After sitting in second place by 1-second for the better part of a week, Frank Schleck (left) gained the margin he needed on the final climb to wrest the yellow jersey away from Cadel Evans at the Tour de France on Sunday.
Schleck had the help of two other CSC teammates — Carlos Sastre and Frank's brother Andy Schleck — on Stage 15's final climb. Team CSC helped drop all but the leaders before the final climb, then they kept up the pressure to the summit.
Meanwhile, a four-man breakaway that included American Danny Pate of Garmin-Chipotle was trudging up Prato Nevoso, a 7-mile climb at 6.9%. Simon Gerrans of Credit Agricole won that, with Pate finishing third.
American Christian Vande Velde finished in 10th place on the day, falling to 5th place overall but gaining 7 seconds on Evans.
Vande Velde
After the race, Vande Velde said he was very happy with a top 10 finish on the stage and shaving a few seconds off Evans. He hopes to repeat the effort after Monday's rest day when the Tour returns to two huge Alpine stages on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Evans is considered the strongest among the leaders in the individual time trial, which comes as the penultimate stage on Saturday. If someone like Vande Velde, who also is considered a good time trialist, stays close, he may have a shot at winning.
During the race, Garmin race director Jonathan Vaughters was asked on Versus about his team's chances in the Alps:
“We're taking it day by day… This is really unexpected territory for our team. …. We've got some high hopes for Christian (Vande Velde) in the time trial.”
Break
The race developed just as Garmin had hoped, with Pate in the breakaway just in case Vande Velde ran into trouble and needed help later on.
But Vande Velde didn't need Pate's help, and crashes along the route gave the breakaway a 17-minute margin at one point.
The worst came on the wet, hairpin turns coming down Col Agnel, the first big summit of the day. Robbie Hunter and Caisse d'Epargne's Oscar Pereiro, official winner of the 2006 Tour de France, collided and Pereiro went over the guardrail, landing on the road below. He only broke a collarbone (not his femur as was earlier reported).
The peloton slowed down until the members learned of Pereiro's condition, then speeded up. Lampre drove the chase and had shaved 3 minutes off the breakaway when about a dozen riders, including Vande Velde, crashed on a slick traffic circle. The peloton slowed down again for them to catch up.
Winners
Pate had a one in four chance of taking the stage, although the other three were considered stronger climbers. At the end, however, it was Australia's Gerrans (Credit Agricole), Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Pate across the finish line in that order, with José Luis Arrieta (AG2R) losing touch further down.
Team CSC kept the pressure on Evans and the other leaders all the way up the mountain. Evans, with Vande Velde just trailing him, matched all the attacks from the CSC riders.
Near the finish, however, Gerolsteiner's Bernhard Kohl attacked and was matched by Sastre, but no one else. Frank Schleck passed Evans and finished 38 seconds later, enough time to put him ahead of Kohl by 7 seconds overall.
Vande Velde attacked Evans at the finish too. He's now 31 seconds behind Tour favorite Evans, who is in third place.
Top 10 overall:
1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner, 0.07 behind
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 0.08
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank, 0.38
5 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle, 0.39
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank, 0.49
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia, 2.48
8 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale, 3.36
9 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, 4.11
10 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 4.34
By the way, Team Columbia's Mark Cavendish bailed out of the Tour de France before Sunday's stage. He's training for the Olympics next month, and the mountains really aren't his “thang.”
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