Andy and Frank Schleck catapulted themselves into second and third places behind Alberto Contador on Stage 17 of the Tour de France on Wednesday as Lance Armstrong dropped from second to fourth place.
On the eve of announcing a new team that he'll lead, Armstrong was put in the unusual position of working to protect an Astana teammate's position at the Tour as his own standing slipped.
But the most unusual sight along much of the 106-mile stage from Bourg Saint Maurice to Le Grand Bornand had to be Thor Hushovd, the sprinter, who took a solo breakaway over two mountain climbs to ensure he'd get the intermediate sprint points in his bid for the green jersey.
Breakaway
Hushovd joined the breakaway on the descent of Cormet de Roselend, the first of five climbs the peloton faced on Wednesday.
Riding solo out in front, Hushovd took maximum points at two intermediate sprints and also was the first over two ascents, the Col des Saisies and the Cote d'Araches. At one point, Hushovd was 2 minutes ahead of the chase group and 6 minutes ahead of the peloton. After being first through the second intermediate sprint, Hushovd stopped pedaling hard and waited for the peloton.
The peloton was being driven by Saxo Bank, which was trying to put Andy and Frank Schleck into podium positions.
Attacks
But at the base of the fourth climb, the Col de Romme, it was defending champion Carlos Sastre who attacked. His effort didn't last long and suddenly it was an elite group of riders surrounding Contador's yellow jersey in the lead.
Frank and Andy Schleck attacked on that penultimate climb and distanced everyone except Contador and his teammate Andreas Kloden. Twenty seconds behind, Armstrong launched an effort to catch up, but third-place Bradley Wiggins hung on. Not wanting to help Wiggins, Armstrong had to bide his time, which allowed the lead group to get further up the road.
The Schlecks and Contador and Kloden started the final climb, Col de la Colombière, together. Then Contador attacked, which only served to drop teammate Kloden as the Schleck brothers hung on. For the rest of the stage, Andy and Frank Schleck took turns in the lead with Contador following.
Contador's attack
That attack by Contador raised some questions. While not criticizing the move, team manager Johan Bruyneel said he told Contador that he wouldn't have to attack to win the Tour de France. “It's a pity that Andreas could not hang on because we would have had first, second and third in the classification,” Bruyneel told CyclingNews.
Contador said he spoke to Kloden about attacking, and Kloden said to “go for it.” Later, at the Astana website:
“I was thinking of going ahead alone or with Andy, but in the end the only one that was behind was Andreas. Because of this I decided to stop, to see if he was coming back, but he could not and lost a lot of time.”
Armstrong wrote on his Twitter: “Getting lots of question why AC attacked and dropped Kloden. I still haven't figured it out either. Oh well.”
And Leipheimer (who's done with the Tour after breaking his wrist): “If Andreas finishes 4th in GC by less than 2' from 3rd, we know where he lost it.”
Chasers
It was Frank Schleck who took the stage win.
Meanwhile, after Wiggins had worked hard to hold his ground, Armstrong finally attacked and left him in the dust. Vincenzo Nibali joined him, and they crossed the finish line 2:18 after the leading three.
While the finish mixed the top 10 results on Wednesday, a further sorting is expected on Thursday with the Tour's final individual time trial.
Top 10 overall
1. Alberto Contador, Astana
2. Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank – 2:26
3. Frank Schleck, Saxo Bank – 3:25
4. Lance Armstrong, Astana – 3:55
5. Andreas Kloden, Astana – 4:44
6. Bradley Wiggins, Garmin – 4:53
7. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas – 5:09
8. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin – 8:08
9. Christophe Le Mevel, Francaise des Jeux – 9:19
10. Mikel Astarloza, Euskaltel Euskadi – 10:50
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