14 DAY TRIAL // There used to be a tradition of giving the final stage on Saturday in Le Tour to an individual time trial, but for the anniversary edition of the race the organizers have opted for a final battle in the mountains, on the rather impressive climb to Annecy – Semnoz.
The stage is short, at 125 km, and that will mean those who are still without a race win will fight from the start, ready to spare no effort in order to get into a big break or control the race.
I opt for a change of tactics this late in Le Tour and send Kloden in the daily break, which is made up of ten climbers that have the strength to make it to the end of the stage ahead of the peloton.
Saxo Bank is unwilling to give chase and only shuts down attacks from the riders who can threaten the Yellow Jersey of Contador, so my companions and I quickly manage to get about 7 minutes advantage.
I don’t contest any of the climbs and save my energy for the finale, which is pretty steep and encourages late attacks.
Unfortunately, I make the bad decision to follow an early attack by Samuel Sanchez and spend too much energy before I decide to climb at my own rhythm for a while.
I end up in a group of four riders who finished about one minute behind Nieve, the winner of the stage.
Ahead of Paris, my leader, Andy Schleck, consolidates his tenth place but I am not satisfied with my tactics or the general performance level of my riders.
Tomorrow we are parading to Paris, and the various jersey winners will show them off to fans and the public, with the only true racing coming on the Champs-Elysees.
This is how the final kilometers of the stage played out.
