Another day in the Pyrenees, and another day that generated more questions than answers. Thomas Voeckler’s ‘suitcase of courage’ still remains packed to the brim, as the Frenchman managed to hang onto the coattails of all of the big GC riders to hold onto the Yellow Jersey for yet another day. The unknown Belgian from two days ago, Jelle Vanendert, ensured his name would forever more be in the history books, by breaking away on the final climb to win the 168km stage from Saint Gaudens to the Plateau de Beille. In a reversal of Thursday night’s stage, he defeated Samuel Sanchez in second, while Andy Schleck filled the podium third, gaining a pair of precious seconds on the rest of the GC men.
The two main stories of the day were Vockler’s ability to stick with the world’s best climbers, and the fact that men at the top of the overall standings continue to neutralise each other. After Leopard Trek again set the place over the earlier climbs, it seemed to be every man for himself on the final climb to the summit finish. But the big fireworks that were expected again failed to materialise. Andy Schleck was the main protagonist, putting in a number of explosive attacks without reward. Each time he made the move either Voeckler or Cadel Evans was straight on his wheel, and the rest of the lead pack would eventually catch up. Basso also had a crack at riding his rivals off his wheel through the use of brute power but he never had that explosiveness need to shake off the other leaders. In the end, it was the young unknown Belgian who was left free to fly, and he took advantage to take the solo win at the top. The big names also gambled in letting Sanchez go, and while he left it too late to catch Vanendert, he did manage to gain another 25 seconds over the lead pack by the finish. Schleck’s attacking did pay off in the final 500m when he sprinted clear to pick up a couple of cheap seconds over the rest of the leaders. But he is going to need to do more than that to get his hands on the Yellow Jersey.
So all in all, that pretty much leaves us in the same position we were in after the climb to Luz Ardiden. Perhaps the only difference is that Voeckler must now be viewed as a genuine for the contender for the overall title. He looked in zero trouble on the stage and was actually the only man outside of Evans to chase down multiple attacks from Andy Schleck. He still has a lead of nearly 2 minutes over his nearest rival (Frank Schleck) and if he keeps this kind of form up, geez he will be tough to run down. It would be great to see him win the thing! Alberto Contador still looks like he lacks the form to overturn his 4 minute time deficit, while Ivan Basso and Evans are still ticking all the right boxes. We will have to wait for the next rendezvous in the Alps to see if anything changes.
There were a couple of changes in the prize classifications. Jelle Vanendert now has the Polka Dot jersey to go with his stage win, his first place finish at the summit enough to see him take a 2 point lead in the mountains classification from Sammy Sanchez. The lead in the youth classification also changes hands, with the White Jersey now sitting on the shoulders of Rigoberto Uran, who was the only under 25 to finish with the leaders on the stage.
Yellow Jersey – Thomas Voeckler
Green Jersey – Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey – Jelle Vanendert
White Jersey – Rigoberto Uran
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