey home for the third time.

There were some fine moments of competitiveness between Contador and his only real rival Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank). Perhaps the defining incident of the Tour was ‘Chaingate’, the incident in the Pyrenees where Schleck’s chain came off (blog video). The moment was instantly seized upon by Contador and two other highly-placed riders, somewhat in contravention of cycling’s unwritten rules of fair play. This topic has been debated endlessly online, so I won’t re-hash it here. What’s certain is that if Schleck had had his brother Frank along for company, the situation would probably not have arisen in the first place – Frank would have immediately given his bike to Andy, so he could continue. But the elder Schleck was back home, nursing a broken collarbone after an accident on the cobbles of stage 3.

The stage up the Tourmalet would prove to be fascinating, if something of an anti-climax. Schleck and Contador – the world best two climbers – grinding up the foggy mountain, with nothing whatsoever between them. Schleck’s performance in the final time trial to Pauillac was exceptional, and for half an hour or so gave Contador a major scare. Ultimately, the Spaniard’s time-trialling skills prevailed, but it’s clear that Schleck had improved enormously.

The Schleck brothers will be back next year, and with Andy maturing and improving every year, we may see a great rivalry with Contador, reminiscent of Lance Armstrong vs. Jann Ullrich from years ago. However, it looks highly unlikely that the two brothers will still be riding with Bjarne Riis’s Saxo Bank team. Strong rumours suggest that a Luxembourg state team is being assembled around the Schleck brothers, and that they may cherry-pick some of Saxo Bank’s best riders to take with them – perhaps the world’s premier time-triallist and all-round workhorse Fabian Cancellara and the finest super-domestique in the world, Jens Voigt. We’ll know more when the transfer market opens at the end of August.

Another new team took part in the Tour for the first time this year – Sky. Ultimately, their Tour was underwhelming. Overall contender Bradley Wiggins was unable to match his 4th place for Garmin in the 2009 Tour, and was admirably frank about it with the press. One diamond in the rough for Sky was the excellent performance by the young Welsh rider Geraint Thomas. Perhaps G’s finest moment with the superb second place behind Fabian Cancellara after the hellish afternoon on the pavé. Thomas will continue to mature and improve in coming years, and is definitely one to watch.

It will be very interesting to keep an eye on Sky’s progress over the next year or so. Their sponsors do seem to have the legs for a long-term commitment without expecting instant success – the budget is variously rumoured at around £35m for three years, but some of that will have been spent on buying out Wiggins’s contract from Garmin. But it’ll be interesting to see whether the very formal, scientific and considered approach favoured by team boss David Brailsford will yield results. His previous success has been in the entirely different and more controlled environment of track cycling. It remains to be seen if the team’s first, faltering steps into the unforgiving world of professional stage racing will lead to measurable success.

The bad-luck award probably went to Garmin-Transitions, a team with a very talented line-up, but which was eaten away by injuries and illness. Team leader Christian van der Velde crashed on stage 2, forcing his retirement that night. The same stage resulted in a fractured wrist for Garmin’s sprinter Tyler Farrar, who managed to hang on for another 12 days before retiring. And team stalwart and fast rouleur David Millar had a dreadful time, ill most of the way around France.

Let’s finally turn to a young Brit who did rather well again this year – Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia). After a lacklustre start to the cycling season, and an uninspired showing in the Tour’s first few sprint finishes, cynics were suggesting that he had lost the mojo that led him to take 4 stage wins in the 2008 Tour, and a staggering 6 stages in the 2009 Tour. But once he took the sprint on stage 5, his confidence returned with a vengeance and he was back to the Cav of the past two years, eventually bagging 5 stage wins.

