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Spain’s 2007 champion Alberto Contador of Astana took possession of the Tour de France yellow jersey after a superb solo attack and victory on the 15th stage in the Swiss Alps Sunday.
Contador, winning his first individual stage of this year’s race, attacked a small group of favourites containing teammate Lance Armstrong 5.6km from the summit of the 8.8km climb to the finish at Verbier.
The Spaniard’s move shook up the favourites and yellow jersey rival Andy Schleck was the only rider to try to counter his move.
Schleck, of Saxo Bank, battled hard to catch Contador but could not match the Spaniard’s seemingly effortless rhythm. In the end the Luxemburger came over the finish line 43secs behind.
Seven-time champion Armstrong finished 1:35 behind, only a handful of seconds behind two-time race runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia who was at 1:26 in seventh place.
Contador now leads Astana teammate Armstrong by 1:37 in the overall standings, with Briton Bradley Wiggins of Garmin, continuing to impress, in third at 1:46.
German Andreas Kloden, also of Astana, is fourth at 2:17 while Andy Schleck is fifth at 2:26.
Evans improved five places to 14th overall but his gap to the leader blew out to 4:27.
“I’m very happy with this result,” said Contador, who since the start of the race has had to endure the extra pressure of Armstrong’s presence in the team.
“It wasn’t a long climb, but we started it really fast and in the end I managed to do what I wanted to make the difference.
“If I wanted to leave my rivals behind me in the standings, that was the only way I could do it.”
Armstrong admitted he was “on the limit” as early as the bottom of the climb and from then on had little else to give.
But the American appeared to give his backing to his Spanish teammate.
“I suffered. It was very hard. I was a little bit on the limit at the bottom, I think everybody was a bit on the limit,” said Armstrong.
“But Alberto showed he is the best rider in the race.”
After a week of uninspiring racing the 15th stage finally lived up to its billing as a crucial player in the yellow jersey battle.
A 12-man attack formed shortly after the 50km mark and they went on to build nearly a five-minute lead on the peloton.
However their fate was virtually sealed when several teams with stakes in the general classification began working at the front of the chasing bunch.
Astana, Liquigas, Saxo Bank and even Milram took their turns pushing the pace to try and reduce the deficit on the leaders’ group, which contained Spaniard Mikel Astarloza.
Astarloza began the day only 3:02 off the pace of overnight leader Rinaldo Nocentini but he, and the rest of his companions, soon bent to the will of the peloton.
With 11km to race Schleck’s Saxo Bank team came defiantly to the front and put their feet on the pedals.
Slovenian Simon Spilak of Lampre, who had attacked his breakaway group 22.5km from the summit of the 8.8km climb to Verbier, was reeled in 6.5km from the finish.
Moments later Frank Schleck tested Contador and Armstrong with a brief attack. Defending Tour champion Carlos Sastre was left trailing, and moments later he was given more food for thought when Contador emerged from the maelstrom of an eight-man group to pull away with apparent ease.
After a brief hesitation, Andy Schleck counter-attacked but struggled to match the Spaniard’s pace.
Behind, Sastre had managed to join Armstrong’s group, from which Wiggins, the Olympic pursuit champion, had accelerated to take Frank Schleck and Italian Vincenzo Nibali with him.
In their wake an acceleration by Sastre prompted Evans to follow, and that move left Armstrong and Kloden on their own to finish the race together, the German coming over the finish a few seconds in front.
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