Tour de France Update

It will be truly remarkable should this scene be repeated in Paris

So, over two and a half thousand kilometres done and dusted, two rest days and suddenly the Tour is in it's final few days. The best have been separated from the rest and only a few protagonists remain in contention.

Yellow Jersey holder, France's Thomas Voeckler. The French hero from 2004, looks set to repeat his heroics, but maintains that he cannot win. Many have now installed him as one of the favourites. After his assault of the Pyrenees where he only lost a handful of seconds to riders he more than matched, the French as a nation are now starting to believe that he can pull off a remarkable tour victory. Team Europcar, only in the Tour as a wildcard entry, have given the Tour real appeal to all those who thought that the win would come from one of a small few.

Alberto Contador, the best time trialist of the top eight, he cannot be discounted. Riding with a knee injury, he managed to maintain the deficit, losing only a few seconds. Whether he was enough left in the fuel tank after a turbulent year to actually claw back the four minutes on Voeckler, and perhaps more importantly, the 200 seconds on Frank Schleck and 105 seconds on Andy Schleck will be very interesting.

Frank Schleck. Second place currently, and arguably the second best Schleck as well. The older brother distinguished himself in the Pyrenees, but poor time trialing looks like being his downfall.

Cadel Evans sits in third, looking good and should have enough to catch and beat Voeckler in the Alps, but whether he can stave off the rest is another story. Quietly going about his business definitely a dark horse for glory.

Andy Schleck. With his current advantage over Contador, surely even an inferior time trial will not see him passed by the Spaniard. Improved much last year, many expect him to take the title this year. Whether or not he can rise to the challenge and the pressure will be seen in the coming days.

Ivan Basso (5th). Moved into the reckoning with a strong display in the mountains. Like sixth placed Samuel Sanchez, the mountains are his strong point and will need to gain some serious time should he wish to be on the podium on Sunday. Sanchez was the only one to get real time gains over his rivals. Already a stage winner, the Olympic Champion from Beijing is looking strong once more.

British interest. Sadly with Wiggins out there is no General Classification challenge, with Geraint Thomas best placed in 43rd, over 35 minutes down. David Millar is perhaps an outside shot for the final time trial, whilst Mark Cavendish and Ben Swift will contest the sprints
 

Can Cavendish hang onto the Green Jersey


Points competitions:

White Jersey (Best Young rider) Currently held by Sky's Rigoberto Uran. Eleventh overall, Uran has taken over from Bradley Wiggins as Sky's leader following his early exit. This is much closer with little over a minute between him and Rein Taaramae From Confidis.

Green Jersey (Sprinters). Finally Mark Cavendish looks odds on to take his first Green Jersey. 19 stage wins, 4 this year and counting. Jose Joaquin Rojas, and Philippe Gilbert are his closest rivals, but neither can match the pace of the Manx Missile with only former team-mate Andre Greipel beating him in a straight sprint. Cavendish has benefited most from the rule changes that reward stage winners with more points, and rightly so. The Brit and his HTC Highroad team look almost unbeatable and must be odds on to take the final sprint stage on the Champs D'Elisee

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) After his stunning win on stage 14, Jelle Vanendert of Belgium leads following the Pyrenean stages from Sanchez by only two points. With the Alps looming very large however, expect this to change hands several times before Paris.

The famous 21 turns of the Alpe-D'Huez



As we saw last year, the standings can be turned upside down in a heartbeat, and expect some classic racing over the next few days, culminating in a mountain top finish on the Alpe-D'Huez and the 42 1/2 km time trial on Saturday.