A first Tour de France visit to the summit of Peyragudes in the Pyrenees could signal the last chance of glory for several yellow jersey challengers on Thursday. At only 143.5 km, stage 17 is comparatively short but what it lacks in distance it will make up for in intensity, according to organisers. “It’s short, but it’s brutal,” said course designer and top race official Jean-Francois Pescheux. “We wanted to create something similar to the Albertville-La Toussuire stage in the Alps. The key difference is that we are now only three days away from the finish in Paris.” The peloton will tackle a total of five climbs, giving the likes of Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali a chance to make up their deficits to race leader Bradley Wiggins. If they fail, the pair face the daunting prospect of having to overcome their deficits to Wiggins in the 19th and penultimate stage Saturday, a 53.5 km time trial which most expect Wiggins to win.
Wiggins began stage 16 in the Pyrenees with a lead of 2min 05sec on Sky teammate Chris Froome, with Liquigas leader Nibali third at 2:23 and defending champion Evans (BMC) fourth at 3:19. However if Wiggins’ Sky team maintain the sustained efforts of pace-setting that have hindered the most experienced climbers in the peloton, the Englishman is likely to take yet another step towards yellow jersey triumph. On the 11th stage in the Alps to La Toussuire Evans bravely attacked Sky in a bid to close some of his then deficit of 1:53. But, 60 km from home, the Australian was brought to heel as Sky hammered out the tempo. By the end of the stage Evans lost another 1:26 to Wiggins, and with it virtually all chance of winning the Tour.
