Andy Schleck of the Leopard Trek team put in a strong move inside the final kilometer in the 14th stage of the Tour de France, finishing atop the Plateau de Beille. But in the end he could only gain two seconds over his closest rivals, after earlier attacks were neutralized by his main rivals. Teammate Jens Voigt put in his usual work load but lamented on an asphalt day.
Andy and his brother Fränk tried to make a difference on the steep finishing climb, but it was in vain. "By the end, we had all the favorites left, but most of them were just looking at one another," Fränk said on the team's website. "Only me, Andy and [Ivan] Basso cared to attack. The others were only riding wheels. This is too bad for the GC battle." The GC battle may work well for Australian Cadel Evans, who is a very strong time trialer.
To many people, Thomas Voeckler was a surprise, riding strongly and defending his yellow jersey for another day. But the Schlecks had him on their minds. "Voeckler is not a surprise," said Andy. "We were counting on him to be strong. We know he is good, and the yellow jersey only makes him better." His brother agreed. "He's a great rider who races with a lot of panache," added Fränk. "We fully expected him to be with top contenders at the finish today."
Leopard Trek played their team cards again, with the Germans spearheading the effort. "The plan emerged that I would go with Linus [Gerdemann] in the breakaway," said Jens Voigt. "In the later part of the race, I would be there to help our captains as they were going up the mountains. We could give them fresh bottles and gels and pull a little bit. We knew it would be important to have someone around."
Voigt's plan was disrupted by two crashes, continuing his string of bad luck in the Tour. "My back tire popped on the descent," Voigt explained. "I hit the brakes so hard that it exploded. It's hard to stay upright when that happens." Voigt continued ahead of the bunch, but on a right-hand hairpin came to grieve again. He shook his head in anger and frustration. "The second time I crashed, my front wheel slipped out from under me. I'm not exactly sure how that happened. I went down again. It's sad, but I'm lucky. I have only scratches and some blood. At the Tour, you always have some fantastic days and some days where you hit the asphalt. Today was an asphalt day for me."
Andy and Fränk attacked again repeatedly, but they couldn't drop any of the overall contenders. "It was impossible to make a difference today," said Andy. "The climb wasn't hard enough or steep enough. It wasn't possible to make a gap even though I tried several times." He had expected this scenario. "This was nearly as we expected it," said Andy. "It was not a surprise the way the favorites marked each other."
The Alps provide the last chance to the non-time trialing specialists to gain time ahead of Saturday's showdown in Grenoble.