Key moments

Alberto Contador was expected to make an impression on the race on the first day of climbing in the Alps and that’s exactly what he did. He bolted ahead of all his rivals at the base of the final ascent and into the yellow jersey with an impressive display of climbing. Carlos Sastre and a host of other favorites would lose contact early but fight to limit their losses but they all appear to be racing for second place in the 2009 Tour as Contador was outstanding. He claimed the victory in the stage ahead of an impressive Andy Schleck and now leads the general classification from his team-mate, the seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.

The Progress Report
The Tour returned to the mountains with the 15th stage from Pontarlier to Verbier in Switzerland. On the menu were six categorized climbs, three cat-three – the cote du Rafour (8km), cote des Etroits (18.5km), cote de la Carrière (54km) and the cote de Prévonloup (74km), the cat-2 col des Mosses (135.5km) and the final ascent, a cat-1 climb to Verbier. There are now just two intermediate sprints for the non-time trial stages; points for the green jersey can be acquired in Thierrens (56.5km) and Martigny (181km).

Astaloza Becomes Virtual Leader
The leader of the climbing classification, Pellizotti (LIQ) led the peloton over the premier ascent but the first attack of the day came from Chavanel (QST) at 13km. His move, like all others in the opening 50 minutes, amounted to nothing. At 41km eight riders escaped. They were: Van Den Broeck (SIL), Cancellara (SAX), Martinez (EUS), Pellizotti (LIQ), Arroyo and Gutierrez (GCE), Moncoutie (COF) and Fedrigo (BBO). They were chased by four – Hesjedal (GRM), Kern (COF), Moinard (COF) and Spilak (LAM) – who caught up at 49km. The average speed for the first hour was 48.2km/h. At 51km they 12 led by 35”. At 52km, Millar (GRM), Astarloza (EUS) and Martin (THR) started a counter-attack and caught the leaders at 53km. The Astana team refused to allow the move with Martin to gain more than a 40” advantage. Six of the escapees – Martin, Millar, Martinez, Pellizotti, Arroyo and Kern – capitulated at the 65km mark.
Flecha (RAB) attacked the peloton at 68km and Hesjedal attacked the lead group at the same time. The Canadian led over the fourth climb by 20” and then waited for the others. Flecha caught the nine escapees at 80km and the peloton was 2’10” behind. At the feedzone (99.5km) the peloton was 4’10” behind. Vladimir Efimkin (ALM) abandoned at the halfway mark of the stage. The average speed for the third hour was 38.0km/h. The peloton was 4’20” behind at the 120km mark.

Speeding Towards Final Climb.
There were no attacks either from the front group or peloton on the col des Mosses. The maximum gain of the escapees was 4’40” at 125km. At the top of the fifth climb, the deficit was 3’25”. Liquigas went to the front of the peloton after the summit and set the tempo through the valley, just ahead of riders from the Astana team. At 175km, the peloton was 2’55” behind. Spilak attacked the lead group 22km from the finish and led his former escape companions by 30” with 20km to go (the peloton was at 2’35”). Astaloza was the next to attack (with14km to go).

Contador Claims The Stage & Overall Lead
At the base of the climb Milram, Liquigas and Saxo Bank were in control of the peloton. Cancellara led then came Voigt and Sorensen but before Andy Schleck could pounce Contador jumped into the lead (just under 6km from the finish). He quickly swallowed up all the escapees and raced onward to victory. He would never be seen again by the other favorites – as he would won by 43 seconds and take the yellow jersey. Andy was the only rider to try and respond to Contador’s acceleration. Nocentini was dropped with 5km to climb. Kloden and Armstrong controlled the second chase group until Andy Schleck attacked again and prompted Wiggins into action. He and Nibali were able to bridge the gap. Pellizotti was dropped even before the final climb began and never threatened to add points to the polka-dot jersey. Frank Schleck attacked with 3km to go and the results explain the order of arrival. Alberto Contador is the new leader of the Tour de France with an advantage of 1’37” on his team-mate Armstrong.

It took some time for an escape group to be established in stage 15. One of the riders involved was the reigning King of the Mountains, Franco Pellizotti. The Italian missed out on points on the final three climbs but he will wear the polka-dot jersey again after the rest day.

“The most important thing was to keep the polka-dot jersey. Of course when I went on the attack early in the day the intention was to try and set things up so I could try and win the stage. But with myself and Tony Martin (THR) in the move, we were not allowed to gain an advantage. I missed out on any points on the last climbs but that’s not such a big deal. Now the goal is to wear the polka-dot jersey all the way to Paris. It’s bound to be a big adventure but I promise that I will try to achieve this.
“To me it’s now more important to keep the lead in the mountains classification than to win a stage. I’m writing a diary for a newspaper in Italy and tomorrow the headline will be something like, ‘What a great Liquigas team!’”

He’s the finest climber of his generation and on the steep road to Verbier in Switzerland, Alberto Contador proved that he has what it takes to lead the Tour de France. He’s aware, however, that there are more difficult stages yet to come.

“I did everything I could. I put all my strength into the climb. I thought I’d attack between four and five kilometers from the finish but when I saw the work that was done by the Saxo Bank Team, and the fact that the group was already reduced to a handful of favorites, I decided to move into action earlier than planned.
“I needed this stage to happen because we’ve always had two difficult weeks and I really need it to happen like it did, to make some big difference against my rivals. The only thing that concerned me was that I had good legs. I felt very good bit there were still come doubts before I went into action… including the level of the others.
“I don’t think that the Tour is over because the hardest stages are yet to come in the final week. And I image that there will be more difficult stages in the days ahead. Thors who have moved up are now dangerous.
“I’m obviously delighted to take the yellow jersey this afternoon. But it’s more important that I dropped the other riders, not Lance Armstrong in particular. I grew up with Armstrong as a model and it’s an honor to know that he will ride for me.”

Of all the favorites for the title, the only one who even tried to follow the acceleration by Alberto Contador’s attack was Andy Schleck. The Luxembourger is back in the white jersey he won last year and is convinced that there is more yet to come from him and his Saxo Bank team-mates.

“Of course I want to be the best. Today I tried everything but I could not follow Alberto on the climb but that’s how it is. I moved up in the overall and I’m focusing on what needs to be done. I’m going to try and make it on the podium and I’m back in the white jersey so I can take it how it is and I’m happy enough with that. I can follow [Contador] and maybe I will be lucky one day and I will drop him.
“Now we have to try to take every available opportunity. He may have a… well, we saw in Paris-Nice that he was strong like this but then he had a bad day and he lost everything. That can also happen to him here.
“Today was a mountain top finish and the first in the Alps but it was the least difficult one. Tomorrow is the rest day and we’ll try until… we’ll try until we die.”

He’s second overall but Lance Armstrong is aware that the best rider in the race is a team-mate of his. The man in demand at the finish was succinct with his appraisal of the stage.

“I think he took some power away from some guys and surprised some guys. There are still a lot of hard days but Alberto showed that he’s the best. I’m not fool, I’ve been in that position and when you show you’re the best the only thing that the others can do is respect that and honor that.”