The Schleck brothers tried a one-two punch to knock Alberto Contador out of the yellow jersey on Tuesday as Stage 16 of the Tour de France continued through the Alps.
The effort didn't phase the Spanish cyclist on Team Astana, but it briefly put Lance Armstrong on the mat. He valiantly battled back, however, and regained the yellow jersey group to hold onto second place in the overall standings.
Spain's Mikel Astarloza, above, survived in an ever-dwindling breakaway over the two cols — Grand Saint Bernard and Petit Saint Bernard — to win his first-ever Tour de France stage and propel himself into 11th place overall. [Astarloza was later found to have EPO in a sample and is facing suspension.]
As the mountains continue to take their toll, Rinaldo Nocentini (who wore the yellow jersey for 8 stages) and Tony Martin both dropped out of the Top 10, replaced by defending champion Carlos Sastre and American Christian Vande Velde.
One of the big surprises of the Tour continues to be Vande Velde's teammate Bradley Wiggins, a British track cycling star who remains in 3rd place overall, just 9 seconds behind Armstrong. Wiggins sat on Contador's wheel most of the day.
Breakaway
Italy's Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas was one of the leading members of a 20-man breakaway that attacked early to get a jump on the two mountains — the hors categorie Col du Grand Saint Bernard and the 1st category Petite Saint Bernard.
Pellizotti won the contest over both mountains. By the time he crossed the second, he was only one of four riders that still survived in front. Another was Astarloza.
On the winding descent into the finishing town of Bourg Saint Maurice, a four-man chase group that had been dropped earlier on the climbs raced to catch up, finally closing the gap as Astarloza attacked.
While the Eukaltel Euskadi cyclist took the win at the end of the 99-mile day, a member of that chase group, Sandy Casar of Fraincaise des Jeux, finished in second place.
Andy and Frank
On the day's second climb, the Col du Petite Saint Bernard, most of the Tour's favorites had formed around Contador, who leads the race by 1:37. That's where Saxo Bank's Andy and Frank Schleck attacked.
Andy had the most to gain and was pulled along for a brief period by brother Frank and teammate Jens Voight. Contador answered the attack, along with Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali, and a few other riders, but Armstrong was left behind.
Further up the mountain, digging deep, Armstrong drove up the slope and closed the 20-second gap to the yellow jersey group.
Top 10 overall
1. Alberto Contador, Astana
2. Lance Armstrong, Astana – 1:37
3. Bradley Wiggins, Garmin – 1:46
4. Andreas Kloden, Astana – 2:17
5. Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank – 2:26
6. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas – 2:51
7. Christophe Le Mevel, Francaise des Jeux – 3:09
8. Frank Schleck, Saxo Bank – 3:25
9. Carlos Sastre, Cervelo – 3:52
10. Christrian Vande Velde – 3:59
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