Even having his lead-out man Mark Renshaw thrown off the Tour on stage 11 for some robust challenging didn’t dent the Manxman’s ability. Whilst he had previously had the luxury of a 9-man lead-out train to sap the opposition’s energy and establish dominance in stage run-ins, Cav proved that he can sprint in the classic Robbie McEwen style, ferreting his way through the bunch, following opponents’ wheels, and picking out his path to the line for himself. And the stage win on the Champs-Elysées finale was so emphatic, that it’s difficult to imagine anyone beating him for sheer speed in the foreseeable future.

That’s enough from me and from these Tour de France fan-blogs. I know from my web statistics that very few people have actually been reading any of these – and let’s face it, there is far better writing out there on the subject from proper journalists. But if you have enjoyed any of this, I’m very grateful. Might do it again next year.

The route of the 2011 Tour will be announced in late October 2010, and the race itself will start in early July 2011. Already, I can’t wait. Vive le Tour! A l’année prochaine!

It’s the final stage of what has been a thrilling Tour. As per convention, the overall yellow jersey winner Alberto Contador (Astana) will not be challenged today. But the green jersey points competition has yet to be decided, with veteran Italian Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) leading, and the world’s fastest sprinter Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) still within reach.

Another feature of every stage into Paris is a certain amount of show-boating. The winning team will sometimes drink champagne as they ride along. Teams who have had an underwhelming Tour will sometimes launch a break once the stage enters Paris. Riders nearing the end of their contract will try to get some TV time, before the transfer season starts at the end of August.

Similarly, today’s stage started somewhat farcically. Lance Armstong’s Radio Shack team turned up at the start line wearing a completely different kit than normal – all black, with a huge ‘28′ on the back, to publicise the world’s 28 million cancer sufferers, as part of Armstrong’s Livestrong campaign. The race officials are rather strict about this type of thing, and insisted that the team switch to their standard, approved kit. Radio Shack clearly knew this would happen, as their team car magically produced officially-sanctioned jerseys. The team stopped, changed their jerseys, re-attached their race numbers, and were on their way. This resulted in the peloton waiting a full 15 minutes for Lance and his boys.

Adding to the sense of the ridiculous, Andy Schleck appeared to suffer another chain-related mechanical problem – recalling the ‘Chaingate’ incident up in the Pyrenees. The second-placed man’s team car were quickly on hand to swap out his bike.

The field pootled at a very sedate pace through the environs of Paris, finally stepping up the pace as they neared the city limits. This year, the route took the classic route – across the bridge from Issy-les-Moulineaux to Boulogne-Billancourt, then taking the right-turn onto the quayside expressway on the right bank (i.e. north side) of the Seine. Up ahead, the Tour Eiffel would loom large across the river. Then, a gentle left-turn onto the Place de la Concorde, around through the Louvre underpass, left at the statue of Joan of Arc onto the rue de Rivoli, then across the Concorde again, and on to the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance. 8 frantic laps of the Parisien circuit would follow.

An 11-man break rolled off the front, looking for glory. But amongst them was Cavendish’s team-mate Tony Martin, who would obviously do no work whatsoever to assist the break. Petacchi was happy for this group to go off, as they effectively neutralised all the bonus intermediate sprint points. The green jersey winner would therefore be decided on the Champs-Elysées finish line.

The group were allowed to take an advantage of nearly 30 seconds, before the main field started closing things down. But the capture wasn’t simple or quick, with just scant seconds being knocked off the break’s advantage. Eventually, in-fighting and disorganisation doomed the break, which split in two and ultimately lost its impetus. The main field finally overhalued the echappée with one lap of the Paris circuit remaining.

With the peloton back together, HTC-Columbia put in some serious pace-making, as did the other sprinters’ teams. Lampre joined the fray, hoping to launch Petacchi. Sky took a lot of interest, hoping to provide a platform for Edvald Boassen Hagen. Garmin-Transitions were also present, looking to lead out the big Kiwi sprinter Julian Deane.

