The Brothers Schleck Race Into Podium Position

Tour de France

 Andy Schleck is the best young rider in the race, his brother Frank was the best rider in the 17th stage. It was a thrilling finale to a climbing stage that was dominated by a sprinter for the first two-thirds of the journey from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand Bornand… and then the GC guys came out to play.

Over the fourth and fifth climbs there were attacks from the defending Tour champion, Sastre, but he would later suffer for his efforts. Instead, the stars of the show were his former team-mates Frank and Andy Schleck. They put themselves in a winning position by following attacks by the yellow jersey and then setting a furious pace all the way to the finish where Frank beat the yellow jersey.

Stage 17 Top Ten finishers:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Frank Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 4h 53′ 54″ -
2 Alberto Contador ASTANA 4h 53′ 54″ + 00′ 00″
3 Andy Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 4h 53′ 54″ + 00′ 00″
4 Vincenzo Nibali LIQUIGAS 4h 56′ 12″ + 02′ 18″
5 Lance Armstrong ASTANA 4h 56′ 12″ + 02′ 18″
6 Andréas Kloden ASTANA 4h 56′ 21″ + 02′ 27″
7 Bradley Wiggins GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 4h 57′ 01″ + 03′ 07″
8 Christophe Moreau AGRITUBEL 4h 58′ 03″ + 04′ 09″
9 Christian Vande Velde GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 4h 58′ 03″ + 04′ 09″
10 Rémi Pauriol COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 5h 00′ 04″ + 06′ 10″

Overall Classification after Stage 17:

Yellow Jersey:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Alberto Contador ASTANA 72h 27′ 09″ -
2 Andy Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 72h 29′ 35″ + 02′ 26″
3 Frank Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 72h 30′ 34″ + 03′ 25″

Green Jersey (Sprint):

No Rider Teams Points
1 Thor Hushovd CERVELO TEST TEAM 230
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 196
2 Egoi Martinez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 118
3 Pierrick Fedrigo BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 97