Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador had a little track stand tango on the slopes of the Ax-3 Domaines today, whilst an initially bemused Denis Menchov and Samuel Sánchez looked on and then decided to sneak off for some small time gains over the two. Meanwhile, in a huge and brave effort, Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale) had long flown the coop and scored a great win.
Stage 14 from Revel to Ax-3 Domaines was the first foray into the Pyrenees for this year's Tour, and it was nice little 184 km 'softener', with the juicy Port de Pailhères, a non-categorised climb of some 25 km at an average 7% starting at 130 km (but preceded by a false flat of the same distance), and the shorter 9 km Cat 1 of Ax-3 Domaines right on the finish.
Being gluttons for punishment (and this has been a punishing Tour) a bunch of nine riders headed off on the obligatory break at the 25km mark - the bunch had no GC threats but did include eventual winner Riblon, which demonstrates the magnitude of his ride.
Reaching a maximum of ten minutes advantage over the peloton, the breakaway must have pushed a few buttons in the Astana team, as they started to set a high pace in the main bunch well before Pailhères, whittling the lead bunch's advantage down to around 4 min at the foot of the climb proper. The fact that Astana was pulling the train seemed a little strange - whilst long, it seemed doubtful the Pailhères was the type of slope to break Schleck, and equally, it gave Team Saxo Bank a nice rest break from previous arduous days.
At the foot of the climb, Carlos Sastre (Cervelo) made a jump and left the peloton, attempting to emulate a previous win on the same route in 2003, whilst up ahead the leading group of nine had come apart, with Riblon making a similar move, and only Amaël Moinard (Cofidis) and Jurgen Van De Walle (Quick Step) able to follow, although Van De Walle exploded half way up.
On the climb, the Astana train continued to shed riders off the peloton, and Schleck kept a close eye on Contador. At differing times, an additional three riders set off in pursuit of Riblon up the long climb: first off was Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto), followed by Vasil Kiryienka (Caisse d'Epargne) and then Damiano Cunego (Lampre). Whilst these riders eventually merged together and caught Sastre, Riblon had meanwhile crested the climb, having distanced Moinard a little. The AG2R rider then made a slightly messy descent to the foot of Ax-3 Domaines, allowing Moinard to almost latch back on, but Riblin started the climb with some speed and that was the end of Moinard.
Meanwhile, arriving at the climb some 2:30 minutes behind the leader, Astana started to ramp it up, with Vinokourov prominent at the pointy end, and it was chiefly his efforts which saw all riders bar Riblon caught on the slopes.
Contador had been shadowed by Schleck the entire climb and had thrown in a few unsuccessful break attempts at various points, which Schleck was on to instantaneously. Then, in a moment of some surreality, Contador slowed to an almost complete stop and Schleck did likewise: it was a match race on a climb! Menchov and Sanchez, both close in attendance, did double takes, and one can only imagine what was going through their heads. Then, after another backward glance, they both decided they were out of there and hit the gas, with thoughts of time gains in their minds. Vinokourov didn't know what the hell to do, but wisely decided to hang around with his team leader, who snapped out of his trance, and pedaled off with Schleck again in close attendance. Truly weird!
Mind you, Christophe Riblon wouldn't have given a rat's arse if they were beating each other down with their bidons I'm sure - he was off with the fairies celebrating his win in the final km home: a great solo ride after a huge long day in the breakaway.
Menchov and Sanchez came in second and third locked together, having gained a small 14 sec gap over the tangoing pair of Schleck and Contador, who zoomed in with a group which also included Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto).
So hats off to Riblon for the win, and a big thanks to Alberto and Andy for the dance show!
Ride Safe!
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