Contador’s Coup In Switzerland

Tour de FranceAlberto Contador was expected to make an impression on the race on the first day of climbing in the Alps and that’s exactly what he did. He bolted ahead of all his rivals at the base of the final ascent and into the yellow jersey with an impressive display of climbing.

Carlos Sastre and a host of other favorites would lose contact early but fight to limit their losses but they all appear to be racing for second place in the 2009 Tour as Contador was outstanding. He claimed the victory in the stage ahead of an impressive Andy Schleck and now leads the general classification from his team-mate, the seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.

Stage 15 Top Ten finishers:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Alberto Contador ASTANA 5h 03′ 58″ -
2 Andy Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 5h 04′ 41″ + 00′ 43″
3 Vincenzo Nibali LIQUIGAS 5h 05′ 01″ + 01′ 03″
4 Frank Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 5h 05′ 04″ + 01′ 06″
5 Bradley Wiggins GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 5h 05′ 04″ + 01′ 06″
6 Carlos Sastre CERVELO TEST TEAM 5h 05′ 04″ + 01′ 06″
7 Cadel Evans SILENCE - LOTTO 5h 05′ 24″ + 01′ 26″
8 Andréas Kloden ASTANA 5h 05′ 27″ + 01′ 29″
9 Lance Armstrong ASTANA 5h 05′ 33″ + 01′ 35″
10 Kim Kirchen TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC 5h 05′ 53″ + 01′ 55″

Overall Classification after Stage 15:

Yellow Jersey:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Alberto Contador ASTANA 63h 17′ 56″ -
2 Lance Armstrong ASTANA 63h 19′ 33″ + 01′ 37″
3 Bradley Wiggins GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 63h 19′ 42″ + 01′ 46″

Green Jersey (Sprint):

No Rider Teams Points
1 Thor Hushovd CERVELO TEST TEAM 218
2 Mark Cavendish TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC 200
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas CAISSE D’EPARGNE 126

Polka Dot Jersey (King of Mountain):

No Rider Teams Points
1 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS 109
2 Egoi Martinez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 101
3 Pierrick Fedrigo BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 65