Stage 17 - History Repeating

As The Falcon predicted to premium subscribers last night, Stage 17, was pretty much exactly the same as Stage 16. A Norwegian won the stage from a break, Alberto Contador attacked on the final climb, Thomas Voeckler lost time, and Andy Schleck cried like a baby all the way down the final treacherous descent. The stage winner was yesterday’s runner up, Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was far too classy for his breakaway companions, winning by over 40 seconds from Bauke Mollema and Sandy Casar.

But again the big story was Contador, who again showed schlecktives of ominous form by breaking the peleton up on the final cat-2 climb of the day. Again Sammy Sanchez (how good is this guy!!!) was able to go with him, but unlike last night, Cadel Evans could not mark the move. Evans was trapped behind Andy Schleck, who was dozing off, and surely thought Contador wouldn’t try exactly the same trick two days in a row, even though it paid massive dividends for him yesterday. Contador and Sanchez crested first, chased by Voeckler, who would have likely made the juncture, had he not overcooked it on the descent and ended up in one of his countrymen’s alpine properties. Unfortunately, that cost the Frenchman dear, as by the time he got back onto the road the other GC men were out of sight. Try as he might, Voeckler could not make up the ground and by the finish he had lost 27 seconds to his Yellow Jersey rivals. That was time he could not afford to lose if he was to pull off one of the great Tour de France miracles, and he will be little chance of defending the jersey all the way to Paris from here.

Now the only reason the rest of the GC boys finished together is because of one man – Cadel Evans. Realising he will never get a better chance to win a Tour, Evans went berserk on the descent to make sure he would catch Contador and Sanchez, who had reached the top of the final climb ahead of him. The Schleck brothers manned up enough to suck his wheel all the way down to the finish, and by the final kilometre Evans heroic effort had ensured he retained his time advantage over all his major rivals. The only man other than Voeckler to lose time was Ivan Basso who also struggled on the descent. He has put in a brave effort at this year’s Tour but has just lacked that bit of an X-factor to hurt the big boys. He now sits in 9th place overall and will be struggling to make the podium from here.

And so to tonight – the big one – the Queen stage. 200km from Pinerolo to the mythical beast that is the Galibier. No less than 3 HC climbs – and they are all epics – the Agnel, the Izoard, and the Galibier. Three climbs all bigger than the biggest mountain Australia has to offer. This is where the Tour will be decided – this is where Cadel Evans can write his name into Australian sporting folklore alongside the likes of Phar Lap, Sir Donald Bradman, and Rod Laver. Contador will attack like a mad man, Cadel will try to hold him to the best of his ability. Andy Schleck will be picking out his best dress for the occasion (obviously one that matches Frank’s shirt). Come 1:30am tonight – we might just know the winner of the 2011 Tour de France.

Yellow Jersey – Thomas Voeckler
Green Jersey – Mark Cavendish
Polka Dot Jersey – Jelle Vanendert
White Jersey – Rigoberto Uran