The stage was set. An individual time trial would yet again decide the winner of the Tour de France. Two men, separated by just 8 seconds, would square off on the long flat roads of central France to determine who will be taking glory in Paris. Contador was projected to wipe the floor with Schleck, but it didn't quite work out so easy. Andy said he would need to ride the time trial of his life, and he almost did so.
He actually managed to pull back 4 seconds on Contador at the first time check, but then Contador slowly but surely managed to slip into his rhythm. Contador methodically pulled ahead of Schleck and by the time he hit the finishing line he had a 31s advantage over the young Luxembourgian. This means that Contador now owns the yellow jersey by exactly 39 seconds (strangely enough the same exact number of seconds he gained when Schleck had the chain incident), and seems all but sure to win his 2nd consecutive Tour, and the third of his career. Denis Menchov will finish 3rd, after a superb ride that moved him ahead of Samuel Sanchez for third place on the podium. Menchov was one of the very few (if not the only) late starter that found any sort of success on the roads. Gusting winds that rolled in well after the early starters went off made it extremely difficult for the leaders, with many of them finishing in the 60s, 70s, or even the 100s. Fabian Cancellara had no problem holding onto his stage victory, as he proved yet again that he is the cream of the crop in the time trial.
Cancellara (who started early) had nearly 2 minutes advantage on every rider except young Tony Martin, who lost only 17 seconds to Cancellara. Bert Grabsch finished third, 1:48 behind Cancellara. Cancellara shared a hug with teammate Andy Schleck at the finish line to congratulate him on his exceptional Time Trial, but Alberto Contador will be the real winner in the end with tomorrow being simply a formality.
The stage was set. An individual time trial would yet again decide the winner of the Tour de France. Two men, separated by just 8 seconds, would square off on the long flat roads of central France to determine who will be taking glory in Paris. Contador was projected to wipe the floor with Schleck, but it didn't quite work out so easy. Andy said he would need to ride the time trial of his life, and he almost did so. 
He actually managed to pull back 4 seconds on Contador at the first time check, but then Contador slowly but surely managed to slip into his rhythm. Contador methodically pulled ahead of Schleck and by the time he hit the finishing line he had a 31s advantage over the young Luxembourgian. This means that Contador now owns the yellow jersey by exactly 39 seconds (strangely enough the same exact number of seconds he gained when Schleck had the chain incident), and seems all but sure to win his 2nd consecutive Tour, and the third of his career. Denis Menchov will finish 3rd, after a superb ride that moved him ahead of Samuel Sanchez for third place on the podium. Menchov was one of the very few (if not the only) late starter that found any sort of success on the roads. Gusting winds that rolled in well after the early starters went off made it extremely difficult for the leaders, with many of them finishing in the 60s, 70s, or even the 100s. Fabian Cancellara had no problem holding onto his stage victory, as he proved yet again that he is the cream of the crop in the time trial.
Cancellara (who started early) had nearly 2 minutes advantage on every rider except young Tony Martin, who lost only 17 seconds to Cancellara. Bert Grabsch finished third, 1:48 behind Cancellara. Cancellara shared a hug with teammate Andy Schleck at the finish line to congratulate him on his exceptional Time Trial, but Alberto Contador will be the real winner in the end with tomorrow being simply a formality.
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