Stage 14

The road

At the start

Into the Pyrenees at Ax-3 Domaines

Andy Schleck comes to the decisive week with 31 seconds on Alberto Contador and everybody else more than two minutes away. Today begins gently and ends with two peaks: the Port de Pailhères, 2,001 metres up a ladder of hairpins, then a fast drop into Ax-les-Thermes and nine kilometres to Ax-3 Domaines. It is not the hardest finish in these mountains. At the speed these two climb, it will still make gaps.

How it was won

1. 1157 km to go

   Nine go, and none of them count

   Riblon is one of the last to join a nine-man escape that also holds Geraint Thomas, Dave Zabriskie and Pierre Rolland. None threatens the general classification, so they are given almost ten minutes.

2. 226 km to go

   Riblon alone over the Pailhères

   Astana have been on the front all day for a rider who is not in yellow, and the pressure has the peloton in a single line long before the 2,001-metre summit. Up front Riblon drops Van De Walle, then Moinard, and crosses the Port de Pailhères by himself.

3. 310 km to go

   2:46 at the foot of Ax-3 Domaines

   Riblon goes through the ten-kilometre banner with 2:46 on the Schleck group and nine kilometres of climbing left to defend it, Moinard almost back on him on the descent and then gone again.

4. 45 km to go

   Contador jumps, Schleck glues on

   Under the five-kilometre banner Contador surges up the inside of what is left of the favourites' group. Schleck is on him before the acceleration has finished, and neither of them looks at anybody else again.

5. 53 km to go

   The track stand

   Three kilometres from the line Menchov and Sánchez ride away and the two men who are winning this Tour do not react. Contador looks at Schleck, Schleck looks at Contador, and they come to a near-halt on a ten per cent gradient like match sprinters using a mountain for a velodrome.

6. 6At the line

   Riblon holds on

   Christophe Riblon survives to win at Ax-3 Domaines by 54 seconds from Samuel Sánchez, Schleck third at 1:08. The Pyrenees decide nothing, and confirm everything: this is a two-man race.

The result