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Contador withstands challenge from Schleck, defends yellow, as Cancellara wins Tour de France TT stage

  • By VeloNews.com
  • Published Jul. 24, 2010
  • Updated Jul. 24, 2010 at 4:16 PM UTC

Fabian Cancellara started before the wind came up and held the lead all day.

Astana’s Alberto Contador confirmed his grip on the yellow jersey on Saturday, but found Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck an unexpectedly powerful adversary in the wind-whipped stage-19 individual time trial.

Contador did not win the 52km race against the clock — that honor went to world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), who finished in 1:00:57 — but the two-time Tour champion finished 35th on the day, 31 seconds faster than Schleck, extending the eight-second advantage he held over his rival at the start.

Schleck made a fight of it, starting strongly and actually taking time out of Contador early on before the Spaniard began to claw the seconds back in the second half of the race.

Schleck hit the line in 1:07:10 — but the defending champ was right behind him, finishing in 1:06:39. Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) took second at 19 seconds with teammate Bert Grabsch — the lanterne rouge — third at 1:48.

“It was very difficult. I was really suffering,” Contador said. “Andy pulled within five seconds. It was quite nervous. I gave everything I had. I am glad it’s over. Very happy.”

Stage winner Cancellara was disappointed for his teammate, but happy to take another victory.

“It’s disappointing,” he said. “It was very close for Andy. He went to the maximum. We know he will want to come back next year to win.

“I am very happy to win (the stage) again. I am very tired from working for the team, but very satisfied with this Tour.”

As for Schleck, who will once again have to settle for second and the white jersey awarded to the best young rider, he said: “I gave everything I had today. There was a moment when I was getting close, but Alberto was just a little stronger than me today. I’m content that I won two stages and finished second. I will be back next year to win.”

The only time trial in the 97th edition of the Tour followed a largely flat point-to-point route through vineyards of the Bordeaux region, and the 170 riders remaining in the race enjoyed a slight tailwind early on.

Watch a Dave Zabriskie interview on surviving the Tour de France, on CompetitorTV

A strong cross-head wind came up just in time for the top 10 on GC to take the start, and it seemed to have its greatest effect on Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Sanchez started the day in third overall, but saw his podium place snatched away by Denis Menchov (Rabobank).

David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) called it at the finish.

“I think the wind is going to get heavier and heavier,” said Millar, himself 17th on the day at 4:20. “I got to ride when it was as good as it’s going to be today. …”

When the times were tallied, Contador had extended his lead over Schleck to 39 seconds. Menchov was third at 2:01, with Sanchez fourth at 3:40. Jurgen Van den Broucke (Omega Pharma-Lotto) rounded out the top five overall at 6:54.

Race notes

  • Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) was the top American, finishing fifth at three minutes back.
  • Teammate Johan Van Summeren continued Garmin’s tradition of hitting the deck during the 97th Tour, crashing as he rolled down the start ramp.
  • Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) did not exactly burn up the road in his final Tour time trial, finishing 67th, 7:05 down.
  • Bradley Wiggins (Sky), too, turned in another subpar performance. He started strongly but faded to finish ninth, 3:33 behind Cancellara.

Contador carries a 39-second lead into the final stage

Andy Schleck was ahead at the first time check.

Up next

This year’s final stage will be one of the shortest in Tour history, at only 102.5km. The only excitement to be found prior to the Champs-Élysées will be two intermediate sprints, which could be important if the green jersey is still up for grabs.

The Tour has finished on the Champs-Élysées since 1975, and in that time only five stages have been won in breakaways. This year, expect a regular field sprint. With the configuration of the final kilometer, the finish favors a single-file team lead-out. Like last year, Cavendish and his HTC train will be difficult to beat. More on stage 20.

Click here for Complete Video Coverage of 2010 Tour

Complete results

Quick results:

Stage

  • 1. Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank, in 1:00:56
  • 2. Tony Martin, Team HTC-Columbia, at 00:17
  • 3. Bert Grabsch, Team HTC-Columbia, at 01:48
  • 4. Ignatas Konovalovas, Cérvelo TestTeam, at 02:34
  • 5. David Zabriskie, Garmin-Transitions, at 03:00

Overall standings

  • 1. Alberto Contador, (Astana), in 89:16: 2
  • 2. Andy Schleck, (Team Saxo Bank), at :39
  • 3. Denis Menchov, (Rabobank), at 2:01
  • 4. Samuel Sanchez, (Euskaltel – Euskadi), at 3:40
  • 5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, (Omega Pharma – Lotto), at 6:54

Best Young Rider (GC)

  • 1. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank)

Points leader

  • 1. Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre)

Team GC leader

  • 1. Team RadioShack

KOM leader

  • 1. Anthony Charteau (BBox-Bouygues Telecom)

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