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.

So, the stage began much like all the others with a breakaway consisting of 11 riders led by Gautier (BTL). The escape gained traction, and spawned a counterattack by Hunter (GRM) and Popovych (RSH) and by the 25 km mark, the leading group were 2 minutes ahead of the peloton, and the countering group 40 seconds ahead. As was expected, the mountain specialists tested the resolve of other riders all day and on the climbs, riders were dropped if they couldn’t match the pace of their respective groups. By the summit of the second climb (a category 1), the col de la Colombière, there were nine front riders left, chased by a group of two – Cunego and Taaramae; behind this duo was Frohlinger; then a trio consisting of Gadret, Hushovd and Seeldrayers before the pursuing main peloton. However, on the descent there was a general phase of regrouping, leaving a lead group of 12 riders being hunted by the peloton.

As the race continued inexorably closer to the most challenging mountain climb of the Tour, no further major attacks took place, and the leaders steadily extended their time advantage, and with Sanchez at the front, he became the virtual Yellow Jersey with Evans trailing back in the main pack.

(Photo of Anthony Charteau, by Ludo. Reproduced under Creative Commons licence.)

As the ascent of the col de la Madeleine began, the mountain specialists began to stretch the peloton and test the mettle of the other GC contenders. The current King of the Mountains, Pineau, was dropped off the peloton and struggled with the pace of the multiple attacks. Vinokourov took off and left the reamining riders in his dust trail, this group containing the current Yellow Jersey Cadel Evans with a lone team mate, Santambrogio, who assumed the lead of the chasing pack to set pace and keep Evans in contention. Unfortuantely for him, Evans struggled to find the legs to match.

Other riders in the group sensed weakness and capitalized by mounting a huge attack – led by Navarro and promptly matched by his team mate Contador, and the White Jersey holder Andy Schleck. Evans was a spent force at this point and fell off the group. This opened up the chance for Contador and Schleck to fight it out as the two riders left with any real hope of taking the Yellow Jersey overall.

The stage was now set, with many of the hopefuls lost back in the mountains. Four riders were left in the lead group: Casar, Charteau, Cunego and Luis-Leon Sanchez; they were hotly pursued by Contador, Schleck and Moreau (who had dropped off the lead group, but had his team mate Sanchez up in front).

As the front runners played mind games to figure out who was going to attack and when, Contador and Schleck were burning up the road and gaining on the lead group with every second. By the time they had got into the final kilometer, the chase was over and there were seven riders fighting for the win in a tricky sprint finish which saw the road climb and then veer off to the left directly before the finishing the line. Schleck took the lead briefly, but was caught back, and Casar took his first Stage win of this year’s Tour de France (his third in total). Charteau came in fifth, but made strong gains by reaching the summit of the last climb in first place, gaining him the Polka Dot Jersey.

So Stage 9 was an amazing race in the latter stages, and at one point it looked like both Contador and Schleck would steal places from the group which had led the stage from the outset. In the event, they came in 6th and 7th, losing just 2 seconds tothe leaders.

Here are the Stage 9 results and current General Classification (GC) standings:

This means three changes of cycling shirts for the top riders, with Hushovd the only one to retain his Green Jersey today. So Andy Schleck converted his White Young Rider’s Jersey into a Yellow Jersey today with a merciless ride which only Contador was able to match. Evans was the loser in that battle, losing over 8 minutes to Schleck. The White Jersey shuffles its way down to the next best Young Rider, who is Robert Gesink. The Polka Dot Jersey was relinquished today by Pineau, going to Anthony Charteau who put in a great performance in the breakaway group and conquered the first HC climb of the Tour.

The next stage will be contested between Cambéry and Gap, a leg of 179 km, which has a cat. 1 and a cat. 2 climb to negotiate.