Contador, Schleck conquer Tour's final climb

As today's stage of the Tour de France began, everybody knew that the final ascent of the Col du Tourmalet would come down to a battle between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. After the oil-slickened roads of Stage 2, and the sibling-thwarting cobblestones of Stage 3, and the yellow jersey he claimed in the Alps of the second week, and the dropped chain (and lost yellow jersey) in the Pyrenees on Monday, this would be Schleck's last opportunity to regain time from his rival, a formidable opponent who has won all three Grand Tours and who wields a menacing pretend-gun victory salute.

For much of the day, a seven-man breakaway rode well ahead of the rest of the field. As the group extended its lead, third-placed rider overall Samuel Sanchez crashed hard, and the peloton waited for him -- except for 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, who attacked instead and later stated that this whole waiting-around-for-people thing has gone way too far and is turning bike racing into a "baby's playpen." Unfortunately for Sastre, he never caught the breakaway, and instead ended up spending the ensuing kilometers struggling vainly in the "playpen of agony" that is the gap between the escape and the main field. (Sanchez did ultimately regain the peloton and retained his third place spot.)

As the roads began to climb, the riders ascended into a thick fog, which created the sort of ethereal, otherwordly setting that makes for both great Tour de France stages and typical heavy metal concerts. (Tour organizers may want to take note and employ smoke machines on key stages in future years.) At one point a flock of sheep even emerged from the mist and disrupted Astana's pacemaking, narrowly avoiding being shorn and cut into mutton by the riders' bladed spokes. Finally, the peloton hit the Tourmalet, which was thronged with costumed spectators, completing the surreal spectacle and proving once again that no other sporting event comes close to the Tour de France when it comes to drunken fans exposing themselves.

On the Tourmalet, the onus was on Schleck to attack, and he finally did -- though Contador had no trouble catching him. As Schleck maintained his pace, so did Contador, and it became clear Schleck was not going to shake him. Soon the pair appeared to be exchanging words, and apart from a single attack that seemed somewhat contrived (coming as it did just after their discussion), Contador was content to simply sit on Schleck's wheel.

Together, the strongest riders at this year's Tour arrived at the line, and having completed the foundation of his overall victory Contador did not contest the win, presumably not daring to disrupt the "baby's playpen" again as he did on State 15 and instead giving Schleck his second stage victory of the Tour. Judging from their mutual congratulations afterwards, both were happy with the trade.