Key moments

The penultimate stage always promised a finale full of suspense. And while two opportunists stole a stage winning margin on the GC favorites, many will agree that the star of the last major test of the 96th Tour de France was Andy Schleck: the best young rider in the race refused to concede the title until the summit. He attacked once and thinned down an elite selection and Contador followed; Andy attacked again and Alberto marked him with relative ease; he went again and again but could never get rid of the yellow jersey who defending his lead all the way to the summit. Meanwhile, Juan Manuel Garate gave Rabobank its first stage victory of the year in a classy display of climbing along with German revelation Tony Martin. These two were part of a 16-man escape that formed early on a highly anticipated stage and were able to finish 38 seconds ahead of the riders who will stand on the podium in Paris as the fastest three men in the race. Alberto first, Andy second and Lance Armstrong third… there may be a day to go, but the race for overall honors is over.

The Progress Report
There has been plenty of anticipation about the penultimate stage of the 2009 Tour de France. From the moment the route was announced last October, the 167km journey from Montelimar to Mont Ventoux has been recognized as the pivotal day of the 96th edition. The official start of the 20th stage was at 11.52pm. There were 156 riders at the start; Amets Txurruka – the winner of the Fighting Spirit award in 2007 – and his Euskaltel team-mate Alan Perez Lazaun were outside the time limit in stage 19. The intermediate sprints were in Les Pilles (48km) and Mormoiron (138.5km). The stage featured five climbs: the cote de Citelle (cat-3 at 14km), col d’Ey (cat-3 at 65.5km), col de Fontaube (cat-4 at 87km), col des Abeilles (cat-3 at 121.5km) and one of the most feared ascents in cycling, the ‘hors category’ 1,912m ‘Giant of Provence’ Mont Ventoux for the grand finale. A howling wind (up to 110km/h) at the top of the mountain meant that the riders had other challenges beyond the steep incline on the climb.

13 In Initial Move
At the 3km mark, 13 riders escaped the peloton. The men involved were: Roulston (CTT), Garate and Posthuma (RAB), Martin (THR), Riblon (ALM), Kuschynski (LIQ), Geslin (FDJ), Dumoulin (COF), Righi (LAM), Bonnet (BBO), Bouet (AGR), Lemoine and Timmer (SKS). They were chased by Perez Moreno (EUS), Gutierrez (GCE) and Delage (SIL). At 6km the 13 were 30” ahead of the counter-attack and 1’00” ahead of the peloton which was controlled by Astana. At the top of the first climb, the chasing trio was 48” behind, the peloton at 2’50”. The chasing trio joined the front group at the 25km mark when the peloton was at 3’50”. After an hour, the leaders were 7’00” ahead. The average speed for the first hour was 43.3km/h. At the 60km mark, the peloton was 9’20” behind. The maximum gain of the escape was 10’35” (at 78km). That’s when the Saxo Bank team sent its troops to the front. The average speed for the second hour was 39.1km/h.

Astana Lead Bunch To Foot Of Ventoux
The Astana team came to the front of the peloton after the fourth climb (121.5km) when the escapees were 8’15” ahead. With 30km to go, the pace of the peloton caused it to split. The GC favorites were all represented in the first group (of 41 riders) and as it reached the site of the second sprint it was 6’25” behind. Sastre (CTT) was caught in the second peloton that was 30” behind with 25km to go. At the base of the climb, the yellow jersey’s peloton had 24 riders – including the top 12 of the general classification. They were 4’05” behind the escapees. Garate started the attacking action with 19km to go. He was joined by Martin and Riblon (momentarily). The rest of the escape was reeled in early on the climb.

