Final Stage 9 climb knocks out more contenders at Tour de France

One day in the yellow jersey for Aussie Cadel Evans (BMC) was about all she wrote as the 2010 Tour de France appears to be boiling down to a contest between Andy Schleck (left, Saxo Bank) and Alberto Contador (Astana).

Shleck donned the yellow leader's jersey at the end of Stage 9, the most challenging so far with three major Alpine climbs over the 126 mile-route.

Contador grappled into second place overall, matching every one of Schleck's accelerations on the final climb on the Col de la Madeleine. Contador couldn't do that Sunday, but Contador was the sole contender who could do that on Tuesday. Schleck says Contador is the only one to watch:

“On the final climb I attacked to try and drop Contador. It was not a test. I was going all out – I showed all the cards I had. If I attacked one more time I would have dropped myself. I’m actually pretty happy that he didn’t respond to what I was doing with one of his attacks. …  Now I’m in yellow and I’ve got 40 seconds on Contador and there’s a pretty big gap to everyone else – now I’ve only got one guy to watch.”

Losing ground

All others lost ground, with a disappointed Evans being the chief among them. He lost about eight minutes, dropping clear out of the Top 10 to 18th place. He said his team worked hard, but he just didn't have it:

“I think this Tour is over for the win but I have to look at the results and make an analysis of things and of course I’ll be able to elaborate more on the situation a lot more then. I had a really bad crash in stage eight and that cost me a lot of energy. Maybe, in my situation, getting into yellow also showed my vulnerability.“

Battle for 3rd?

Unless Schleck or Contador suffer a major breakdown over the rest of the Tour — and that is entirely possible the way things have gone this year — it looks like everyone else is battling for a third spot on the podium in Paris.

The stage winner, Frenchman Sandy Casar of FDJ, was a survivor of a 12-man breakaway that launched early in the day. The Contador-Schleck crew picked him up near the top of the Madeleine climb and he stayed in the small group during the descent to the finish in Saint Jean de Maurienne.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne), Christophe Moreau (Caisse d'Epargne), and Anthony Charteau (Bbox) were other breakaway members who also finished in that lead group.

Big gain

Lance Armstrong, whose Tour de France all but ended on Sunday, lost more time to the overall leaders. RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer, who became the team's titular head, climbed two places into 6th place overall, but finished 2:02 behind the lead group.

One of the biggest gainers on the day was Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel Euskadi, who climbed into 3rd place from 9th overall on Sunday. The Gold Medal winner in the Beijing Olympics road race in 2008 might do well when the Tour de France wraps up next week with stages in the Pyrenees.

Top 10 overall

1. Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank

2. Alberto Contador, Astana – :41

3. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel Euskadi –  2:45

4. Denis Menchov, Rabobank – 2:58

5. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Omega – 3:51

6. Levi Leipheimer, RadioShack – 3:59

7. Robert Gesink, Rabobank – 4:22

8. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Caisse d'Epargne – 4:41

9. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Katusha – 5:08

10. Ivan Basso, Liquigas – 5:09