Contador's Coup In Switzerland

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.