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Alberto Contador (Astana) survived another slugfest Wednesday and took a giant step toward winning his second Tour de France in three years. Despite his seemingly insurmountable lead of 2:26 over Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), questions remain, however, about Contador’s durability in the third week of the Tour. Add the pressure of the yellow jersey and sometimes the final week can crack even the strongest of riders. So far, Contador has proven to be quite resilient, resisting both pressures from within the Astana and the attacks from his rivals on the road.

Following their strong performance on the 17th stage of the Tour de France, Saxo Bank’s Fränk and Andy Schleck met with the press. By finishing first and third in what is widely regarded as the toughest stage of the Tour thus far, the brothers have moved up into the top three of the overall standings, trailing only race leader Alberto Contador (Astana), who finished second on the day. Andy Schleck now occupies second place, 2:26 behind Contador, while Fränk is in third at 3:25. VeloNews’Neal Rogers attended the press conference and provides these highlights.

Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong said he is now fighting for second place on the Tour de France after he slipped further off the virtual podium following Wednesday's 17th stage. Saxo Bank’s Fränk Schleck won the 169.5km ride on the toughest day in the Alps while Armstrong’s teammate, 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador, finished second to tighten his grip on the yellow jersey. Fränk Schleck’s brother and teammate Andy, third on the stage, is second at 2:26 while Frank is 3:25 adrift in third.

Saxo Bank’s Andy and Frank Schleck climbed their way up in the general classification on stage 17, with only race leader Alberto Contador (Astana) able to follow the Luxembourg riders over the day’s final climb and down to the finish. But Astana continued to show its might, with Lance Armstrong and Andreas Klöden riding strongly to finish fifth and sixth on the day and shedding the other GC contenders. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) rode with the select Armstrong group towards the end, but lost the wheel on the final climb up the Col de la Colombiere to finish 3:10 down.

Altitude specialist Josh Tostado (Santa Cruz-Bach Builders) defended his title at the 2009 Breckenridge 100 cross-country race, held July 18 in Colorado. Tostado spent the majority of the 100-mile race battling with Trek rider Jeff Schalk before finally pulling away in the waning miles to win by 11 minutes.   Tostado finished the race in 8:33:50.  “We were together the whole day pacing each other, it was good to have (Schalk) there to challenge me,” Tostado said. “I needed every advantage to beat that guy. On the flats and the roads was where I’d get worked.” 

Danilo Di Luca tested positive for EPO during the Tour of Italy, in which he placed second, the UCI said Wednesday. The 33-year-old LPR team leader, who is not competing in the Tour de France, won two stages of the Giro and wore the leader's pink jersey for eight days. He finished second overall 41 seconds behind Rabobank's Denis Menchov. Di Luca was due to take part in the Brixia Tour in Italy on Thursday and had been targeting the world championships at the end of September in Mendrisio, Switzerland. The UCI Press Release:

Under a blazing high desert sun in Central Oregon, the 30th Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic opened Tuesday with the 71-mile Smith Rock Road Race. This season's breakout woman, 26-year-old amateur Evelyn Stevens (Webcor Builders), took the bunch sprint ahead of Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital). In the men's race, Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) soloed away from a break to cross the line 10 seconds before Jeff Louder (BMC) and Francisco Mancebo (Rock Racing) in second and third.

For the men, eventually, a successful break

Editor's Note: Michael Barry is a member of the Columbia-HTC team. Pedaling up the climb without a car in sight, the sun beating down, my open jersey fluttering in the breeze and my legs turning fluidly, my mind started wandering. The road was one I had ridden countless times, alone, with teammates, rivals and friends. I know every meter of road after nearly 10 years of riding in Girona — it now feels like home. Daily, we meet for rides, forming a group that contains many of the best professional cyclists in the world.

Carlos Sastre isn’t a happy camper at the 2009 Tour de France. The defending champion’s frustration poured out in a scathing press conference on Monday’s rest day when he accused the media of not giving him his due respect. Things started off badly, when the first question was innocent enough, querying whether Sastre was happy with how his Tour was going so far.

Popular German rider Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) was involved in a high-speed crash midway down the twisting Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard in Tuesday's 159km 16th stage at the Tour de France, but team officials say that his injuries are not life-threatening.

In a statement issued late Tuesday evening, the team said the 37-year-old German is alert, but will remain hospitalized for observation.

"An examination at the University hospital in Grenoble this evening has initially given positive reports on Jens Voigt's health after the nasty crash during today's stage of Tour

Lance Armstrong said on Tuesday he would definitely ride in next year's race, a reliable source told AFP. Armstrong plans to announce a new sponsor on Thursday, although he refused to say if it would replace his present team Astana. However, his close friend and mentor Johan Bruyneel announced earlier on Tuesday that he is set to quit as Astana's team manager, and rumors are rife that he is ready to start up a new team with Armstrong the likely leader.

With two alpine stages done and the most difficult one coming up on Wednesday, the 96th Tour de France is fast revealing its harshest features. The double St. Bernard stage Tuesday saw longtime race leader Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R-La Mondiale) and former white jersey Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC) fall out of the top 10, while Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) had his worst day ever at the Tour and dropped to 17th overall, 7:23 behind yellow jersey Alberto Contador.

Bradley Wiggins' laid-back approach to challenging for the Tour de France yellow jersey paid off again Tuesday when he came through the tough 16th stage in the Alps unscathed. Wiggins, who rides for the American team Garmin-Slipstream, has been impressing rivals and fans alike by remaining in contention for the race's yellow jersey despite only recently showing his potential as a serious racer on major tours.

Time is running out for the Schleck brothers and their quest to finish on the podium in Paris. The Saxo Bank riders realize that overall victory is difficult, but they believe that if they can dislodge the likes of Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins, they still could be getting kisses from the podium girls when the Tour ends July 26 in Paris. They tried with everything they had in Tuesday’s two-climb stage across the heart of the Alps.

Pedro Delgado knows a thing or two about winning the Tour de France. The Spanish climber won the 1988 and helped herald the golden age with Spanish cycling capped by the five-year reign by Miguel Indurain in the early 1990s. Delgado, who works as a race commentator for Spanish TVE, says Alberto Contador could spark Spain’s second golden era. On the Tour’s second rest day on MondayVeloNews caught up with Delgado, 49, to hear his views on Contador and how the 2009 Tour is shaping up. Here’s what he had to say:

The Johan Bruyneel era at the Astana team will conclude at the end of this season. Bruyneel confirmed to Belgian television Sporza that he will stop running the Kazakhstan-backed team at the conclusion of the 2009 season, citing a breakdown over the expected return of Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov. “Astana is a closed chapter for me,” Bruyneel told Sporza.

A truck belonging to the Astana team was searched for three hours on Tuesday by police, it was confirmed. The truck, containing spare bikes, equipment and food, was making its way from the start of the 16th stage at Martigny, Switzerland to the finish line at Bourg St. Maurice, France. It was stopped at the Swiss-France border near the Swiss village of Le Chatelard and searched by police, but nothing was found, confirmed Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens. "They were very thorough and opened every suitcase, every container and found nothing," he told AFP.