Stage 18: Luxembourg Legs

Long legs, long arms, long face, skinny. He’s built like Woody from “Toy Story,” but he’s got a deep manly voice. Today, this gangly cyclist from Luxembourg showed the world that he plans to the win the 2011 Tour de France. Andy Schleck put the hammer down on Stage 18 and eliminated three-time champion Alberto Contador. Now the race is down to Andy and Cadel Evans, with a good chance for Frank Schleck to finish on the podium with his little brother. The legs from Luxembourg delivered.

Stage 18 was the second of three brutal days of climbing in the Alps. Today, the course began in Italy and returned to France at the first summit at Col Agnel, where the altitude reached 2,744 meters (9,002 feet) and gradient surpassed 10% for nearly one third of the 23.7 kilometers of climbing. A breakaway of 19 riders included two men from Leopard-Trek, the Luxembourg team built around native sons Andy and Frank Schleck. The peloton struggled, as all three climbs were rated Hors Categorie, “beyond category.” Current race leader Thomas Voeckler threw his race radio to the roadside in frustration.

Leopard-Trek riders Jens Voigt and Stuart O’Grady drove a hard tempo up toward the second mountain at Col d’Izoard, and at 5K to the summit, Andy Schleck attacked. It was an outrageous move with nearly 70 kilometers of racing to go. If he could not sustain the solo effort and gain time on the other leaders, he would waste immense energy and likely lose the whole race. Commentator Phil Liggett called it “the biggest gamble of his professional career.” Schleck’s rivals did not expect such an early move and did not respond. Past the tree line, alongside the dusty brown landscape, he pulled ahead and starting building a time advantage.

While Contador eventually responded, Andy quickly gained 2 minutes on his rivals. He reached teammate Joost Posthuma who was in the breakaway and got a break riding in his slipstream. On the descent, he reached the other Leopard-Trek rider, Maxime Monfort, recruited to the team to help Schleck in the mountains, and got another break. Meanwhile, the other leaders rode without a concerted effort to catch Andy Schleck. Contador and Sammy Sanchez, Spaniards on different teams, talked on the descent, perhaps discussing how to work together to catch the Luxembourger. Yet the long-legged Schleck continued to gain time, nearly 4 minutes ahead of his rivals when he started the final climb alone.

An epic climb, the road to the Galibier was covered with snow just days ago. Today, Schleck powered ahead with Cadel Evans leading the rest to catch up. Lance Armstrong called Schleck’s strategy “gutsy and smart riding,” and regarding Evans he tweeted, “To say he’s doing all the work would be an understatement. He’s hammering.” Evans led all the top riders chasing Schleck, including Contador, Voeckler, Basso, and Cunego, and singlehandedly limited Schleck’s gains. Andy “Woody” Schleck crossed the line first, gratified by the success of the team strategy and his personal performance. He had successfully announced that he would fight for the win and he had the legs to make it happen.

Nearly 2K to the finish, Evans was the only one left racing to win the Tour de France. Contador was dropped, ending his chances to win the race and revealing weakness he has never previously shown in the mountains. Booed by the crowd at the race introductions due to his unresolved doping issues, he crashed four times in the first week and was said to be riding with “a sore bottom” in Week 2. The Spaniard did not recover from the setbacks, and only a major crash to the race leaders would allow him to finish in the top three this time around.

While Contador’s weakness was a surprise, so was the tenacity of Voeckler. The Frenchman held on enough to keep the yellow jersey for one more day, a remarkable accomplishment for a rider known as a middle-of-the-pack cyclist. He held Schleck off by 15 seconds.

The battle continues tomorrow at the ride to L’Alpe d’Huez. Thousands of spectators have camped out to see the competition and will line the route, shouting encouragement and waving flags at the riders like bullfighters taunting bulls. The ninth kilometer of the final 13.8 kilometer climb is at 11.5% grade, one of the last opportunities for an attack from Evans or Schleck. Evans will have the advantage in the individual time trial on Saturday, so Schleck must secure sufficient time before that.

After nearly three weeks, it is really down to those two riders—the Australian and the Luxembourger. The road up to L’Alpe d’Huez and the final race against the clock will give us the winner. Paris awaits.

Overall standings after Stage 18:

1. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

2. Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) + 00’ 15”

3. Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) + 01’ 08”

4. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) + 01’ 12”

5. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) + 03’ 46”

6. Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) + 03’ 46”

7. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) + 04’ 44”

8. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) + 05’ 20”

9. Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) + 07’ 08”

10. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 09’ 27”

Complete overall standings: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1800/classement/index.html

Stage 19 map & profile: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/etape_par_etape.html

Stage 12: Game On

The Tour de France finally hit the big mountains on Stage 12, where the favorites held strong while lesser lights lost hope. Ivan Basso officially joined the hunt for the win, and the Schleck brothers put the squeeze on the entire peloton during the first day in the Pyrenees. It’s game on.

Over 1,200 miles of racing is in the books, but the real competition for the yellow jersey began today. Pre-race favorites Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, and Cadel Evans sized each other up, and an attack was expected from Contador who started the day 1 minute, 41 seconds behind best-placed Evans. Yet the most vigorous effort was put forth by Leopard-Trek on behalf of Schleck.

On the Col du Tourmalet, Leopard-Trek raised the tempo through hard driving by Fabian Cancellara, Stuart O’Grady, and finally Big Jens Voigt. The strategy did not seem to pay off, as only lesser stars such as Robert Gesink of Rabobank were dropped. In the breakaway, Frenchman Jeremy Roy was first to the summit, a thrill on Bastille Day. He was followed closely by Geraint Thomas, the Briton on Team Sky who was the virtual leader of the race for some time and was awarded the most aggressive/spirited rider. On the descent, speeds reached 61 miles per hour, and several riders crashed on a turn, including Geraint Thomas, Thomas Voeckler, and Andreas Kloden. RadioShack’s Kloden did not sufficiently recover and has lost his chance at a podium finish.

The final climb to Luz-Ardiden stretched over 13 kilometers. Grimacing all the way, Voigt continued to drive at the front, setting brothers Andy and Frank Schleck up for an attack, now anticipated by Contador. About 10K to the finish, Olympic gold medalist Sammy Sanchez launched off the peloton to successfully reach and pass the breakaway.

Then about 4K to the finish, with riders facing a 9% incline, Andy Schleck launched an attack. He was quickly matched by Contador, Evans, Basso, and a few others. Brother Frank followed with another attack, then another, and another. Finally, Frank shook away the elite field and pulled ahead, though not enough to beat Sanchez to the line. He finished third and jumped ahead to second place in the overall standings.

Before the start of the Tour, Frank said that he hoped to stand on the podium in Paris with his brother, and he may just do it. At age 31, Frank is the big brother of Andy, age 25. He beat Lance Armstrong last year to win the Tour de Suisse, and other wins include the Criterium Internatioal in March and stages at the Tour de France. The Schlecks’ father and grandfather were professional cyclists, and the family ties between the brothers cannot be underestimated. Many believe that Andy would have won last year’s Tour if Frank had not crashed out on Stage 3 with a broken clavicle. Watch out for a one-two punch from the brothers on Friday at Stage 14 and again in the Alps.

When Frank Schleck attacked, the Australian Evans showed the most spunk in responding. He finished with Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso, and Damiano Cunego. Both Basso and Cunego are Italian, former winners of the Giro d’Italia, and holding better times than Contador at this point. With the other elite riders already out of contention due to crashes and lost time, these Italians are competing for a top five, if not top three finish.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was that three-time champion Contador was dropped in the final kilometer. As Evans led the response to Frank Schleck’s final kick, Contador could not keep up, and he lost another 15 seconds on his rivals. Contador is now 1 minute, 54 seconds behind Evans. While this time is not insurmountable, Contador’s failure to keep pace is another blow to his confidence and another boost to his rivals. The 2011 Tour de France has brought Contador nothing but a series of blows, which include four crashes and the loss of Stage 4 to Evans. Contador is supposedly the best cyclist in the world, so this is embarrassing. The 28-year-old has never been in a position like this, and we will see if he can recover and smack down his rivals.

On the flip side, some riders have surprised with outstanding performances. Today, American Tommy Danielson rode with the biggest, baddest riders in the sport and held his own. He finished 11^th on the stage and jumped to 9^th in the overall standings. He is the highest-ranked American and is competing in his first Tour de France. It seems that Garmin-Cervelo has a new revelation in the general classification race each year, and Danielson is it for 2011.

Also, Thomas Voeckler held on for dear life, retaining the yellow jersey for another precious day. The Frenchman made his career in 2004 when he held the race lead for 10 days, until Lance Armstrong finally captured the lead and overall win. This year, Voeckler and his team Europcar are riding with the special powers of the yellow jersey, better legs, tougher spirit. Their performance does honor to the jersey.

In other news, Mark Cavendish was first among the sprinters to the intermediate points, and his teammates at HTC-Highroad employed a clever strategy to retain his hold on the green jersey competition. Once Matt Goss and Mark Renshaw launched Cavendish, they continued to race, rather than pull off. They snagged sprint points themselves, preventing competitors from adding to their totals. This is a smart move that is permitted by the rules, because Goss and Renshaw continued to race. It would be against the rules for them to slow down and block other riders. We can expect HTC to keep pushing for the points for Cavendish through to Paris.

Tomorrow, the 152.5 kilometer stage extends from Pau to Lourdes. The drama will begin with the climb to Col d’Aubisque, which is over 16 kilometers at an average gradient of 7.1%. This is a Hors Categorie climb, so difficult it is “beyond category.” The last 40 kilometers are a descent from the mountain, which will produce high-speed descents and a multitude of riders going for the stage win. The overall contenders will try to stay out of trouble and will only attack one another if someone looks off form. Their attacks will likely resume on Friday, the last day in the Pyrenees which concludes with the infamous Plateau De Beille.

As of now, we have six cyclists within striking distance of winning the 2011 Tour de France: Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, Frank Schleck, Ivan Basso, and Damiano Cunego. By Friday night, someone will lose his shot. Who will it be?

Stage 12 top finishers:

1. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)

2. Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

3. Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek)

4. Ivan Basso (Liquigas)

5. Cadel Evans (BMC)

6. Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek)

7. Damiano Cunego (Lampre)

8. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard)

9. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

10. Pierre Roland (Europcar)

Complete Stage 12 results: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/classement/index.html

Current overall standings: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1200/classement/index.html

Stage 13 map & profile: http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1300/etape_par_etape.html