Stage 17: Thursday, July 22 – Pau to Col du Tourmalet (174km)

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.