Image from here.
YAWN. Stage 17 was the last climbing stage of the Tour and it was borinnnnngggggggg. Well boring in the sense that Schleck couldn't shake Contador. But it was exciting seeing the duo battle up the climbs. I expected Schleck to attack and he did, but Contador was fixed on his wheel the entire time. I guess was expecting something like Armstrong v Ullrich.
At least Schleck came away with a stage win. But riding in yellow is way better than white. The last chance for Schleck to ride into Paris wearing yellow is stage 19, the ITT. Last year he was 4 minutes back from the GC lead this time he's only 8 seconds. He's definitely in the hunt. Watch out Contador because the best young rider is about to tear it up in the ITT.
General Classification after stage 17
| 1 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana | 83:32:39 | |
| 2 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank | 0:00:08 | |
| 3 | Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | 0:03:32 | |
| 4 | Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank | 0:03:53 | |
| 5 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:05:27 | |
| 6 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank | 0:06:41 | |
| 7 | Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha | 0:07:03 | |
| 8 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions | 0:09:18 | |
| 9 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo | 0:10:12 | |
| 10 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack | 0:10:37 | |
| 11 | Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:12:46 | |
| 12 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | 0:13:01 | |
| 13 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack | 0:14:24 | |
| 14 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack | 0:14:44 | |
| 15 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:16:00 | |
| 16 | Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana | 0:17:57 | |
| 17 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | 0:17:59 | |
| 18 | Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team | 0:18:30 | |
| 19 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step | 0:20:03 | |
| 20 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | 0:25:23 |
More results here.