Contador, the time trial champion of Spain, started last and started fast, setting fastest time by thirty seconds at the halfway point. He slowed dramatically over the final half of the course, but managed a big burst as he approached the finish line to beat Fabian Cancellara by three seconds.
“Today was a really great day because I was able to put my main rivals farther behind,” said Contador. “It bodes well for the Mont Ventoux stage. I think I just took an important step towards the final victory. Plus, with the team around me I am pretty relaxed. I know we’ll be able to counter the numerous attacks that will inevitably come on Saturday.”
Contador addressed the apparent tension withing the team: “The riders are all professionals, and the atmosphere is not necessarily as it seems from the outside. I really trust them.”
Andy Schleck, not known for his time trial ability, turned in an amazing performance, holding on to his second spot in the General Classification. Lance Armstrong rode well, if not spectacularly, but managed to advance to thirds place overall.
Bradley Wiggins rode the flat part of the course very quickly, blasted up the hill, but had nothing left for the final flat. He still managed to move up two places, to fourth in the GC.
Andréas Klöden fell from fourth to fifth, and Frank Schleck, from third to sixth overall.
If Armstrong and Klöden can recover, Team Astana still has a chance to sweep the podium in Paris. The Schleck brothers are certain to attack hard and often in the final stage up Mont Ventoux, but the Astana riders are equally sure to attack back.
With an overall gap of four minutes, it seems impossible that Alberto Contador will not win the 2009 Tour de France. And, despite his ruthlessness towards his own teammates (easily dismissed as youthful enthusiasm and a lack of experience) he has earned his place.
Contador has performed better than everyone else every time he had to, and has shown himself to be the equal or better of every other rider in this year’s Tour. If he does indeed wear yellow in Paris for the second time in his career, it will be a fitting reward for the effort he has made.
Hard Course for All Riders
Stage Eighteen was a hard, forty km individual time trial, with a Cat. Three climb in the final third. Riders trying to make up time lost in the mountains had to drive their tired legs flat out, uphill. The climb while not long or steep compared to what the riders had just seen in the Alps, was just enough to drain the legs and kill the speed over the final few kilometers.
The first half of the course was flat, and suited time trial specialists. The wind sapped some extra energy, but the flat roads favored the speedsters. The hill, a five-kilometer Category Three climb, suited the mountain specialists. On the whole, the course was a good chance for all-around strong riders to excel, but because of the diversity, it was not likely to allow many riders to make up huge gaps.
Before the stage, Lance Armstrong said, with a laugh, that his goal was to “to do well.
“It’s important for a couple a reasons. We still have the Ventoux to get up, but I want to have a good one today, take some timeout of the Schlecks, and then not get caught from behind—Klodie [Andréas Klöden] is going to go fast, [Bradley] Wiggins is going to go fast. If I get ahead of them, I will be fine on the Ventoux.
“I like the course it starts fast and flat and then that bump in the middle is harder than people expect.”
Armstrong tried to rate the importance of this time trial to the overall Tour result, compared to other time trials in other Tours.
“You can’t compare,” he said. “If you look at ’03 for example, with [Lars] Ulrich, it was close enough that the fear was that he would come back and take the jersey on the second to last day. That was the most critical TT of my tours.
“This one, it’s up there.”
Armstrong won every final time trial but one in his winning Tours; he came in only fourteen seconds out, in the one he didn’t win. His confidence was certainly high, and his form had been excellent over the past several days.
Contador and Cancellara
In time trials, riders start in reverse order of their overall standings; fastest goes last. So Garmin’s Bradley Wiggins started just behind Astana rider Andréas Kloden, followed by Lance Armstrong, the Schleck brothers riding for Saxo Bank, and finally Tour leader Alberto Contador.
Nobody expected anything but pedestrian performances out of the Schleck brothers; they are mountaineers, not time trialists. The real race was between the other four of the top six.
Fabian Cancellara, who won the first time trial stage of this year’s Tour, said the hill was harder than he expected, and also that the wind off the lake slowed him down. Nonetheless, he turned in a very fast time that set the mark for most of the morning, ending up second at the end of the day
Katusha rider Mikhail Ignatiev set the second-place time, early in the day. His time held up until almost the end. He finally finished third.
