Tour de France stage 14: Riblon wins for AG2R as the GC boys mark each other all the way

Christope Riblon of AG2R-La Mondiale took the biggest win of his career on Stage 14 of the Tour de France this afternoon, but drama was unfolding behind him as overall leader Andy Schleck and defending champion Alberto Contador inexplicably failed to respond to an attack by the two riders immediately below them in the general classification, Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez.

Team Saxo Bank's Schleck and Contador of Astana had marked each other closely throughout the afternoon’s 184.5km stage from Revel, and when Menchov of Rabobank launched his attack with a couple of kilometres to go, Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Sanchez swiftly following him, it looked as though that pair were set to make up significant time on the GC leaders.

In the end, Schleck and Contador had lost just 14 seconds on their rivals as they crossed the line in Ax 3 Domaines, when at one point it looked like they might lose a minute or more on an afternoon when they seemed engaged in a private battle with each other, as though no-one near the top of the General Classifcation mattered.

If the two favourites for the maillot jaune were trying to scrutinise each other for signs of weakness, it’s perhaps Schleck who will be the happier tonight. Twice, Contador had tried to attack him after the main GC contenders had passed under the 5km to go banner, and twice the Luxembourg rider had responded as the group, including Sanchez and Menchov, reformed around them.

Following the second of those attacks, the group caught Cervélo TestTeam’s Carlos Sastre, who had won his maiden Tour de France stage as a CSC rider on these very roads in 2003. Sastre attacked today on the punishing climb of the Port de Pailhères, its summit reached 19km from the end of the stage, followed by a lightning fast descent to Ax-les-Thermes before the final climb to the finish.

There was to be no repeat of that success of seven years ago for the Spaniard, however,  despite his efforts to keep up with Schleck and Contador  he was swiftly dropped and eventually came home tenth on the stage.

Another rider with reason to remember that 2003 stage, the first time the Tour de France climbed the Port de Pailhères, was Lance Armstrong, who had dug deep into his reserves that day to keep the yellow jersey after almost cracking under pressure from Jan Ullrich.

There was no such comeback for the 38-year-old Texan this afternoon, however, as he lost contact with the main group halfway up the climb, confirming that Armstrong’s 13th Tour de France is one too many. Eventually, the man who once destroyed his rivals on roads such as these came in a quarter of an hour after Riblon.

The unofficial mantle of team leader at RadioShack is now worn by Levi Leipheimer, but he too found the pace too hot to handle on the day’s final climb, being dropped from the group containing the main GC contenders and losing a second shy of a minute on Menchov and Sanchez.

Earlier in the day, a nine-man escape group including Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas had led the race as it sped through the foothills of the Pyrenees.

By the time they hit the gorges carved by the River Aude through the limestone rock of the Pyrenees and started heading up towards the Port de Pailhères, however, most of the breakaway riders, including the Welshman, had been reeled in.

Riblon, though, remained alone at the front of the race, cresting the Pailhères ahead of Amael Moinard of Cofidis, the latter making a superb descent towards Ax-les-Thermes to almost take his compatriot’s wheel.

But with the road heading back up towards the finish at the ski station above the spa town, the Cofidis man quickly fell back, leaving Riblon alone to climb his way to a famous victory while the GC contenders fought it out behind him.

Top 20 Tour de France 2010 Stage 14

1.  RIBLON Christophe        AG2R LA MONDIALE            4h 52' 42"
2.  MENCHOV Denis            RABOBANK                     + 00' 54"
3.  SANCHEZ Samuel           EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI          + 00' 54"
4.  SCHLECK Andy             TEAM SAXO BANK               + 01' 08"
5.  RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin TEAM KATUSHA                 + 01' 08"
6.  GESINK Robert            RABOBANK                     + 01' 08"
7.  CONTADOR Alberto         ASTANA                       + 01' 08"
8.  VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen    OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO         + 01' 08"
9.  CUNEGO Damiano           LAMPRE - FARNESE             + 01' 49"
10. SASTRE Carlos            CERVELO TEST TEAM            + 01' 49"
11. LEIPHEIMER Levi          TEAM RADIOSHACK              + 01' 53"
12. HESJEDAL Ryder           GARMIN - TRANSITIONS         + 02' 00"
13. VINOKOUROV Alexandre     ASTANA                       + 02' 00"
14. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon        CAISSE D’EPARGNE             + 02' 02"
15. MOREAU Christophe        CAISSE D’EPARGNE             + 02' 02"
16. KIRYIENKA Vasil          CAISSE D’EPARGNE             + 02' 16"
17. HORNER Christopher       TEAM RADIOSHACK              + 02' 26"
18. ROCHE Nicolas            AG2R LA MONDIALE             + 02' 27"
19. LÖVKVIST Thomas          SKY PRO CYCLING              + 02' 30"
20. GADRET John              AG2R LA MONDIALE             + 02' 30"

Top 20 on General Classification after Stage 14

1.  SCHLECK Andy              TEAM SAXO BANK            68h 02' 30"
2.  CONTADOR Alberto          ASTANA                      + 00' 31"
3.  SANCHEZ Samuel            EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI         + 02' 31"
4.  MENCHOV Denis             RABOBANK                    + 02' 44"
5.  VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen     OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO        + 03' 31"
6.  GESINK Robert             RABOBANK                    + 04' 27"
7.  LEIPHEIMER Levi           TEAM RADIOSHACK             + 04' 51"
8.  RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin  TEAM KATUSHA                + 04' 58"
9.  SANCHEZ Luis-Leon         CAISSE D’EPARGNE            + 05' 56"
10. BASSO Ivan                LIQUIGAS-DOIMO              + 06' 52"
11. VINOKOUROV Alexandre      ASTANA                      + 07' 04"
12. KREUZIGER Roman           LIQUIGAS-DOIMO              + 07' 11"
13. HESJEDAL Ryder            GARMIN - TRANSITIONS        + 07' 17"
14. ROCHE Nicolas             AG2R LA MONDIALE            + 08' 03"
15. SASTRE Carlos             CERVELO TEST TEAM           + 08' 15"
16. LÖVKVIST Thomas           SKY PRO CYCLING             + 09' 46"
17. KLÖDEN Andréas            TEAM RADIOSHACK             + 10' 27"
18. WIGGINS Bradley           SKY PRO CYCLING             + 11' 30"
19. EVANS Cadel               BMC RACING TEAM             + 12' 39"
20. PLAZA MOLINA Ruben        CAISSE D’EPARGNE            + 12' 50"