The final passage of the rue de Rivoli was as tense as expected. Cavendish hooked on to the wheel of the returning Tony Martin who took up the long-range leadout. The sheer speed strung the leaders out as they rounded the right-hand bend onto the Champs Elysées, with the finishing line just 400m away. Hushovd was being led out well, but Petacchi broke left with a burst of speed. At that exact moment, Cavendish broke right, fired the warp drives, and blew the doors off everyone. The Manxman flew over the line several bike-lengths clear of Petacchi, for his fifth stage win of this Tour, and his fifteenth in just 4 Tours. Julian Deane came in third.

All the overall contenders rolled in safely amongst the exhausted peloton. Alberto Contador (Astana) won his third Tour in the last three times of his competing. King of the Mountains had already been awarded to Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). Petacchi was confirmed as the winner of the green jersey points competition, by dint of his 2nd place finish today.

Final standings for the 2010 Tour de France:

Overall GC WINNER – Alberto Contador (Astana) – 91 hrs 58 mins 48 seconds
2nd: Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) – 39 seconds
3rd: Denis Menchov (Rabobank) – 2 minutes 01 second

Points WINNER – Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) – 243 points
2nd: Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) – 232 points
3rd: Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) – 222 points

King of the Mountains WINNER – Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) – 143 points
2nd: Christophe Moreau (Caisse d’Epargne) – 128 points
3rd: Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) – 116 points

Young Rider WINNER – Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) – 91 hours 51 minutes 27 seconds
2nd: Robert Gesink (Rabobank) – 8 minutes 52 seconds
3rd: Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) – 11 minutes 15 seconds

Overall team prize was taken by Radio Shack, with Caisse d’Epargne 2nd, and Rabobank 3rd.

So, the exceptional 2010 Tour de France is over, with a brilliant final flourish from Mark Cavendish. I’ll make a final posting in the next day or so, wrapping things up.

The penultimate day of this year’s Tour was a 52km time-trial, heading north from Bordeaux to Pauillac. With Alberto Contador (Astana) leading Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) by just 8 seconds overall, the main business of the day would be to confirm who would wear yellow in Paris. But the fight for the final podium place would also need to be sorted out, with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) third at 3′32, and the acknowledged better time-trialler Denis Menchov (Rabobank) fourth at 3′53.

As always, the start order for the was in the reverse order of the riders’ overall positions. And it’s this which proved crucial to the outcome of the stage. At the start of the day, conditions were fairly still, and decent times were registered by Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) and Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia), mimicking their fine performances in the prologue time-trial in Rotterdam.

But as the day progressed, the wind kicked up significantly, meaning that the high-placed riders competing towards the end of the day would be riding straight into a stiff headwind. This meant that no-one would match the early best times, gifting Cancellara the win, Martin second, and third place for overall last-placed man Bert Grabsch (HTC-Columbia).

The stage win was largely unimportant – the key question was whether Andy Schleck’s time-trialling capabilities had really improved, as had been rumoured. Live TV coverage flipped between Schleck and Contador as soon as the Spaniard was out on the course. At the first split-time point, the clock showed Schleck had put in a tremendous performance, gaining a 6-second time advantage over Contador. This meant the Luxembourgeois was just two seconds away from the ‘virtual’ yellow jersey.

Schleck’s valliant effort continued, with Contador perhaps looking slightly nervy and rattled – news of Schleck’s pace will have been relayed over team radio. However, by the time the second split-point had been reached, it was clear that Contador had increased his effort, and was extending his lead overall. At the finish, the Spaniard came in 31 seconds faster than Schleck, increasing his overall lead to 39 seconds. Alberto Contador had won the 2010 Tour de France.

