Tour de France Stage 14: Schleck refuses to be drawn in by Contador's tactics
| Ax-3 Domaines, France
Long before Astana鈥檚 Alberto Contador reached Ax-3 Domaines, less than 15 miles from the Spanish border, thousands of the defending champion鈥檚 compatriots had arrived in hopes of watching him ride into yellow.
Instead, they saw Mr. Contador and race leader Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank fight a tactical battle, while France鈥檚 Christophe Riblon soloed to the Tour de France Stage 14 victory and more general classification riders, like RadioShack鈥檚 Levi Leipheimer, fell out of contention.
Contador, in second place just 31 seconds behind Mr. Schleck, was responsible for much of the cat-and-mouse game the two played during the 115-mile stage.
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But the 25-year old Schleck didn鈥檛 give in; though he is leading the Tour for the first time, he doesn鈥檛 lack racing savvy.
鈥淥n the second to last climb, his whole team surrounded him and I could see they wanted to give the impression that he wasn鈥檛 feeling good today,鈥� said Schleck in a post-race press conference. 鈥淏ut I knew it wasn鈥檛 like that 鈥� they wanted me to attack.鈥�
Contador's tactics
Contador鈥檚 more conspicuous challenges came on the ascent to the Pyr茅n茅an ski area of Ax-3 Domaines, where he tried rapid acceleration and sudden braking in an attempt to drop the Luxembourger.
Schleck responded each time, though he never mounted an attack himself.
鈥淚 told him, 鈥業f you go too deep today, it could be dangerous for tomorrow,鈥欌�� said Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis.
Though neither picked up time on each other, their t锚te-脿-t锚te had an unexpected, perhaps unwelcome, result.
As the two dueled in the final kilometers, Euskaltel-Euskadi鈥檚 Samuel Sanchez and Rabobank鈥檚 Denis Menchov, the race鈥檚 third and fourth-placed riders, rode ahead and picked up 14 valuable seconds on the leaders. Sanchez is currently two minutes behind Contador.
Fourth stage victory for the French
Despite not having a contender for the general classification, this is turning out to be one of the most successful Tours for French riders in more than a decade.
Team Ag2r鈥檚 Christophe Riblon鈥檚 win is the fourth stage win by a Frenchmen in this Tour, the most since 1997, when six stages were won by the hosts.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know why I can say,鈥� a breathless Riblon told French television after the stage. 鈥淚t鈥檚 truly incredible.鈥�
An added bonus: If the race were to end today, the polka dot jersey, awarded to the race鈥檚 best climber, would go to France鈥檚 Anthony Charteau of Team BBox Bouygues.
A redemptive ride
Many former general classification hopefuls continued to fade today. Lance Armstrong lost 15 minutes and 14 seconds, as did HTC-Columbia鈥檚 Michael Rogers, the winner of this year鈥檚 Tour of California.
But Spain鈥檚 Carlos Sastre, the 2008 Tour de France champion, put in a valiant effort.
Hitting the climb to Ax-3 Domaines ahead of the yellow jersey, Sastre 鈥� who won the 2003 stage finish here 鈥� charged ahead before being caught and left behind with just less than 1.9 miles remaining.
For Sastre, who crashed in this year鈥檚 Giro D鈥橧talia, a three-week race in May, and in Stage 6 of this Tour de France, just making a move was a little slice of redemption.
鈥淭oday was a special day,鈥� he said, sitting in a folding chair after the race. 鈥淢aybe I鈥檓 not going to win the Tour de France, but I鈥檓 here to fight.鈥�
Armstrong, in a rare appearance on French television after the race, echoed his fellow former champion.
Asked if he was thinking about calling it quits, 38 minutes and 44 seconds off the pace set by Shleck, Armstrong said: 鈥淚鈥檝e never been a quitter and I won鈥檛 do that now.鈥�
IN PICTURES: Scenes from the 2010 Tour de France
STORY: Can Lance Armstrong keep his Teflon image?
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