This was it. As Phil Liggett said, "The Showdown on OK Tourmalet." The most epic battle of the Tour on the Tour's most legendary climb, and it did not disappoint. As expected, Andy Schleck threw absolutely everything he had at the final climb up the legendary Col du Tourmalet, but just could not shake Alberto Contador. He set such a blazing pace up the mountain that he had the two time Tour champion nearly in a spot of bother a few times. Each time Contador was able to get right back up to him and then they rode side by side to the most epic finish line of the Tour de France. Alberto did not make any effort to sprint, and Andy took home the stage victory as a token for all of his hard work.
It is unknown whether Alberto intentionally backed off for Andy or whether Schleck had worn him out to the point where there was nothing left in the tank, but either way it was the result that absolutely had to happen after the amount of work Schleck did on the final climb. Contador did make one huge push for the stage with 3k to go, but Andy Schleck was able to absolutely turn himself inside out to match it and get back up to Contador's wheel. It was then that they exchanged a stare that will probably go down in legend, as both men were likely on the rides of their lives. Schleck threw all caution to the wind and attacked shortly after he ran out of Saxo Bank teammates on the front of the field. The two race favorites then easily caught Alexandr Kolobnev, the lone survivor of the 7 man morning breakaway. There wasn't much action on the run in to Tourmalet, besides a long but eventually doomed effort to escape by Carlos Sastre and a dangerous run-in with a herd of sheep on the penultimate climb up Soulor.
The sheep jumped right in front of the pacemaking Astana team and caused a backup and havoc in the peloton behind them. The sheep continued to run next to the field and continued to be an obstacle until the field had gone clear. Luckily, an accident was avoided on that climb but Samuel Sanchez was not so lucky early in the day. He had a nasty looking crash that had him motionless on the ground for a few moments before springing right up to his feet and riding back to the peloton. Sanchez had a fantastic recovery, and actually slightly extended his lead for 3rd place. Anthony Charteau sat back for most of the day and watched all the KOM points go elsewhere, all but clinching himself the King of the Mountains competition. Though it is very easy to already give the winners prize to Contador, it is important to remember that things can still go wrong. He is a significantly stronger TT rider than Schleck, but the lead is only 8 seconds leaving not much room for error if he encounters a problem sometime in the next 3 days. Alberto certainly seems poised to ride yellow into Paris for his 3rd Tour victory, but Andy will not go down without a fight.
I end this post with what I believe is the iconic photo of the year's Tour. It is my hope (and I'm sure I'm not alone in this) that people will remember the 2010 Tour for the unbelievable performance given by both men on this day, rather than past controversy. This photo was taken immediately after Schleck had beaten out Contador to the line for the stage victory.
True Competitors, True Friends, True Winners.
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