The battle for third had played itself out shortly before this. Dennis Menchov, a previous winner of flat time-trials in the Vuelta a Espana, had a very good day. The Russian finished a full 2 minutes faster than Samuel Sanchez, leap-frogging him to take the 3rd place on the podium in Paris.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
WINNER – Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
WINNER – Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
WINNER – Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the 102.5km grand finale from Longjumeau to Paris Champs-Elysees. The only competition still undecided is that of the green jersey. Points are available on two intermediate sprints, shortly after the arrival in Paris, and of course for the stage win itself. With Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) unable to contest sprints as strongly as before, the battle for green is between holder Alessandro Petacchi and the world’s fastest sprinter Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia). In a mathematical conundrum rather like of the last day of the football season, if Cav repeats last year’s stage win on the Champs-Elysees, with Petacchi and Hushovd finishing more than 7 places back, the green jersey leaves Paris on the shoulders of the Manxman. After Cav’s disastrous first week, this had seemed an impossibility.

Out of the Pyrenees, heading north through Aquitaine, up to Bordeaux. On paper, it’ll be a breakaway by some non-contenders, followed by a slow reeling in, late recapture and final bunch sprint. The green jersey is still a three-horse race between leader Thor Hushovd (Cervelo), Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre), and Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia), so the sprint to the line will be competitive. Watch out also for the intermediate green jersey points available on this stage; Hushovd has shown the most hunger for bagging these so far.

A four-man break was allowed to roll off the front for their 15 minutes of fame. The gap was closely monitored by the usual HTC-Columbia and Lampre teams. Milram also took a few turns at the front, perhaps as an advertisement for the new sponsor they badly need. All three teams were aiming to launch their sprinters (Mark Cavendish, Alessandro Petacchi, and Gerald Ciolek, respectively), and set a blistering pace. TV coverage from motorcycle-cameras showed the speedos touching 70km/h (around 45mph) when the chase came on song.

The lead group began to fall apart, and three riders were caught 12km from home. This left just the Tour rookie Daniel Oss (Liquigas) alone at the front, desperately trying for the stage win. But the peloton’s pace was too much, and he was overhauled just 3.5km from the line.

The run-in then started heating up as suspected. HTC-Columbia formed a fast train, trying to prevent any attacks being launched off the front. Lampre were again present, but seemed to lose focus a couple of km from the line. Garmin also had a hand in the wind-up, but the most conspicuous presence was Sky – clearly looking to launch Edvald Boassen Hagen to a stage win, and salvage something from an underwhelming Tour performance.

Eventually, the bunch wound up for the sprint. Cavendish sat and waited, watching Petacchi like a hawk. The Italian jumped; Cavendish reacted, pushed the button, and blew everyone out of the water. In a bunch-sprint situation 200m from the finishing line, the Manxman is literally unbeatable. Cav rolled over for the stage win – his fourth of this year’s Tour – making it look like child’s play. The big New Zealander Julian Deane (Garmin-Transitions) came in with a fine second, followed over by Petacchi. Thor Hushovd was only able to manage 14th place, in a finish where every man and his brother wanted to give it a shot.

No change, of course, in the overall yellow jersey competition. Alberto Contador (Astana) leads Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) by 8 seconds, with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) 3′32 back, Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at 3′53, and Jurgen van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at 5′27.

The green jersey competition will go right down to the wire. The only remaining points available are at two intermediate sprints in Paris, and of course those for the stage win on the Champs-Elysees. Therefore, a competitive final stage is in prospect. Petacchi seems perhaps the most likely, given that Hushovd’s flat-out sprint is not what it used to be. But Cavendish could sneak the green jersey out from under their noses with a stage win, and with the other two contenders more than 6 or so places back.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
WINNER – Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the individual time-trial of 52km from Bordeaux to Pauillac, alongside some of the world’s finest vineyards. The focus shifts to the top ten placings. Will Contador blow Schleck away as convincingly as past form would suggest, or has the Luxembourgeois improved in the time-trial discipline? Who will take 3rd place on the podium in Paris – Sanchez or Menchov? And will Bradley Wiggins look for Sky’s souvenir stage win?

The Tour organisers are clever souls, and have over 100 years of experience in putting together a fantastic show. This year’s Tour was designed explicitly to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Pyrenean appearance, and to keep us in suspense about who will wear yellow in Paris.

