A large breakaway stayed a head of the peloton for most of the stage, but in the end, nothing that happened before the base of the final Category One climb mattered at all. Once the road sloped up, the climbers attacked, tearing the peloton to shreds and dropping all but the true contenders.
Contador took the yellow jersey, while Lance Armstrong, who finished ninth in the stage, moved into second place overall. Armstrong appeared not to have the legs to keep up with the repeated attacks; it seems that Alberto Contador will be the leader of Team Astana in the 2009 Tour.
“When Alberrto [Contador] went, he showed he’s the best rider in the race, certainly the best climber,” said teammate Lance Armstrong after the race. “When everybody’s on the limit and you can accelerate again, that’s how you win the Tour. So hats off to him.”
First Serious Selection
Stage Fifteen, 207.5 km from Pontarlier to Verbier featured four Category Three climbs, followed by the Cat. Two Col des mosses, with a mountaintop finish up a Cat. One climb to the town of Verbier. This 8.8-kilomater, 7.5 percent climb, was expected to be the field of battle: here is where all the climbers would attack, to separate the weaker riders and gain time in the General Classification. This was the stage all the top contenders had been waiting for.
“I’m excited for today stage looks good for me today I’m excited to do my best and get a rest day tomorrow,” said Garmin leader Chrstian Vande Velde.
“The Col des Mosses isn’t hard—from the other side it’s really hard but from this side it’s more of a stair-step climb—and I don’t know how much a of a change, I don’t know … Especially considering the weather; if it gets cold and rainy out there anything could happen, but I think everything is going to come down to the last climb.
“Anything goes these days. It’s almost like a fight for who launches first these days, so maybe they go from the bottom [of the climb]. It could just be complete and utter chaos.”
Lance Armstrong guaranteed action on the climb up to Verbier: “It’s definitely going to be exciting. We’ve all been waiting; the fans, the media’s been waiting for this day. There hasn’t been a real selection since Andorra, so … It’s hard enough, it’s steep enough, that there’s going to be some action.”
When asked if he or Contador would attack first, Armstrong responded, “Well. We’ll have to see. Somebody’s attacking.”
Ten Riders Escape
The peloton set as high pace for the first hour, running down any attempted breakaways. At the At 41 km mark, eight riders attacked successfully: Jurgen Van den Broeck (Silence-Lotto), Fabain Cancellara (Saxo Bank), Egoi Martinez (Euskatel), David Arroyo and José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne), David Moncoutie (Cofidis), and Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) opened a gap and maintained it.
Four more counterattacked at the 48 km mark: Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin), Christophe Kern and Amaél Moinard (Cofidis), and Simon Spilak (Lampre) caught the escape by 49 kilometers.
Four counterattacked: Hesjedal, Kern, Moinard, and Spilak caught leaders at 49
At 52 km David Millar (Garmin), Mikel Astarloza (Euskatel), and Tony Martin (Columbia) attacked, cathcing leaders by 53 km. Within a few kilometers, Millar, Kern, Martinez, Arroyo, and Pellizotti fall back to the peloton.
At 65 km Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) attacked, trying to join leaders. He worked hard for ten kilometers before he finally caught up the break. At the same time Rider Hesjedal attacked, forcing the breakaway to work harder to catch him. Once he reached the top of the Côte de Prévonloup, Hesjedal slowed, letting the break reform around him.
Approaching feeding station at the halfway point, ten riders ahead of the peloton by a bit over two minutes.
By the base of the Col des Mosses, the breakaway had three-and-a-half minutes lead; not enough to keep them away.
