Andy Schleck finished third atop Plateau de Beille behind stage winner Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Andy, the first rider to cross the finish from the group of general contenders , gained two seconds on his top rivals. Fränk Schleck came across the line in seventh alongside race leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Cadel Evans (BMC), Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard), Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Pierre Rolland (Europcar), Rigoberto Uran (Sky Procycling) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale). Voeckler’s ability to maintain contact with the favorites affords him another time in yellow. Fränk and Andy retain second and fourth, respectively, on the overall.

“Voeckler is not a surprise,” said Andy. “We were counting on him to be strong. We know he is good, and the yellow jersey only makes him better.”

“He’s a great rider that races with a lot of panache,” added Fränk. “We fully expected him to be with top contenders at the finish today.”

Plateau de Beille has featured in the Tour de France five times. Each time, the stage winner has gone to emerge as the overall race winner in Paris. The significance of the final day in the Pyrenees - a stage that included five categorized climb before the finish atop Plateau de Beille - had been played up in the media as the day in which the race winner would reveal himself. Andy Schleck cautioned against these predications and maintained his belief that the race will be decided in the Alps.

“It was a hard day, and the team did everything we could to make it even harder,” Frank explained. “We had the perfect strategy putting two riders [Linus Gerdemann and Jens Voigt] up front.”

“By the end, we had all the favorites left, but most of them were just looking at one another,” Fränk continued. “Only me, Andy and [Ivan] Basso cared to attack. The others were only riding wheels. This is too bad for the GC battle.”

Within ten kilometers of the stage start in Saint-Gaudens, a break of 20 riders had formed under the impetuous of an attack by Sylvain Chavanel (Quickstep). Linus Gerdemann and Jens Voigt featured in the move. Although the breakaway contained no general contenders, its size and composition looked as if it would shape the race.

“The plan emerged that I would go with Linus in the breakaway,” said Voigt. “In the later part of the race, I would be there to help our captains as they were going up the mountains. We could give them fresh bottles and gels and pull a little bit. We knew it would be important to have someone around.”

With the plan playing out perfectly ahead, Leopard Trek assumed control behind as Europcar struggled to maintain order in the pack on the Col de Latrape. Stuart O’Grady came to the front and set a blistering pace up the second category climb that immediately began to shell riders from the back.

“Stuart did incredible work today,” noted Fränk. “He did a long pull over two big climbs and set us up perfectly for the climb to the finish.”

Voigt, team hero on the Tourmalet, crashed twice on the descent off of Porte de Lers. Rather than fight to rejoin the move ahead, he dropped back to the team car with the break to grab bottles before sitting up and waiting for the pack behind. Once he rejoined the bunch, he redistributed bottles and contributed to the pace-making on the front.

With Voigt back in the bunch, Leopard Trek led the peloton towards the base of the final climb. Twenty kilometers from the finish, the original break had shattered as the riders attacked one another in an effort to slip away before the road once again turned up.

Jakob Fuglsang, Maxime Monfort and Voigt made tempo as the road ramped up. They set a blistering pace they spit riders out the back and collected those who had fallen away from the break. Inside fourteen kilometers, Voigt gave one final effort before giving away to Gerdemann who had rejoined the bunch. By the time Gerdemann dropped off, the field had been reduced to 20 riders. All the favorites were there.

In a repeat show of their performance on Luz Ardiden, the Schlecks launched the first attack. On Thursday, it was Fränk who made the first move. Today, Andy attacked first. Three attacks within two kilometers reduced the contender group to 12 riders.

“It was impossible to make a difference today,” said Andy. “The climb wasn’t hard enough or steep enough. It wasn’t possible to make a gap even though I tried several times.”

Fränk accelerated to soften the legs of the rivals before Andy put in his fourth attack. Contador dug deep to react. Evans bridged across with Voeckler on his wheel. Again, the group was back together. As the pace slowed and the favorites eyed one another, Vanendert put in a dig of his own. Knowing that the Belgian was on the hunt for the stage win and out of contention for the overall, the favorites allowed him to go away alone.

Four kilometers from the finish, Sanchez launched a similar move. He, too, would be allowed to slip away. Three kilometers from the finish, Vanendert and Sanchez chased stage victory while the contenders fanned across the road seemingly in wait of what would come next.

The contenders never set off the expected fireworks, and with the finish in sight, Andy launched one final acceleration to put in two seconds on the others at the line.

“This was nearly as we expected it,” said Andy. “It was not a surprise the way the favorites marked each other.”

Tomorrow marks a transitional stage between the Pyrenees and the Alps, and the sprinters and breakaway specialists will once again be on the hunt for glory in Montpeillier. The winds off the Mediterranean should push the peloton along at a blistering pace on the eve of the second rest day.