Alberto Contador is 4 minutes behind Thomas Voeckler heading into the Alps. Voeckler doesn’t have any illusions about holding onto the yellow jersey until Paris. But who will take it?
Contador has had some bad luck and a knee injury that have plagued him. He got caught behind a crash on stage 1 and then fell in stages 5 and 9, hurting his bad knee. He says it’s the hardest Tour he’s done. The Schleck brothers and Cadel Evans are around 2 minutes ahead of him. There are only a few stages left which will allow him to catch up. Today and tomorrow are smaller climbs. Stages 18 and 19 on Thursday and Friday will include the Col du Galibier, Alpe d’Huez, and Col d’Izoard – all hors categorie (above category) climbs. They’re longer climbs and higher altitude which favor him but he has a lot of time to make up. Then a time trial on Saturday which could favor Evans.
The clock is ticking.
