LE GRAND BORNAND, France, (Reuters) – Frank and Andy Schleck tried with all their might to shake the Tour de France peloton in the 17th stage but they could not topple leader Alberto Contador yesterday.
The Spaniard spoiled the brothers’ party by sticking with them in the last two of five climbs on the final stage in the Alps, strengthening his overall lead with four days left in the race.
“Alberto has now won the Tour,” his Astana team chief Alain Gallopin told reporters on the finish line.
The ceaseless efforts of the two riders from Luxembourg were not entirely in vain as Frank won the stage ahead of Contador and the brothers secured places on the podium before a potentially decisive time trial in Annecy.
Andy Schleck is now second overall, 2 minutes 26 seconds behind 2007 champion Contador and Frank is third, 3:25 adrift.
“We had nothing to lose at the start, we could only win. We took all the risks, it was make or break and I think we deserved to be rewarded,” Frank Schleck said.
“We toughened the race on the Col de Romme, we attacked one after the other and the tactics worked perfectly,” he added.
Frank Schleck dedicated the stage victory to his German team mate Jens Voigt, who crashed on the previous stage and was forced out of the Tour with a broken cheekbone.
“Contador had already proved how strong he is. He will be hard to beat but we wanted to leave our mark on this Tour and I believe we did,” said Andy Schleck.
If Contador resisted their repeated strikes on the demanding Col de Romme, climbed for the first time on the Tour, and the final Col de la Colombiere, it was not the case for two other contenders, Lance Armstrong and Briton Bradley Wiggins.
PENULTIMATE HILL
Dropped in the steep penultimate hill, Armstrong fought back bravely on the last descent, finishing fifth with Italian Vincenzo Nibali and crossing the line 2:18 behind the leading trio.
But it was not enough for him to remain in the medal spots and the seven-times champion slipped to fourth overall, 3:55 behind his Astana team leader.
“We still have the time trial and Mont Ventoux,” Armstrong said. “It will shake things up for everybody.
“Second place is still my goal. I think it’s possible.” Wiggins, third at the start, finally met his match in the mountains as he was unable to stay with the very best in probably the hardest stage to tackle for a former track rider.
The Briton limited the damage, finishing seventh 3:07 behind Frank Schleck and dropped to sixth overall, 4:53 off the pace.
“Today was hard. It was the first stage of multiple mountains I’ve ever contested for GC. The team, especially Christian (Vande Velde) and David Zabriskie, rode amazing,” said Wiggins.
“I pushed as hard as I possibly could have and now I need to rest and recover and focus on tomorrow.”
Contador said he felt the Olympic pursuit champion’s failure was his best gain of the day.
“Wiggins was probably the most dangerous opponent in tomorrow’s time trial,” Contador said. “Now I believe he has lost too much time to be a threat.”
The race leader warned that if two brothers on the podium was an extraordinary feat, the Tour could produce another unprecedented achievement with three riders from the same team in the top three in Paris.
“Lance and (Germany’s) Andreas (Kloeden) are both time-trial specialists and I believe they can make up for lost time tomorrow and dislodge the Schlecks,” he said.
Norwegian Thor Hushovd had stolen the show in the first half of the stage, parting company with the rest of the bunch in the Col des Saisies to strengthen his hold on the green jersey.
His break allowed him to collect points along the way and secure an unassailable 30-point lead over Briton Mark Cavendish in the points standings.
