Cycling Shirts Guide

Stage 17 took place after the final rest day of the Tour de France and the weather had turned nasty. Thus far it has been one of the hottest Tours for years, but the 174 km trek from Pau to the Col du Tourmalet – for the second time this week, albeit on the opposite side of the mountain – was a gray and dreary affair as the riders climbed, in an historic stage, which in the context of this year’s competition was considered to be pivotal. At the start, Contador (AST) held an 8 second lead over his closest rival Schleck (SAX), with the time trial coming up on Saturday, which is loaded very much in Contador’s favor. So today, the final mountain leg, was Schleck’s last realistic chance to grab back precious seconds and try to build up a lead to tide him over until Paris. As far as the cycling shirts competitions are concerned, today would also see the grand finale of the King of the Mountains showdown. With no more categorised climbs from tomorrow onwards, the Polka Dot Jersey was up for grabs today.

As for the route, it contained a category 4 climb, two category 1′s and the unforgiving HC climb the Col du Tourmalet (2115 meters), with the finishing line right atop the final peak; so there were no final sprint descents to the finish today!

To the race, and from the outset of Stage 17 Team Sky launched two riders – Boasson Hagen and Flecha – into an attack, which was joined by the 3 km mark by five others – Burghardt (BMC), Kolobnev (KAT), Koren (LIQ), Pauriol (COF) and Perez Moreno (EUS). Konovalovas (CTT) had set off after the leading group by the 12 km stage. Later on, the peloton was slowed down by Contador to wait for the man currently standing third in the General Classification, Samuel Sanchez, who had taken a nasty fall, hurting his torso, and leaving him lying in the road for a significant length of time. He eventually managed to get back onto his bike and continue. Sastre (CTT) had ignored Contador’s instruction to slow down, instead racing forward to catch up with team mate Konovalovas.

Sanchez got back to the peloton by the 32 km mark, the group down by over 5 minutes from the lead group, with the counterattackers a little over 3 minutes behind the breakaway. By 40 km, Konovalovas left Sastre to fight on alone, and he did so courageously over both of the category 1 climbs. There was very little action on these two climbs, with no attacks; everyone knew today was a day that would see Contador and Schleck slug it out to the bitter end, and therefore it was likely that any further attacks would be futile. It was left for Saxo Bank, Astana and Omega Pharma to take turns leading the peloton to reel in all the escapees. Sastre was eventually caught by the main group having continued riding alone for 100 km. At this point as they all headed for the final climb, the escapees were 5 minutes ahead.

In the lead up to the climax of the stage, Rabo Bank, Saxo Bank and Astana continued to take shifts in pulling back the lead of the front riders. As they began the final ascent up the Col du Tourmalet, the Saxo Bank Team took over and turned the screws by notching up the pace. The field began to thin out as riders lost their legs. Eventually there were only about 20 left in the Yellow Jersey pack, and Schleck hit the turbos. It was a violent attack that left everyone else looking like they were travelling backwards; all except one – Alberto Contador. It was now a case of head to head, the seven leader already dispatched behind them.

The experience of Contador showed as he glued himself to Schleck’s back wheel in a masterclass of defensive riding. Schleck attacked again and again, but his shadow always responded, and showed no signs of weakness. With under 4 km to go, Contador darted out from Schleck’s back wheel and surged past him in a frenzied attack; this time Schleck was more than a match and wound him back in. The Spaniard promptly eased back into position to let the Luxembourger to all the hard pace setting work up a fearsome 9% gradient.

(Photo of King of the Mountains 2010, Anthony Charteau, by Ludo. Reproduced under Creative Commons licence.)

At the end, Contador graciously conceded that Schleck had done all the hard work, and declined to sprint past to steal the stage win. This is something that Contador desperately needs, as he will most certainly not want to be a Tour de France Champion without getting at least one stage win under his belt. And that is ominous, as he might decide the time trial is his best chance. So Schleck took the stage win on an historic stage, in the centenary year of the Pyrenees’ inclusion in the Tour. The two GC rivals clocked the same time, and that means: Advantage, Contador!

Elsewhere, none of the main rivals for the King of the Mountain Classification picked up any points today, and that means, with no more mountains left to climb, Anthony Charteau was awarded the Tour de France 2010 Polka Dot Jersey. The sprinters will be out in force for the remaining stages to see who will win the overall Green Jersey. That is a duel that will probably go all the way to Paris, with Hushovd and Petacchi fighting it out.

Today’s results for Stage 17 and the General classification look like this overnight:

So currently we have Contador holding onto the Yellow Jersey with a lead over Schleck of 8 seconds. In the Green Jersey competition, Hushovd wears this cycling shirt, but is only 4 points ahead of second place man, Petacchi. Charteau takes the Polka Dot Jersey for 2010, with the Mountain Classification now having been concluded. Schleck retains the White Jersey and a lead of six and a half minutes over his nearest rival; he has already won this one however, and is desperate to convert it to Yellow!

Tomorrow’s Stage 18 takes the teams from Salies-de Béarn to Bordeaux in a 198 km leg expected to be a run and chase, followed by group sprint.