On Monday, Alberto Contador and the brothers Frank and Andy Schleck climbed the Tourmalet from opposite directions and coincidentally met on the top of the 2114-meter high climb. The Tourmalet was the first major climb introduced to the Tour de France 100 years ago, which is why this year's edition focuses on the Pyrenees. In the four days in this rugged mountain range between France and Spain, the Tourmalet will be climbed twice, in stage 16 and stage 17.
No wonder the contenders used the time to scout out the area. "These four days in the Pyrenees were tough, for we saw the stages that will decide the outcome of the Tour," Contador said after his special trip.
When Contador and the Schleck brothers met at the top, they stopped and greeted each other. Contador came from the Col d'Aspin side (the opposite way as will be done on stage 16, but the Tourmalet will be climbed from that side - La Mongie - on stage 17 ), the Luxemburgers went over the Col de Soulor (featured in stage 17). The Schlecks had some advice about the rest of Contador's ride, telling him that the Col d'Aubisque was closed to traffic and jokingly added that they should meet there in July.
Contador was sure that any of the stages 14, 15 16 or 17 would provide an opportunity to take off. "The first one has its final on Ax 3 Domaines, after a very tough climb." The mountain top finish in Ax 3 Domaines is preceded by the Port de Pailhères, a 15.1km climb with an average gradient of 8.1 percent and the top comes late in the stage, at km 155.5.
"The next day, there is another very hard climb, the Balès." While it is not a mountain top finish, only a 20km decent separates the first rider over the top form the finish line. The 19km climb at 6.2 percent is ranked hors catégorie, the highest ranking in the Tour de France.
"The third day the mystique stages like the Tourmalet and the Aubisque appear," Contador continued. "They can really crack people, even if they are far from the finish.
"At last the icing of the cake comes with the mountain top on the Tourmalet, the last opportunity of victory for the climbers, although the general classification is probably already pretty clear at this point," Contador said.
The Spaniard does not know the Alpine stages yet and will check them out after the Dauphiné Libéré. He has made up his mind already, however. "The Pyrenees will decide the race; this Tour is harder than the one in 2009."
For his part, Contador was happy with the way his preparation was going, having enjoyed ten days off the bike. "After the classics I took a break. It was hard to get going again at first, but everything goes according to plan," Contador said.
All Astana riders who accompanied him are pre-selected for the Tour and this allowed for additional bonding time. The riders climbing through south western France with Contador were Dmitriy Fofonov, Paolo Tiralongo, Benjamin Noval, Daniel Navarro, David De la Fuente, Jesus Hernández and Oscar Pereiro.
The next step in Contador's plan to win his third Tour de France is the Dauphiné Libéré, which starts on Sunday. "My form is good, but still not where I need to be for the Tour," he said. "I am tackling the Dauphiné without pressure, looking for the tune-up. The preparation is going to perfectly," Contador said, albeit admitting that he is still suffering from allergies.