Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) got the perfect confidence boost two weeks before the start of the Tour de France when he beat Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in the big battle on the queen stage at the Route du Sud. Despite repeated attacks, he was unable to drop the Colombian on the final climb on the Port de Bales but he managed to distance his rival on the technical descent, holding him off by 13 seconds to take both the stage win and the overall victory.

 

After he won the Giro d’Italia, Albrto Contador has mainly been resting in an attempt to recover from three weeks of very fast racing on the Italian roads. Hence, he was very uncertain when he lined up at the Route du Sud which is his final test before the Tour de France, but Tinkoff-Saxo did nothing to hide that they wanted to win the mountainous event with their Spanish captain.

 

Contador used the first two sprint stages to get back into the racing rhythm but the big test of his condition would always come in today’s big queen stage in the Pyrenees. With two big mountains in the first part and the tough Port de Bales in the finale before a 20km descent led to the finish, it was a tough course that was reminiscent of a big mountain stage in the Tour de France.

 

With Nairo Quintana also using the race as his final preparation for the Tour de France, the race had got a lot of attention from the cycling world as it was a chance to gauge the condition of two of the biggest favourites for La Grande Boucle. And it all fully lived up to expectations as they went head to head on the Port de Bales in an exciting drama.

 

Contador was the aggressor who launched repeated attacks but Quintana never seemed to be in trouble as he easily responded to all the accelerations. Contador was clearly frustrated to be unable to get rid of the strong Colombian who didn’t do any work but didn’t launch any attacks either.

 

A very strong Pierre-Roger Latour (Ag2r) spent most of the climb as the lone leader but was brought back before the top. However, he managed to stay with the two star after he was caught and it was a front trio that crested the summit with a 15-second advantage over Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) and Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne).

 

While he was unable to drop Quintana on the climb, Contador got very important information about the Colombian’s descending skills as he managed to distance both his companions in the technical first part of the descent. He quickly got an advantage of 10 seconds over Quintana who lost time in all the technical parts while Latour was even further back.

 

In an easier section, Quintana nearly made it back but as the descending again got difficult, Contador reopened his advantage. In the end, he crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of Quintana while Latour was more than 30 seconds back in third.

 

With the win Contador also takes the leader’s jersey in the French race and he leads Quintana by 17 seconds as he goes into the final stage. As the course only includes two smaller climbs and has a flat finish, a bunch sprint is expected and so Contador only needs to stay safe to add another stage race to his palmares.

 

The queen stage

After two days for the sprinters, it was time for the queen stage in the Route du Sud. The course brought the riders over 181km from Izaourt to Bagneres-de-Luchon and was a very mountainous affair. After a short flat section, the riders tackled the category 1 Haut-Ballestas and Col de Val Louron Azet in quick succession before they descended to another flat part. In the finale, the riders went up the famous Port de Bales which summited just 20.7km from the finish. From there, it was a very technical descent to the line.

 

For the third day in a row, the riders had nice conditions when they gathered for the start and all riders who finished yesterday’s stage were present. Unlike yesterday, it was a fast opening phase with lots of attacks but the early break was established relatively early.

 

A big breakaway takes off

After 9km of racing, Quentin Jauregui (Ag2r), Mads Pedersen (Cult), Aritz Bagues (Murias Taldea), Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Alexandre Blain (Marseille), Ricardo Ferreira (Radio Popular), Jerome Cousin (Europcar), Daniel Martinez (Colombia), Fabricio Ferrari (Caja Rural) and Kristoffer Skjerping (Cannondael) attacked after Bagues had instigated the move and they quickly got an advantage of 1.30. Tinkoff-Saxo quickly started to ride on the front of the peloton but they allowed the gap to grow to 4.30 before they started to stabilize the situation.

 

When Skjerping beat Bagues and Blain in the first intermediate sprint at the bottom of the first climb, they gap had gone out to 4.50 but as they started to climb, it started to come down. At the 31km mark, it was only 4.00 and riders were now getting dropped from the peloton, with Caesar Bihel (Auber), Dan McLay, Romain Feillu, Benoit Jarrier (Bretagne), Samuel Magalhaes (Radop Popular), Yann Guyot (Armee), David Menut (Auber) and Maxime Daniel (Ag2r) all losing contact. Moments later, race leader Steven Tronet (Auber 93) also fell behind.

 

Tinkoff-Saxo set a brutal pace

Angelo Tulik, Bryan Coquard (Europcar) and Julien Duval (Armee) were among the next riders to get dropped while Tinkoff-Saxo continued to set a brutal pace. After one hour of racing, the gap was only 2.50.

 

Blain was dropped from the breakaway while Armindo Fonseca (Bretagne), Clement Saint-Martin (Marseille), Anthony Maldonado (Auber 93), Cedric Pineau, Anthony Geslin (FDJ), Oliver Zaugg (Tinkoff-Saxo), Guillaume Levarlet (Auber 93), Julien Berard (Ag2r) and Edwin Avila (Colombia) lost contact with the peloton. Moments later Bagues dropped out of the front group due to a mechanical while Linus Gerdemann (Cult), Louis Verhelst (Cofidis) and Remy Di Gregorio (Marseille) were among the final riders to be distanced by the peloton before they got to the top.

 

KOM points for Martinez

Ferreira was dropped from the break just before Martinez led Ferrari, Skjerping, Chetout, Pedersen and Jauregui over the top and moments later Skjerping beat Chetout and Pedersen in the second intermediate sprint. Here the gap had gone down to just 2.35 and many riders were now abandoning, including Feillu, McLay, Adrian Gonzalez and Benjamin Giraud.

