Tour Watch

Stage 15 Sunday, July 19 2009: Pontarlier - Verbier 207.5 km | Results

Contador wins as Wiggins emerges a complete Grand Tour rider

Team Astana's Alberto Contador took the mountain top win at Verbier with a stunning display of attacking climbing, which saw the diminutive Spaniard dance away from a select group of the world's best climbers; Frank and Andy Schleck, teammates Lance Armstrong and Andreas Kloden, and the astonishing Bradley Wiggins, who now sits in a podium position after a dramatic first day in the Alps.

The stage from Pontarlier to Verbier saw a breakaway group of 10 riders form at 137km, amongst them was Euskatel's Astarloza, who threatened to become de-facto Yellow Jersey at one point.

However, the peloton, headed by heavyweights from Astana and Team Saxo Bank had other ideas and wrung the neck of the race on the long valley road to the foot of the 9km climb to the ski resort of Verbier.

As the race approached the foot of the climb, Simon Spilak of Lampre, last on the road a few days ago, surged off the front and disappeared up the road. The rest of the group quickly fragmented and with it, Astarloza's chance of grabbing yellow.

At the foot of the climb, Garmin Slipstream hit the front, in an effort to get the reinvented Bradley Wiggins into a strong position. Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt put in an all-out effort on the front of the group, but couldn't drop Wiggins who looked calm and smooth and every inch the mountain goat. It was clear that Garmin had delivered Wiggins in prime condition to contest the mountain top finish - an unbelievable scenario for a rider with the words ‘prologue' and ‘pursuit' written right through him. But Wiggo's 7kg weight loss during the ‘09 season has transformed him into a rider who can cut it against the clock and the gradient - the two key elements of any GC condenter.

The breakaway riders were quickly mopped up by the charging lead group containing Contador, the brothers Schleck, Armstrong, Contador and Wiggins. The massive effort put in was enough to shell out the Yellow Jersey Nocentini, polka dot jersey holder Pellizotti and defending champion Carlos Sastre (who later recovered).

Contador then kicked savagely and was away - Andy Schleck chased but couldn't get on his wheel. From then on in, the stage win and the Yellow Jersey was a done deal. Armstrong, who had stuck like glue to Contador, could not match the Spaniard's acceleration and rode tempo with Kloden, limiting his losses. Frank Schleck and Nibali then attempted to bridge the gap to brother Andy and were quickly joined by Wiggins, who continued to amaze and delight in the rarefied Alpine air, in the company of the Tour's modern day climbing greats.

Contador danced away on the pedals, looking comfortable even on the 12% ramp at the end of the climb and crossed the line with his trademark pistol-shot victory salute, 43 seconds ahead of Andy Schleck, who had begun to close on Contador on the brutal last few kms. Wiggins finished in 5th position with Schleck at 1:06 back with Armstong arriving 1:35 back in 9th position, proving that at 37yrs old, he's still a huge force when the road turns skyward.

So, at the end of the first dramatic day in the Alps, Contador sat at the top of the GC with Armstrong in second place, 1:37 back. However it was Wiggins' massive performance that was the story of the day from a British perspective, ending the day in 3rd position overall, only 9 seconds adrift of Armstrong.

Speaking to ITV after the race, a remarkably fresh faced Bradley looked forward to the remaining days in the Alps and the remaining TT in Annecy, which he described with a wry smile as ‘Wiggo's element'. From recent form, it is clear that Wiggo has been quietly sharpening the other edge of his sword since Beijing and is now a force in the mountains as well as against the clock.

In a stage with 6 categorised climbs along it's length, it was never going to be a day which affected the Green Jersey competition, with Mark Cavendish still 18 points adrift of leader Thor Hushovd following the contentious judges' decision on Stage 14. Stage 15 saw Tom Boonen retire from the race and end what has been a torrid few weeks at the office for the Belgian former Green jersey.

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