• Tour de France, Stage 17

Advantage Contador despite Schleck victory

Andy Schleck was unable to escape the grasp of Alberto Contador © Getty Images

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Alberto Contador took one step closer to defending his Tour de France title after rival Andy Schleck failed to gain any advantage on the gruelling Stage 17 climb to Col du Tourmalet.

Contador maintained his eight-second lead and held onto the yellow jersey after hanging on to cross the line with Schleck after his rival failed to make the most of the brutal climb in the Pyrenees.

Schleck needed to regain the yellow jersey and had set himself a target of building a 60-second lead on the climb to the summit of Tourmalet, but he was unable to escape the clutches of the Spaniard.

With time running out, the Saxobank rider launched an attack with 10km to go, but Contador came with him. A number of riders tried to stay with the pair, but one by one Jurgen Van den Broeck, Samuel Sanchez, Robert Gesink and Denis Menchov were dropped as they were unable to keep up with the relentless pace.

With mist and fog surrounding Tourmalet, the pair wore down the breakaway group, including Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen, who had made an early attack and had built up a nine-minute lead. Finally they passed Alexandr Kolobnev, the last remaining survivor of the early break.

Every time Schleck stepped up the pace, Contador matched him. The Astana rider made a move with less than 4km to go, but Schleck dug deep to take the victory.

With Saturday's time trial ahead, Schleck knows he will have his work cut out if he is to keep up with the superior sprinter, but he is refusing to accept defeat.

"He's a better time trialist, it's eight seconds but anything can happen," Schleck said. "I won't give up the fight until Paris. I know it's going to be hard to win this Tour. But last year I was four minutes back; now I am only eight seconds back, so anything is possible."

Olympic champion Sanchez survived an early crash to maintain his third place in the general classification. The Spaniard was badly winded after falling heavily, but managed to make up the deficit and finish fifth ahead of rival Menchov.

Carlos Sastre attempted to chase the breakaway group, but after grinding out a healthy lead over the peloton, he was ground back down, and faded away in the later stages.

Stage 17: Pau - Col du Tourmalet
1. Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank - 5:03:29
2. Alberto Contador - Astana
3. Joaquin Rodriguez - Katusha - +0:01:18
4. Ryder Hesjedal - Garmin - Transitions - +0:01:27
5. Samuel Sanchez - Euskaltel - +0:01:32
6. Denis Menchov - Rabobank - +0:01:40
7. Robert Gesink - Rabobank
8. Christopher Horner - Radioshack - +0:01:45
9. Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Omega Pharma-Lotto - +0:01:48
10. Roman Kreuziger - Liquigas-Doimo - +0:02:14

General Classification after Stage 17
1 Alberto Contador - Astana - 78:29:10
2 Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank - +0:00:08
3 Samuel Sanchez - Euskaltel - +0:03:32
4 Denis Menchov - Rabobank - +0:03:53
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck - Omega Pharma-Lotto - +0:05:27
6 Robert Gesink - Rabobank - +0:06:41
7 Joaquin Rodriguez - Katusha - +0:07:03
8 Ryder Hesjedal - Garmin - Transitions - +0:09:18
9 Roman Kreuziger- Liquigas-Doimo - +0:10:12
10 Christopher Horner - Radioshack- +0:10:37
23 Lance Armstrong - Radioshack - +0:37:58
24 Bradley Wiggins- Sky - +0:41:03

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