All this planning, plotting, and scheming worked out perfectly. The three main competitions – yellow jersey (overall winner), green jersey (points) and King of the Mountains (self-explanatory) were all up for grabs, with no certainty over who would take any of them. And now the riders faced a classic Pyrenean stage, culminating in the gruelling climb up the Col du Tourmalet via its even-nastier face.

Alberto Contador (Astana) led Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) by just 8 slim seconds. The final time-trial on Saturday is acknowledged to be Schleck’s weak spot, so the Luxembourgeois needed to attack and to claw back as much of a time advantage as possible.

Difficult weather conditions at the start of the stage, with thick fog and cloud rolling across the mountains. And almost immediately a nasty crash for 3rd-placed Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), who looked to have been knocked unconcious. He was able to recover, and was paced back into the pack by his team-mates. Further up the road, a flock of sheep from a hillside farm made a bid for international stardom by wandering across the front of the main field. Fortunately, no accidents were caused.

A seven-man break had been allowed to roll away during the first part of the stage, but as soon as the final ascent up the Tourmalet began, the lead group cracked into pieces. Only Russian road champion Alexander Kolobnev (Katusha) lasted more than a few kilometres.

The main field began the climb 2′30 back, led at an astonishing pace by Schleck’s Saxo Bank team-mates, aiming to expose any weakness in Contador’s Astana team.

10km from home, Schleck was out of lieutenants, and made his first move. Not a flat-out, balls-to-the-wall attack, but a quick notching-up of the pace. Only Contador could grab Schleck’s wheel, with Denis Menchov (Rabobank) left floundering in no man’s land, and Sanchez further back. In the space of 1.5km, Schleck and Contador overhauled Kolobnev’s advantage, and headed up into the clouds, mano a mano at the front.

The psychological battle that began a few days ago continued. With all other distractions out of the way, Schleck continued at a steady pace, occasionally stepping things up slightly, to test Contador. But the Spaniard lingered on Schleck’s shoulder, watching, waiting and matching the Luxembourgeois’s every move.

At 3.9km from the finish, Contador attacked with a burst of acceleration. But Schleck responded and was back on the Spaniard’s wheel within seconds. More psych-outs from Schleck, staring long and hard directly into Contador’s face, as if to say ‘is that all that you’ve got?’. Contador’s face remained the usual impassive mask.

For the last 3km, the pair stayed locked together. The impression was of the best two climbers in the world, without anything to choose between them. When the finish line came, amidst appalling weather and viciously-sharp hairpin bends, the two rolled over side-by-side, with Contador allowing Schleck to take the stage win. In a moving gesture, both the cyclists rode on past the finish line, arms around each other’s shoulders. The mutual respect was clear to see.

Behind, Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) rolled over 1′18 back, followed by this year’s revelation Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions), 1′27 back. Samuel Sanchez recovered superbly from his early crash to come in 5th at 1′32, with Denis Menchov at 1′40.

So, it looks like the overall winner is decided. Contador just needed to ride defensively today, keeping an eagle-eye on Schleck. And he did as required. Contador leads Schleck by those famous 8 seconds, with Sanchez 3′32 back, Menchov 3′53, and Jurgen van den Broek (Omega Pharma-Lotto) at 5′27.

The King of the Mountains prize has now been won. With no further mountain points available, Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) claims the polka-dot jersey. This year has been the most successful for the host nation for years, in terms of stage wins. A Frenchman taking one of the major competitions will go down very well.

The green jersey probably won’t be decided until Paris. Points leader Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) safely made it over the mountains, as did second-placed Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) – a rider who has never before completed the Tour. Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) also made it through OK.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)

King of the Mountains
WINNER – Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the 198km from Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux (198km). Long but flat – a day for optimistic breakaways, but expect full control to be regained by HTC-Columbia and Lampre, ready to launch their sprinters. Garmin-Transitions likely to be more muted; David Millar is still under the weather, and with the sad retirement of their sprinter Tyler Farrar on Friday (broken wrist), erstwhile lead-out man Julain Deane may be their only bet. And will Sky give it a shot? Their sprinter Edvald Boassen Hagen has been well-placed in previous sprint finishes, and the team would dearly love to walk away with something from their debut Tour.

Various developments overnight after the Schleck/Contador debacle. Booing of Contador at the podium yesterday, a semi-contrite video posted on YouTube. The debate will run and run…

Today’s stage was a comparatively quiet one. A ten-man break rolled away early on, but with major names such as Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) and Bradley Wiggins (Sky) on board, was never going to be allowed to get too far away. In amongst the group was veteran French rider Christophe Moreau (Caisse d’Epargne), who was first over the last two climbs, bringing him up to second place in the King of the Mountains competition. Wiggins dropped back into the peloton, but Armstrong stuck with the lead group.

The main field had a quiet day. With the long run-in to the finish, none of the main overall challengers was in a position to take any sort of serious advantage over their rivals.

40km from home, Carlos Barredo (Quick Step) attacked off the front of the lead group, hoping for a long-distance stage win. But the group had the measure of him, and were sufficiently organised – and paced at a terrific rate by Moreau – to overhaul the luckless Barredo just 1km from the line.

That left an 8-man bunch sprint to the line. Armstrong contested the sprint, but started from an awkward position and ultimately didn’t have the legs. The stage was won by Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), with compatriot Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux) taking second place. Moreau attempted to lead out his Caisse d’Epargne team-mate Ruben Plaza Molina, but the latter could only manage third. Armstrong was 6th, Moreau 8th. Barredo rolled over 28 seconds back, ruing his attempted 40km break for the line, which only just failed.

The main field came in 6′45, led over by the ever-combative Thor Hushovd (Cervelo). This was an exceptional ride from the big Norwegian; his ability to stay with the main field over very tough climbs marks him out as far more than just a hard-man sprinter of old. Hushovd deservingly re-took the green jersey from Alessandro Petacchi, who rolled over with a more traditional sprinter’s finishing time on a mountain stage – a full 35 minutes back.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Thor Hushovd (Cervelo)

King of the Mountains
Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow is a rest day, with Thursday the decisive stage: 174km from Pau to Col du Tourmalet. The second visit to the Tourmalet in three days culminates in a mountain-top finish. The winner of the 2010 Tour de France will be decided on that climb.

Nasty climb up the Port de Bales, two-thirds of the way through today’s stage, followed by a very fast descent into the finish. A classy climber could open up a gap over the pass, but the long run-in could allow fearless descent specialists to catch up significant time.

A ten-man break was allowed to roll off the front. Once they reached an 11-minute lead, the peloton woke up and started reeling them back in. On the climb of the Port de Bales, the gap was down to 6 minutes. French national champion Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) sensed the possibility of stage victory, and leapt off the front of the lead group as they cracked one by one.

Back in the pack, Saxo Bank’s riders put down a strong tempo, shepherding their team leader, yellow jersey Andy Schleck, up the climb. But the Luxembourgeois was running out of lieutenants, with Alberto Contador and several of his Astana team-mates lingered menacingly on Schleck’s shoulder. More mind-games between the two leaders were in prospect.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Voeckler crested the climb alone & settled in for a crazy descent.

3km from the top of the climb, Schleck put in a burst of acceleration to test the elite group’s mettle – only Vinokourov (Astana) responded instantly. But then the huge random number-generator that is the Tour de France came into play. Still accelerating, Schleck’s chain came off, leaving him helpless. Due to the crowded, narrow road up the climb, his team car was nowhere near, and so couldn’t swap out his bike. Schleck stopped, dismounted, and re-engaged the chain at the second attempt.

