Schleck, Contador, Schleck - a perfect SRAM RED 1 -2 - 3

Top Five Riders On GC Now SRAM RED equipped.

Although his brother Fränk jumped from 5th to 3rd today in Le Grand-Bornand, Best Young Rider Andy Schleck said post-stage “That isn’t so important…I’m so happy Frank won the stage. We don’t have so many chances on this Tour so we have to take what we can.” In a shout-out to their injured Saxo Bank teammate Jens Voigt, in a hospital in Grenoble after his nasty crash yesterday, Andy said “I’m sure Jens saw the stage today…I just got goosebumps. It was just fantastic today; everything worked out as we planned it.”

SRAM RED equipped stage winner Fränk Schleck told the media post-stage “I am very proud of my brother and my team. It was a great day for our team. We took responsibility of the stage,” Frank said. “We heard great news this morning that Jens (Voigt) was going to be OK, so we wanted to attack in his honor. We set our tactics to attack because there was nothing to lose today. Andy set a brutal pace on the Romme to break up the race. Andy did some great work and sacrificed his chances to win. I will pay him back.”

5th on the stage, Lance Armstrong tweeted post stage “St 17 done. Tough day! Got caught out on some attacks on the col de romme but managed ok from behind. Had some cramps @ the end. No fun!!”

Wednesday’s Stage 17 was the toughest mountain stage of the 2009 Tour De France, 169.5km from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand. Wednesday was up and down across the high mountains of the Savoie and Haute-Savoie departements, with 5 classified climbs. The stage started right away with the ascent of the Cormet de Roselend (18km-6.1% gradient), the Col des Saisies (15.1km-6.1% gradient), the Côte d’Arâches (6.3km-7% gradient), the penutimate ascent of the Col de Romme (8.8km-8.9% gradient), making it’s Tour De France debut and the Col de la Colombière (7.5km-8.5%gradient).

Stage 17 started under partly cloudy skies and the attacks started right away, as Astana was just riding tempo to control the race. A big group eventually formed consisting of over 20 riders, including SRAM RED equipped riders Geoffroy Lequatre (Agritubel) & Linus Gerdeman (Milram), best climber Pellizotti, US TT champ Zabriskie (Garmin Slipstream), Van den Broeck (Silence Lotto), Perez, Martinez, Txurruka & Verdugo (Euskaltel Euskadi), Uran (Caisse d’Epargne), Chavanel (Quick Step), Pauriol & Kern (Cofidis), Menchov (Rabobank), Monfort & Hincapie (Columbia), Bruseghin (Lampre NGC), Rolland & Voeckler (BBox Bouygues Telecom), Hushovd (Cervélo) & Arrieta (Ag2r La Mondiale).

As the Col de Saisies started, rain began to fall on the riders. Surprisingly, Green jersey Hushovd (Cervélo) took off on the ascent in search of more points in the intermediate sprint on the other side of the Saisies climb. The rest of the attackers were 1′ behind the big Norwegian, with the group Maillot Jaune at 5′. SRAM RED equipped Maillot Jaune Contador had a rear puncture halfway up the climb, changed his bike while another SRAM RED equipped squad, Saxo Bank took up the pace.

With 94km to go, Hushovd took the sprint points in Praz-Sur-Arly, 1′15″ ahead of the chasers and 5′ ahead of the group Maillot Jaune to extend his lead in the competition for the Green jersey. Hushovd kept rolling and took the second set of sprint points, then was caught in Cluses as the break closed down on the big Norwegian as the penultimate climb of the Col de Romme began. Just behind, the group Maillot Jaune had closed down on the break and as the climb began, the break was absorbed for good.

An attack by Sastre exploded the peloton as the Col de Romme ramped upwards, but a strong counter attack by Andy Schleck cracked the race wide open, as only Maillot Jaune Contador and Astana teammate Andreas Kloden could stay with him. At the summit of the Cat1 Col de Romme, there were 4 SRAM RED riders up front; Astana’s Maillot Jaune Contador and Andreas Kloden and Saxo Bank’s Andy & Franck Schleck, with Astana’s Lance Armstrong, Wiggins & Vandevelde of Garmin and Nibali (Liquigas) chasing 1′ back.

As the final climb of the Col de la Colombière commenced, the four front-runners were 1′ 20″ ahead of Nibali, Armstrong, Wiggins & Vandevelde, while Sastre and 10 other riders were at 3′20″. By the summit with 15km left to race, Astana’s Maillot Jaune Contador and Saxo Bank’s Andy & Franck Schleck had dropped Kloden after an attack by Contador, who was 1′15″, behind, while Armstrong had attacked Wiggins & Nibali. Armstrong crested the Col de la Colombière climb 2′05″ behind the front of the race, while Wiggins & Nibali were 15″ back and the second chase group was at 5′. At the finish in Le Grand Bornand, Frank Schleck took the sprint from Alberto Contador and his brother Andy for a 1-2-3 finish by SRAM RED equipped riders. By the finish, Nibali had gotten across to Armstrong and both caught Kloden on the run-in but the Italian edged Armstrong for 4th. With the shake-up on gc today, Andy Schleck’s stage winning ride for his second career Tour De France stage win allowed him to jump into 3rd overall, with the first five riders on gc SRAM RED equipped!

Thursday’s race is Stage 18, a 40.5km individual time trial around Lac d’Annecy. A rolling course with a hard, 3.7km, 6% climb up the Côte de Bluffy after 24.5km, Stage 18 will truly be the race of truth at this years Tour. Tour director Christian Prudhomme says of Stage 18 “In this gorgeous setting of Lac d’Annecy, the Tour’s fial time-trial often marks the end of the struggle. But the 2009 Tour is not over yet because the loop around Lake Annecy is approximately just 40 km long, and above all because the final battle is still to come.”

Wednesday, July 22
Stage 17 / Bourg-Saint-Maurice Le Grand-Bornand / 169.5km
1. Fränk Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank - SRAM RED / 4h53′54″
2. Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana - SRAM RED @ same time
3. Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank - SRAM RED @ same time
5. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana - SRAM RED @ 2′18″
6. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana - SRAM RED @ 2′27″
8. Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel - SRAM RED @ 4′09″

General Classification-Wednesday, July 21
2009 Tour de France / General Classification After Stage 17
1. Alberto Contador - Astana - SRAM RED 72h27′09″
2. Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank - SRAM RED @ 2′26″
3. Frank Schleck - Astana - SRAM RED @ 3′25″
4. Lance Armstrong - Astana - SRAM RED @ 3′55″
5. Andréas Kloden - Astana - SRAM RED @ 2′17″