Attacking Assault From Andy
The yellow jersey’s group at the base of the climb included the top 12 of general classification but an attack from Frank Schleck with 14km to go thinned it down dramatically to a group that included: Contador, Armstrong, Van Den Broeck, Andy Schleck, Wiggins, Kreuziger and Nibali. Pellizotti and Karpets were the first to be dropped but the polka-dot jersey would return before the 10km to go mark. Then came the assault of Andy Schleck! The champion of Luxembourg was the dominant rider of the elite GC group on the final ascent. He attacked a total of eight times on the slopes of Mont Ventoux. Each time Contador was able to follow without hesitation. Others from the group would come and go but the white and yellow jerseys were inseparable! Everywhere Andy went, Alberto was sure to go…

Garate Wins The Stage: Contador Claims The Tour
Despite the attacking antics in the yellow jersey’s group, the two stage leaders – Garate and Martin – were able to hold off the chase. Pellizotti was resurgent and attacked Contador’s group as soon as he caught them again. But the King of the Mountains was unable to reel in the two early escapees. Garate attacked Martin twice but the German was able to catch him both times but on the final turn, the Spaniard disposed of him and claimed Rabobank’s first stage win of the 2009 Tour. In the final 500m Pellizotti was caught by the yellow jersey’s group and although Contador appeared to be riding within himself, he didn’t surge ahead of the white jersey at the finish. Andy claimed third place with the same time as Contador who punched their air as he crossed the line. Armstrong finished 22” ahead of Wiggins and sealed his third place overall. Contador will wear the yellow jersey for the parade stage to Paris tomorrow.

First in the team time trial, first at the mountain top finish in Verbier; first in individual race against the clock… and first overall after 20 stages – there’s every reason for Alberto Contador to feel content with how the 2009 Tour de France went even if he found it more mentally straining than when he won his first title two years ago.

“This Tour was very difficult. Before coming here I wanted to be prepared both physically and mentally because I knew it would be extremely tough. I was in a strange situation; each day I told myself it was one day less. Now that we’ve almost reached the finish the situation is normal and I’m content with that. I started focusing on the Tour very early in the season and that made a big difference. Also, the fact that I was the favorite also changed things and made it more difficult and so I’m even more pleased to win.
“This victory is very important physically because I needed the legs and I showed that I could be present every day. It was also very tough mentally. I showed that I was ready to cope with both aspects. In the end, things worked out well for me.
“The 2007 and 2009 Tours were both very difficult races but in 2007 I made the difference in the final time trial and the title was decided then; this year I had a bigger advantage – 2009 was difficult physically and mentally, but 2007 was just difficult physically.
“The situation for the preparation [taking into account the presence of Armstrong at Astana] was rather tricky. I had elements against me but I worked on that and built on it. And I eventually achieved my goal.
“I didn’t want to consider what the future holds until the end of the Tour. One thing is for sure: I’ll be on a different project to Lance Armstrong. I have different options. Maybe there’ll be a team built around me but there are different opportunities and it’s too early to say what I’ll do in 2010.
“When Lance came back to cycling, I’d already signed my contract [with Astana] and didn’t know that Armstrong would return. It’s a pity to part now but maybe in the future we will meet again. During the Tour the situation didn’t actually change too much; it just depended on if [Lance] felt good and things turned around in his favor when he was feeling good. It was tough to cope with because we both wanted to win the title and that just doesn’t work when two guys on one squad want the same thing. But I prepared for that and I prepared for a difficult Tour and it paid off. Armstrong will be a dangerous rival in the future. He already proved that and he will again be a clear candidate for an overall victory next year, especially after what he showed during this edition. When you win an event, you like to have great champions by your side. And the photo in Paris will be historical.
“I’m not really concerned by records, I just want to enjoy every year as a cyclist. Maybe I’ll focus on other races: the Giro, the Classics, the Vuelta… but for sure the main goal will remain the Tour de France without forgetting some other events.
“Andy [Schleck] really made me suffer a lot. He didn’t make any mistakes. I made the difference in the time trials – even in the short opening stage in Monaco – but he really rode intelligently.
“It’s great to end a Tour without any doping scandals. There are more controls, there is more money invested in testing and that’s very important. This is a great victory for cycling.”

The Rabobank team has tried to make an impression at the 2009 Tour but until the penultimate stage its riders have not claimed a victory. Juan Manuel Garate changed this on Mont Ventoux…

“I am very proud because the team has tried every day to win a stage at this year’s Tour. Today was the last chance and I have found what we were looking for. It is a very new experience for me. Yesterday evening I was doing an interview with a radio station and explaining that it would be dream to win on the mythical Mont Ventoux… and now it’s happened. This is paradise!”