Cool Contador cruises into yellow, Armstrong strains and sweats

Today was a little bit like Alberto Contador banging his fists down on the Astana Team dinner table and saying, "Boys, let's be cleaqr - I'm in charge."

It all came down to the incredibly steep last 4 kilometres of today's 200+km 15th stage into Verbier. Look at this profile.


lancearmstrong: St15 done. Ouch! Verbier was as hard as I thought. Alberto - super and had great punch/power. A heartfelt congrats to him. Rest day 2morrow!

The in the last 20km of the race the dram began, with team Liquigas putting pedal to the metal and flying up the valley slopes thanks to a tailwind. Milram did the same, briefly. But it all came down to Contador peeling off the front after a long, cool look back.
“I suffered, it was very hard. I was a little bit on the limit at the bottom (of the last climb), I think everybody was a bit on the limit,” Armstrong told reporters. “But Alberto showed he is the best rider in the race.
With Contador swooping rapidly away, Andy Schleck seemed to be waiting for Lance to respond. Lance didn't do anything, in fact Lance rode tempo virtually the entirely climb, seemingly oblivious to everything around him. Even Kloden, who was pacing him, pulled away in the last few metres, leaving Armstrong about 10 seconds behind.

But Contador showed his class. Schleck stuck out his tongue and made no impression. Contador crossed the line with not a single bead of sweat on his face [in comparison Lance's face was completely wet with the exertion]. Contador did a cowboy imitation of someone shooting down something, and when he climbed onto the podium, he aggressively shook both fists.
“Well I think the gap has now increased a bit, so I think the team needs to back me, and I’m sure my teammates will work hard for me as they’ve done today. I don’t think there’ll be any problems in that sense from now on,” Contador added.
Contador is now in yellow, with Lance 2nd trailing 1:37, and Wiggins 9 seconds behind that, followed by Kloden and Schleck. In think if Leipheimer was in the race, it would be Leipheimer 2nd and Lance 3rd. But that's conjecture.

Don't be too quick to rule Lance out though. There's still a lot of climbing to come in the last week, and a time trial, and a fall or bad luck could end Contador's campaign. I also have a hunch that Lance isn't going to go gently into the night. Stage 17 - another tough up and down jigsaw - could also be filled with surprises.




>>>Video of Armstrong's reaction to what happened today.