Tour de France 2009: Stage 15, The Shot Heard Around the Peloton
In a tour that has been defined by the hundredth of a second, Alberto Contador took the overall lead by 1:37 over his teammate Lance Armstrong in Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France. In the first stage to finish on a mountaintop since Stage 7, Contador showed why he is called the best climber on the professional tour. After biding his time for over 200 kms, Contador put in his attack on the final climb of the stage, and no one could match him. As Contador flew to the finish, Andy Schleck tried his futile best to bridge the gap, while brother Frank tried his hardest to come to his aid. Contador ended the stage by putting an additional 43 seconds between himself and Andy Schleck, and over 1 minute ahead of the rest.
The two biggest surprises were Bradley Wiggins’ ability to climb with the leaders, while his team leader Christian Vande Velde was left 2:41 back. Team Garmin – Slipstream has a new leader. The other surprise was that Lance Armstrong couldn’t keep up. Even his teammate Andreas Kloden, who was helping pace Lance, finished 6 seconds ahead of Armstrong. Team Astana finally has a leader as well.
But the Tour de France is far from over. This is a race of attrition, as Levi Leipheimer can attest. Leipheimer, who is a great climber and was 4th overall, fell near the end of stage 12 and broke his wrist and out of the tour! In today’s race Andy Schleck had a foot slip out of his pedal on the final climb, nearly falling and taking out half of the contenders. With a long time trial, and more Alps ahead, anything can happen. Also, after tomorrow’s rest day, bodies act funny, and Contador, who tends to decline in the last week of long stage races may lose his form.
This is now Contador’s tour to lose. The main contenders are shaking out, and appear to be Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins and Carlos Sastre. Cadel Evans at 4:37 back will need a miracle to reach the podium.
Lastly, never count Lance Armstrong out. The long time trial and climb up Mont Ventoux both work to Lance’s strength. Lance tends to be at his best in the last week of the tour, and he has made no secret of the fact that he has a personal score to settle at the top on Mont Ventoux.
Lance playing possum on his first competitive Alps climb in 3 years? It didnt look like he had an answer for teammate Contador when the Spaniard just took off and never looked back.
Hey Evans and Sastre are still in this. Contador can konk out in a tough final week.