Contador Fires Another Shot!

The Progress Report
The 18th stage of the Tour de France began at 11.10am with the ‘Lanterne Rouge’, Hutarovich (FDJ) the first man to start the 40.5km time trial around Lake Annecy. He was last in the opening time trial and, after the retirement of Kenny van Hummel (because of a crash in stage 17), the Belorussian is last in general classification. The weather was mild at the start with temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius, but the overcast conditions early in the day soon gave way to bright sunshine and temperatures in the early 30s.

Ignatiev’s Fine Early Standard
The junior world champion from the time trial in 2002, Ignatiev (KAT) set the early standard, leading at every check and finishing the course in 49.83km/h. He was the 19th rider to start the stage and not even the world champion Bert Grabsch (THR) could get within a minute of the Russian’s time. Not even Cancellara could beat the Tour debutant: at the first two intermediate time checks the Olympic champion was 18” slower than Ignatiev; he pulled back 11 seconds by the 28.5km mark and by the finish he had edged ahead, covering the course in 50.051km/h… 12” faster than the Russian.

Rain Starts To Fall An Hour Before Contador’s Start
With 19 riders yet to start the time trial, rain started falling in Annecy. But the showers didn’t last long and the road only got wet in patches along the course but it was dry by the time the GC riders began their race. Evans (SIL) was one rider who improved considerably the further the race progressed. He was 16th at the first check, 1’07” behind Ignatiev, but by the top of the climb he was ranked 5th, 27” behind the Russian. The same applied to Moreau (AGR) who was ninth when he passed the first check but second – 7” behind Ignatiev – at the top of the climb. Evans ended up 1’11” behind Cancellara while Moreau was even better, 42” behind.

The Charge Of The GC Brigade…
Wiggins blitzed the first 18km at an average speed of 53.114km/h. He beat Ignatiev’s time by one second but then came the charge of the yellow jersey. Contador surpassed everyone, riding the first 18km, 18” faster than Wiggins. Only at the 25km mark did Contador not set the fastest time; Ignatiev remained steadfast in the least at that point of the race but the yellow jersey was fastest everywhere else. The threat of rain never eventuated and Contador was 30” ahead of Wiggins at the top of the climb and 15” ahead of Cancellara at 37km. He would fade a little in the finale but the Spaniard was still able to win the stage by just three seconds. Only two men finished the 40.5km course with an average speed faster than 50km/h. Contador and Cancellara are the fastest time trial riders in the Tour only this time their positions from the opening stage were reversed and Contador claimed his second stage victory this year.
Andy Schleck was 21st in the stage but he retains his second place on GC albeit with a greater deficit than before. The best young rider is now 4’11” behind Alberto Contador. Lance Armstrong was 16th in the stage but is now ranked third overall.