GC contenders Alberto Contador, Denis Menchov (Rabobank), and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) imediately seized on Schleck’s misfortune to attack and leave the yellow jersey floundering. Sportsmanship fell by the wayside – unlike in many of the battles of old between Lance Armstrong and Jann Ullrich – and the trio sped off. Schleck was by now underway again, around 25 seconds back. Visibly angered by his predicament, he stomped up the climb in search of the Contador group, eventually going over the top 25 seconds behind them.

A crazy descent followed. At the front, Voeckler briefly locked up his back wheel, and very nearly lost it while rounding a high-speed corner. The Contador/Sanchez/Menchov group looked smooth and fast with Sanchez making much of the running. The desperate Schleck, quickly joined on the descent by Jurgen van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and then by Vinokourov, used every inch of the corners to try to gain time on his rivals.

Voeckler rolled in first for a great stage win. The minor stage placings were accounted for by the remnants of the early break. Contador’s group came in 2′50 back, and then it was all eyes on the clock. Schleck had a 31-second overall advantage on Contador, but crossed the line 39 seconds back. The race lead therefore changed hands, with the Spaniard ahead of Schleck by a slim 8 seconds. Sanchez is third at 2′00, Menchov fourth at 2′13, with van den Broeck fifth at 3′39.

TV cameras observed Schleck whispering something into Contador’s ear, backstage of the podium. Was it a reference to Oedipus? Later interviews showed Schleck cool and collected, but using words such as ‘revenge’. A fascinating few days coming up…

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Alberto Contador (Astana)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the 199.5km from Bagneres-de-Luchon to Pau. A punishing day featuring a gallery of famous Pyrenean climbs: the Col de Peyresourde, the Col d’Aspin, the 2,115m monster Col du Tourmalet, and the Col du Soulor/Col d’Aubisque double-header. Then, a frantic 60km descent to the finish. Not really the kind of stage where Andy Schleck could attack. But this Tour is turning out to be something of a lottery. What happens next?

A hard first day in the Pyrenees in prospect, with hot, sunny weather adding to the ‘fun’.

An early nine-man break peeled off the front, but fractured on the climb up the 2,001m Port de Paliheres. First over was Christophe Riblon (AG2R), followed by the strong Tour rookie Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto).

King of the Mountains leader Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) came over 6th, to further increase his lead in that competition. The elite main field were 3 minutes behind, with Daniel Navarro (Astana) again thrashing himself in service of his team leader Alberto Contador. Despite an odd incident where he dropped back to his team car for food, rather than sending a team-mate back, yellow jersey Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) looked comfortable in the elite group.

The beautiful – and break-neck – descent to Ax-les-Thermes allowed some main-field stragglers to rejoin the elite group. At the foot of the final climb to Ax-3-Domaines, the group were 2′47 back from Riblon, with mountain specialist and 2008 Tour winner and mountain specialist Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) in the middle. Astana threw in more furious pace-making to break the pack, Navarro and Alexander Vinokourov notching up the tempo.

A decisive moment 4.5km from home – classic attack from Contador, matched instantly by Schlek, and within seconds by Denis Menchov (Rabobank) , Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel). This burst of speed overhauled the returning Carlos Sastre, who was just able to hang on to the group.

An amazing last 3km started with Contador and Schleck practically track-standing, and allowing themselves to fall back through the lead group. Clearly more concerned with sizing each other up and watching each other’s moves, they allowed other GC contenders Samuel Sanchez and Denis Menchov to ride away off the front.

Up ahead, a delighted but exhausted Christophe Riblon took the stage win. First of the elite group over were Menchov and Sanhez, locked together 54 seconds back. A further 14 seconds back came the group of Schleck, Rodriguez, Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Contador, and Jurgen van den Broek (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

The order of the overall standing stays the same, but Sanchez and Menchov gain 14 seconds on the first and second-placed riders. Schleck leads Contador by 31 seconds, followed by Sanchez (2′31), and Menchov (2′44). Jurgen ven den Broeck remains in 5h place, 3′31 back.

