The first day in the Pyrénées turned out to be a draw between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. Alberto did try a couple of attacks but couldn't drop Andy, so they played cat and mouse allowing Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez to get away. It looked like these two were going to gain a bit of time on the two leaders until Alberto and Andy started working together to limit the loss to just 14 seconds.
This leaves the top 10 in the overall classification like this:
1 SCHLECK Andy (TEAM SAXO BANK) 68h 02' 30"
2 CONTADOR Alberto (ASTANA) + 00' 31"
3 SANCHEZ Samuel (EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI) + 02' 31"
4 MENCHOV Denis (RABOBANK) + 02' 44"
5 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen (OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO) + 03' 31"
6 GESINK Robert (RABOBANK) + 04' 27"
7 LEIPHEIMER Levi (TEAM RADIOSHACK) + 04' 51"
8 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin (KATUSHA TEAM) + 04' 58"
9 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon (CAISSE D’EPARGNE) + 05' 56"
10 BASSO Ivan (LIQUIGAS-DOIMO) + 06' 52"
Today's stage of 1987.5 kms from Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon is another tough one with temperatures in the early 30s forecast. The main action should be on the last climb, Port de Balès – an hors catégorie. This is followed by a steep descent into Bagnères-de-Luchon. Should Alberto gain a little time on Andy on the climb it might well be difficult for Andy to make it up on the descent as he is not a very good descender. Hopefully it won't be cat and mouse time again today. The advantage remains with Contador as Schleck needs to gain more time before the time trial. Andy also has to be careful about Denis Menchov, who is also a good time triallist.
2 CONTADOR Alberto (ASTANA) + 00' 31"
3 SANCHEZ Samuel (EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI) + 02' 31"
4 MENCHOV Denis (RABOBANK) + 02' 44"
5 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen (OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO) + 03' 31"
6 GESINK Robert (RABOBANK) + 04' 27"
7 LEIPHEIMER Levi (TEAM RADIOSHACK) + 04' 51"
8 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin (KATUSHA TEAM) + 04' 58"
9 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon (CAISSE D’EPARGNE) + 05' 56"
10 BASSO Ivan (LIQUIGAS-DOIMO) + 06' 52"
Today's stage of 1987.5 kms from Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon is another tough one with temperatures in the early 30s forecast. The main action should be on the last climb, Port de Balès – an hors catégorie. This is followed by a steep descent into Bagnères-de-Luchon. Should Alberto gain a little time on Andy on the climb it might well be difficult for Andy to make it up on the descent as he is not a very good descender. Hopefully it won't be cat and mouse time again today. The advantage remains with Contador as Schleck needs to gain more time before the time trial. Andy also has to be careful about Denis Menchov, who is also a good time triallist.
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