Andy Schleck Wins Tour Queen Stage, Voeckler Hangs on to Yellow

7/21/11 - LEOPARD TREK finished one-two on the Queen Stage of the 2011 Tour de France. Andy Schleck soloed to victory atop Galibier in a superb display of strength and defiance. Sixty kilometers from the finish line, Andy broke away from the other race favorites on Col d’Izoard and stayed away to the line. Two minutes behind Andy, Fränk Schleck finished second after jumping from a group that included Cadel Evans (BMC), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale).

“We had a very precise plan today,” said Andy. “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. 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.”

Shortly before the Col Angel, the first climb of the day, a large group of riders went clear. LEOPARD TREK placed Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma in the break, the Dutchman doing the lion’s share of the work to ensure the break’s success.

Cadel Evans (BMC Racing Team) attacks in the final kilometer on the Galibier.
Photo © BMC Racing Team / Tim De Waele

With teammates out front providing a morale boost, Andy attacked on Col d’Izoard and, surprisingly, received no reaction from the field. The frontrunners had begun to split on the day’s second climb and Andy powered passed the remnants of the break until he reached Posthuma. The Dutchman provided Andy with several minutes of relief before he forged ahead alone. By the time Andy crested the top of the Col d’Izoard, he had more than two minutes on the yellow jersey group.

As planned, Monfort had backed off the pace on the descent of the Col d’Izoard to wait for his team captain. When Andy made contact with Monfort, 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 Lautaret. 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 17 kilometers from the finish.”

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. They would eventually fall off the blistering pace Andy set.

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 meters before the line.

Andy Schleck: “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.”

The time the Schlecks picked up today translated to real movement on the general classification. Andy’s move propelled him into second overall, 15 seconds outside the race lead. Fränk remains in third place, now 53 seconds behind his brother.