 

As they started to climb the second mountain, Ferreira and Bagues were 1.30 behind the front group while the peloton was at 2.24. Romain Hardy (Cofidis) and Quentin Pacher (Armee) were some of the riders to get dropped from the peloton before Martinez led Chetout, Ferrari, Cousin, Skjerping and Pedersen over the top.

 

The break is caught

The gap was now only 2.00 and Bagues, Blain and Ferreira had all been caught. It was still Tinkoff-Saxo in control and they rode very fast on the descent and subsequent flat section. With 90km to go, the gap was 1.25 and 10km later it was only 35 seconds. With 77km to go, it was all back together.

 

A regrouping took place on the descent and one of the riders who got back was Hardy. He launched a two-rider attack with Egoitz Garcia (Murias Taldea) and they managed to build an advantage of 25 seconds.

 

More points for Skjerping

In the flat section between the final two climbs, Sergio Paulinho and Christopher Juul set the pace for Tinkoff-Saxo and they gradually brought the gap down. With 45km to go, it was just 10 seconds.

 

The gap hovered around that mark until they got to the intermediate sprint with 40km to go. Here Kristoffer Skjerping (Cannondale) quickly bridged the gap before sprinting ahead to take maximum points ahead of Hardy and Garcia.

 

Chetout takes off

Hard and Garcia sat up while Skjerping continued his attack as he started to climb the Port de Bales. However, he was quickly passed by Chetout who took off again.

 

In the peloton, Paulinho and Juul had swung off and it was now Ivan Rovny setting the pace for Tinkoff-Saxo. He quickly brought Skjerping back while Chetout extended his advantage.

 

El Fares attacks

However, Rovny didn’t slow down and he brought the Frenchman back before they got to the hard part of the climb. Meanwhile, the first riders were dropped from the peloton.

 

As they got to the steep part, Rovny swung off and it was now Ivan Basso setting the pace. The Italian didn’t respond when Julien El Fares (Marseille) attacked.

 

A big selection

While El Fares dangled a few metres ahead, the peloton exploded to pieces as Fabrice Jeandesboz, Chirstophe Riblon, Pierrick Fedrigo and Yoann Bagot were among the riders to get dropped. Basso brought the lone Frenchman back before he swung off and left it to Jesus Hernandez to take a short turn before Michael Rogers took over.

 

The Australian’s fast pace made Dayer Quintana (Movistar), Ryder Hesjedal (Cannonale), Hubert Dupont (Ag2r), Rasmus Guldhammer (Cult), Angel Madrazo (Caja Rural), John Gadret (Movistar), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r), Nathan Brown (Cannondale) and several other riders lose contact while Contador and Quintana looked comfortable in second and third position. With 28km to go, the group had been whittled down to less than 15 riders.

 

Contador attacks

Miguel Rubiano (Colombia) launched an attack but Rogers quickly shit it down. Only Contador, Quintana, Alberto Gallego (Radio Popular), Pierre-Roger Latour (Ag2r) and Eduardo Sepulveda (Bretagne) could keep up with the strong Australian who took one final big turn before he swung off.

 

Contador made his first big attack but Quintana and Latour were glued to his wheel. As he again slowed down, Gallego rejoined the trio before Latour used the slower pace to take off, immediately getting a big gap.

 

More attacks from Contador

Rubiano, Sepulveda and Stephane Rossetto (Cofidis) were dangling just a few metres behind Contador, Quintana and Gallego and after a hard fight they managed to rejoin the trio. At this point, Latour had an advantage of 12 seconds.

 

With 25km to go, Contador tried again but Quintana and Gallego didn’t give him an inch. Rubiano also quickly made it back and he went straight to the front to set the pace, 20 seconds behind Latour.

 

Latour extends his advantage

Rubiano stopped his work and as Contador got back on the front, Rossetto and Sepulveda also rejoined the group. They didn’t get much time to recover before Contador hit the gas again and this time only Quintana could match his pace.

 

Contador briefly sat down before he tried again but Quintana seemed to be at ease.  Hence, they again slowed down and so Gallego rejoined them and Latour extended his advantage.

 

Latour is caught

Rubiano also rejoined the favourites and tried an immediate counterattack. However, Contador brought him back before he tried again but he was still unable to get rid of Quintana.

 

Less than 3km from the top, Contador and Quintana caught Latour while Gallego, Rubiano, Sepulveda and Rossetto had combined forces further back.  Gallego and Rubiano were dropped as Rossetto and Sepulveda worked well together to maintain a 20-second gap to the three leaders.

 

A trio crests the summit

Less than 2km from the top, Contador made another acceleration that briefly distanced Latour but the front trio came back together. As they again slowed down, Rossetto and Sepulveda got closer, bringing the gap down to 15 seconds.

 

Contador continued to set the pace but Quintana repeatedly moved up alongside him to show that he was not in trouble. In the last few hundred metres, Contador applied the pressure again but as he was unable to distance his rivals, it was Quintana who led the Spaniard and Latour over the top while Sepulveda and Rossetto followed 15 seconds later.

 

Contador drops Quintana

Contador accelerated hard in the technical first part of the descent and this made the front trio split to pieces. He immediately got a big advantage over Quintana while Latour was even further back.

 

Contador gradually increased his time gain as he was clearly superior in the technical sections. With 10km to go, he had distanced Quintana by 10 seconds while Latour was 10 seconds further back.

 

As they hit a less technical section, Quintana took back 5 seconds and it briefly seemed like he would make it back. However, as they again got to a technical part, the Spaniard again increased his advantage and with 5km to go, he was 10 seconds ahead while Latour was at 30 seconds. From there, the situation didn’t change and Contador had plenty of time to celebrate his win.