Contador retains yellow jersey as Fedrigo wins Tour’s 16th stage
Pierrick Fedrigo has won the gruelling 16th stage of the Tour de France, a 199.5-kilometre stretch that saw riders tackle the punishing Col du Tourmalet, while Alberto Contador retains the yellow jersey, which he had controversially claimed from then race leader Andy Schleck late in the 15th stage yesterday.
Contador had launched his attack on the Saxo Bank rider when Schleck’s chain jumped off to short-circuit any chance he may have had of launching a successful counter-attack on the defending champion.
Tradition dictates competitors should not attack the rider wearing the yellow jersey if he falls or encounters mechanical problems, and the Spaniard drew his share of criticism for the actions that saw him complete a 39-second turn-around on Schleck as he moved to an eight-second lead over last year’s runner-up in the overall race.
The fight for the yellow jersey may be the end game here, and one Lance Armstrong is more familiar with than any of his competitors after winning the Tour a record seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005, but as he started today’s stage more than 40 minutes behind the leader that wasn’t a realistic expectation.
A stage victory, however, appeared to be very much on the 38-year-old’s “to do” list on his farewell Tour when he cemented his place among the breakaway group as it stretched its lead over the peloton in the most demanding stage of this year’s race.
It was Carlos Barredo though who sought to make the decisive break from the lead group as the Quick Step rider attempted to win the first Tour de France stage of his career, launching his ambitious solo attack with about 45 kilometres remaining.
At one stage stretching his lead over Armstrong's group to 50 seconds, Barredo couldn’t hold off the fast-finishing chase group who reeled him in with less than two kilometres to the line and it was Frenchman Fedrigo who took the honours for Bbox Bouygues Telecom, with Armstrong in the end having to content himself with a sixth place finish.
Fedrigo and the frontrunners may have crossed the line, but the battle for the yellow jersey was still taking place in the pack, where Schleck was unable to make up yesterday’s lost seconds on Contodor, as the two finished side-by-side in the peloton, six minutes and 45 seconds behind Fedrigo - a result that means Contodor will don the yellow jersey for at least another day.
Tags: