Contador on verge of Tour de France triumph | Thebigtip

Contador closes in on victory - from foxsports.com.au

Spaniard Alberto Contador took a huge step towards a third yellow jersey triumph after matching a series of attacks from Andy Schleck on the Tour de France 17th stage.

Schleck began the final climbing stage of this year's race, a 174km ride from Pau to the Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, with an eight-second deficit to Spain's two-time winner in the race for the yellow jersey.

But despite staying faithful to his promise of attacking Contador throughout the 18.6km slog to the summit of the fog-shrouded Tourmalet, stage winner Schleck finished with Contador sitting comfortably on his wheel.

"I gave it everything today, I tried to attack, I changed rhythm several times to try and drop him and I just couldn't,'' said Schleck, who applauded Contador's gentlemanly conduct at the end.

"In the end I have to say respect to Alberto because he didn't sprint (for the finish) at the end.''

Astana team leader Contador will retain his eight-second lead over the Saxo Bank climbing specialist ahead of Saturday's 18th stage, which is likely to finish in a bunch sprint.

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