Alexander Vinokourov tore apart the Tour de France peloton again on Monday, going out on an early breakaway and winning a stage in the Pyrenees with five hard climbs.
Race leader Michael Rasmussen and Alberto Contador extended their dominance over the rest of the field, as Contador attacked the yellow jersey at least five times on the final climb over the Col de Peyresourde but couldn't shake the Dane.
With the 122-mile 15th stage from Foix to Loudenvielle behind them, the racers rest on Tuesday before tackling one more stage in the Peyrenees. It's one more stage where Discovery Channel's Contador will have another chance at unseating Rasmussen. Then its three days of relatively flat stages until Saturday's penultimate stage, another individual time trial.
Heroic or inconsistent
Vinokourov's performance on Monday's mountain stage showed that Vino might have been able to live up to his pre-race expectations if he hadn't have crashed early in the Tour.
Counted out after the Alps, Vino came roaring back by winning the time trial on Friday, then failed miserably on Saturday, dropping about 30-some minutes back. And here he is again on Monday, winning another stage.
It shows a lot of guts, or basic inconsistency. What if he hadn't laid it all out on the time trial? Would he have had more power in reserve to do better on Sunday? One of the rubs against Vino over the years is that he just goes without a long-term strategy. It makes him exciting to watch, while others take the championships.
Two-man Tour
Meanwhile, Rasmussen and Contador are locked in what appears a two-man contest for the yellow jersey.
Although there was a large breakaway numbering more than 20 riders, the race leaders all hung with Rabobank's Rasmussen. Even on the final climb, no one attacked until near the very end — and that was Contador.
The top-notch climber on the Disco team attacked again and again near the summit of the Col de Peyresourde. Rasmussen was the only rider who could catch up. All the others, including Contador's teammate Levi Leipheimer, lost time.
And who met Contador and Rasmussen at the top? Discovery cyclist George Hincapie, who had dropped back from the earlier breakaway. He paced Contador down the steep descent, with Rasmussen tailing right behind.
At the finish line in Loudenvielle, Contador slipped in just ahead of Rasmussen, tacking another minute onto challengers like third place Cadel Evans.
The top 10 after Stage 15:
1. Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery — 2:23 behind
3. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor-Lotto — 4:00
4. Levi Leipheimer (US) Discovery — 5:25
5. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana — 5:34
6. Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC — 6:46
7. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel — 7:27
8. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana — 7:54
9. Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile — 8:40
10. Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel — 8:40
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