A psychological battle today between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, but also a major gamble. Schleck may take confidence from the fact that he matched every one of Contador’s attacks, but the Luxembourgeois is a mediocre time-triallist, and needs to build significantly on his 31 second lead over Contador prior to the final time trial at Bordeaux next Saturday. In last year’s equivalent (and shorter) time-trial at Annecy, Schleck conceded a full 1′45 to the Spaniard. Worse still, in allowing Samuel Sanchez and – in particular – Denis Menchov to close up the gap, Schleck risks his 2nd place being put in jeopardy. Menchov is a very good time-triallist, having won time-trial stages in the Vuelta a Espana before. The GC therefore remains close and dicey.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage is the 187km from Pamiers to Bagneres-de-Luchon. The route will take in the Col de Portet d’Aspet, going past Fabio Casartelli’s memorial, before the day’s main event, the hors categorie climb up the 1,755m Port de Bales. Thereafter, a furious 20km descent into Bagneres-de-Luchon. Probably not the decisive day for the Tour, but the Port de Bales may spring a surprise if any of the main contenders are having an off-day.

A fascinating last week of the Tour is in prospect.

Not the usual transition stage between the Alps and the Pyrenees – a brief but leg-bending climb 7km from the end is the non-standard feature. The final kick upwards might make it a big ask for the sprinters.

An early 3-man break rode off the front: Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky), and Pierrick Fédrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). No intermediate sprint points for green jersey leader Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) today.

The main field controlled matters, with HTC-Columbia and Lampre sharing the pace-making to bring the break back into the fold. The reprise happened 10km from home, right at the start of that sting-in-the-tail climb.

Half-way up that climb, Alessandro Balan (BMC) attacked off the front, and briefly appeared to have stolen an unassailable march on the peloton. But Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) put in a grimacing effort to bridge the gap. The Italian was unable to match Vino’s next burst of acceleration, and dropped back into the main field. Vinokourov, now alone at the front, gave full effort to stay away from the pack.

Just prior to the final descent, Thomas Voeckler (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) flew off the front and tried to reach the Kazakh. But he didn’t ultimately have the legs, and was absorbed by the pack 2km from home.

Vino kept the hammer down and rolled over for a fine individual stage victory. Behind him, the sprinters in the main field fought it out over 2nd place, with Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) coming in ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre).

Vinokourov was visibly irritated at finishing third yesterday, so this stage win must have been particularly sweet. The stain on his character of his blood-doping ban (2007-2009) still hangs heavily, though.

The leaders of the overall standing stay the same – Schleck leads Contador by 31 seconds, followed by Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), and Jurgen ven den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

The green jersey battle between Thor Hushovd and Alessandro Petacchi continues, with the jersey back on the Italian’s shoulders by dint of his having finished 3rd to Hushovd’s 8th today. Cavendish’s fine second place today keeps him in contention to wear green in Paris. The points competition is effectively a three-horse race, Robbie McEwen (Katusha) having dropped back.

Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) holds on to the King of the Mountains jersey.

Leader board after this stage:

Overall GC
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Points
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

King of the Mountains
Anthony Charteau (Bbox Bouygues Telecom)

Young Rider
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Tomorrow’s stage takes us into the Pyrenees – 184.5km from Revel to Ax-3-Domaines. A brutal last third of the stage, featuring the hors categorie climb of the 2,001m Port de Paliheres, followed by a break-neck descent, and then the final climb up to the 1,350m Ax-3-Domaines. Expect huge changes in overall standings tomorrow.

And a daft little prediction from me, based on no more than a hunch. Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) again had an off-day today, managing to crash (non-seriously) in the neutral zone, before the stage proper was even underway. Armstrong has has several days as a passenger near the back of the main field since he fell out of contention for the GC overall. We know this is his last Tour. Could the Texan be saving his legs for a final blaze-of-glory stage win to remember him by, somewhere up in the Pyrenees? I have a suspicion that he is hatching a plan…