Columbia rider George Hincapie rode with a suspected broken collarbone sustained in a crash the stage before. Hincapie refused to see the doctor, fearing he would not be permitted to continue.
Saxo Bank’s Gustav Larsson took fourth.
Garmin rider David Millar turned in a great ride, finishing fifth.
Andréas Kloden was fourth at the 18 km time check; Armstrong was third, nine seconds behind Bradley Wiggins, who was second at the time check. Alberto Contador was fastest, by eighteen seconds. All these riders still faced the hill.
Klöden suffered up the climb, possibly having expended too much energy on the flat. Wiggins gained time on the climb, turning in a strong performance. Wiggins lost time after the hill, finally finishing fourth.
Armstrong dropped quite a bit of time on the uphill section, dropping 42 seconds behind at the last time check. He pushed hard over the final section, finishing 16th in the stage,a nd third overall.
Andy Schleck put in an extraordinary ride, maintaining second place in the GC.
Contador topped the climb thirty seconds ahead of Wiggin’s time, which had been best at that point. He slowed dramatically over the second half of the course, but he made a huge effort over the final bit, finishing three seconds ahead of Cancellara.
Transitional Stage Next
Stage Nineteen, 178 km from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas, is what’s called an “itransitional” stage. It is not flat, nor is it mountainous. The stage starts with short climb up the Côte de Culin, followed by some minor ascents and descents, and then a climb up the Côte de la forêt de Chamabaran. Both named climbs are Cat. Four; nothing to bother the riders, and not really any place to attack. After a gentle descent and 70 km of flatland, the road heads up the fourteen-km, Cat. Two Col de l’Escrinet.
Likely a group of lower-placed riders will attack off the line and try to establish a breakaway, knowing the leaders won’t care as long as GC isn’t threatened. The GC leaders might use this as a rest day, knowing the decisions will be made on Mont Ventoux on Saturday. Likely the breakaway will succeed, and will then tear itself up with attacks on the Col de l’Escrinet, as the escapees fight over the stage win.
There is some chance a sprinter or two might try to start the attack, a la Thor Hushovd in Stage Seventeen. Thor himself might take a shot; he is certainly strong enough to handle the climbs, and he could put the green jersey forever out of Mark Cavendish’s reach with a stage win.
| Stage 18 Results |
| General Classification After Stage 18 | ||||||||
|
| Rider | Team | Time | Gap |
| Rider | Team | Time | Gap | |
|
| Alberto Contador | Astana | 48:31 | 1 | Alberto Contador | Astana | 73:15:39 |
| ||
| 1 | Fabian Cancellara | Saxo Bank | 48:34 | 00:03 | 2 | Andy Schleck | Saxo Bank | 73:19:50 | +04:11 | |
| 2 | Mikhail Ignatiev | Katusha | 48:46 | 00:15 | 3 | Lance Armstrong | Astana | 73:21:04 | +05:25 | |
| 3 | Gustav Larsson | Saxo Bank | 49:03 | 00:33 | 4 | Bradley Wiggins | Garmin | 73:21:15 | +05:36 | |
| 4 | David Millar | Garmin | 49:11 | 00:41 | 5 | Andréas Klöden | Astana | 73:21:17 | +05:38 | |
| 6 | Bradley Wiggins | Garmin | 49:54 | 00:43 | 6 | Frank Schleck | Saxo Bank | 73:21:38 | +05:59 | |
| 7 | L Sanchez | Caisse d’Epargne | 49:55 | 00:44 | 7 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas | 73:22:54 | +07:15 | |
| 8 | C Moreau | Agritubel | 49:56 | 00:45 | 8 | Christian Vande Velde | Garmin | 73:25:47 | +10:08 | |
| 9 | Andréas Klöden | Astana | 50:04 | 00:54 | 9 | Mikel Astarloza | Euskatel | 73:28:17 | +12:38 | |
| 10 | Dave Zabriskie | Garmin | 50:10 | 1:02 | 10 | Christophe Le Mevel | FdJ | 73:28:20 | +12:41 | |
