Plan executed to perfection for Leopard Trek

Andy Schleck attacks and wins ©Graham Watson

Jul 22nd, 11. "In cycling you make a lot of plans, but a lot of times there are factors in play that you cannot control. Today, the plan worked out perfectly," said today's solo victor Andy Schleck.

"We had a very precise plan today. In the morning briefing we said we would send two riders in the breakaway. We wanted one good rouleur and one good climber in the break. On the Col d'Izoard, I would attack," he said.

What the team planned, they delivered.

Sixty kilometers from the finish line, Andy broke away from the other race favorites on the Col d'Izoard and stayed away to the finish line atop the Col du Galibier.

Two minutes behind Andy, Fränk Schleck finished 2nd after jumping from a group that included Cadel Evans (BMC), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Earlier in the stage, shortly before the Col Angel first climb of the day, a large group of riders went clear. Leopard Trek placed Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma in the break, where the Dutchman did the lion's share of the work to ensure the break's success.

With teammates out front providing a morale boost, Andy attacked on Col d'Izoard and, surprisingly, received no reaction from the field.

As planned, Andy bridged up to his teammates, first to Posthuma, and then to Monfort who was waiting for him over the crest of the Col d'Izoard. By this time he already had more than two minutes on the yellow jersey group.

The two zipped down the mountain together. Monfort offered his line and his draft and paced Andy down the entire descent and up the slopes of the Col du Galibier. His efforts stretched the gap between Andy and the other race favorites to more than four minutes.

"Without Maxime and Joost, without this whole team, the victory today could not have been possible," noted Andy. "Thanks to them I took the stage win. Maxime allowed me to resist the hardest parts leading up to the Galibier and shielded me from the headwinds. He brought me to 17km from the finish."

Solo win for Andy Schleck ©Graham Watson

As Monfort fell off pace, fully spent and work completed, Andy forged ahead with Nicholas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale), Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) and Egor Silin (Katusha) in his slipstream.

The companions would eventually fall off the pace.

Behind, only Evans was able and willing to commit to the chase and eventually succeeded in limiting the losses to just over two minutes.

With his brother out front, Fränk enjoyed the opportunity to conserve energy. He only put his nose in the wind to surge in the final metres before the line.

"This is by far the most beautiful win of my career. The team has done incredible work so far in the Tour, and I dedicate the victory to them," said Andy.

The time the Schlecks picked up today translated to real movement on the general classification. Andy's move propelled him into 2nd overall, 15sec outside the race lead still held by Europcar's Thomas Voeckler. Fränk remains in third place, now 53sec behind his brother.

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