Tour title set in concrete for Contador

According to competition director of the Tour de France, Jean-François Pescheux, the 2009 La Grande Boucle was to be a race for the climbers, similar to the 1998 edition won by the late Marco Pantani.

Many previous Tours have contained more than 100 kilometres of individual time trials. This year, there are only 55.

But after the ride of the maillot jaune Thursday in Annecy, around a 40.5-kilometre lakeside route hardly made for a 62-kilo featherweight like Contador, it seems the 26-year-old would not have cared if there were 1,000 kilometres of racing against the clock.

The 2009 Tour de France can no longer be called a race for climbers. It has become a race for Alberto Contador. Because in this specialised discipline the French call contre-la-montre, he beat all the time trial specialists, all the rouleurs, all the climbers… He beat everyone.

Out of all the favourites on the previous stage to Le Grand-Bornand, the Spaniard hurt himself least; his adversaries were either forced to attack or chase. In Annecy, capital of the Haute-Savoie region and birthplace of the Winter Olympics, Contador's fresher legs showed in spades as he ripped around the edge of the most pristine lake in Europe and bested each of the four intermediate checks, finishing bang-on forty-eight-and-a-half minutes.

Eclipsing Fabian Cancellara, winner of the opening 15.5-kilometre-long Monaco time trial, by three seconds, Contador and the Swiss rider were the only men to set a speed over fifty kilometres an hour, both recording a 50.1 km/h average.

"It's an honour to be compared to [Miguel] Indurain, but he was something else, he was a great time trialist and had other qualities," said Contador of the five-time Tour champion, despite repeatedly demonstrating he's a level above the rest.

"Yesterday [Stage 17], I took it easy in the final two kilometres with my mind already on today's time trial. That was an important factor in today's win. When I saw the time [split] at the top of the hill [Côte de Bluffy, km. 28.5], I really wanted to beat Cancellara. I knew that Cancellara also gained [time] on the descent, so from the top, I really focused on the descent and went as fast as possible on the downhill. That is why I won by a few seconds," he said.

Cancellara, however, wasn't so sure, believing Contador received undue help from race motorbikes following the Spaniard: "On TV it looked like his bike was too close. My bike was very far away. For me the day is over and I'm looking forward to helping my teammates as much as possible until we get to Paris. Everybody was cracking, but those small details count and maybe [Contador] had the small details on his side. Both physically and mentally it would have helped him."

Contador first, daylight second on GC

By consequence, Contador has extended his advantage to Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck in the classement générale to a massive 4 minutes, 11 seconds; with three stages remaining, an abyss in Grand Tour parlance. Predictably, Lance Armstrong (Astana) has slotted into third, 5:25 off Contador, although Thursday was far from an Armstrong at his best.

Having clearly hurt himself on Wednesday's monstrous mountain stage to Le Grand-Bornand, the American was never on a flyer, his face writhed in pain virtually the whole way. Neither was Saxo's Fränk Schleck, the man Armstrong displaced, who dropped to sixth by the day's end. The 37-year-old Texan arrived on the Avenue d'Albigny right on the 50-minute mark to set a 48.6 km/h average, his 16th place not great, but good enough to move up a notch to third on GC.

Slotted in between Armstrong and Fränk Schleck on the leaderboard is Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) and Andréas Klöden (Astana), just 11 and 13 seconds behind on the overall classification. And with the elder Schleck 34 seconds adrift of the seven-time Tour champion, Saturday's romp to Mont Ventoux has taken on an even greater importance. Barring disaster for Contador, it therefore leaves five riders with a chance of filling the final two podium spots.

Is Contador sending Armstrong a message?

Fastest at the first, third and fourth time-checks by 18, 30 and 15 seconds, respectively, Contador's rip-roaring ride around Lake Annecy was 15 seconds quicker than early leader Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha, 3rd), 33 seconds faster than Beijing Games silver medallist Gustav Larsson (Saxo Bank, 4th), and 41 and 43 seconds better than Garmin-Slispstream's British pairing of David Millar (5th) and Wiggins (6th).

Only three other riders finished within a minute of Contador: Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne, 7th), Christophe Moreau (Agritubel, 8th) and Klöden (Astana, 9th).

Being the first Tour de France where a mountain stage follows an individual time trial, Thursday's race against the clock appeared to be tackled with an air of caution. Rather than being a flat-out test of strength and power, no holds barred, it developed into a more strategic stage than usual, with the knowledge there's a need to keep a little in reserve for the Ventoux. By the day's end, the ten-best riders were separated by 1:02.

It seems Contador is attempting to force a changing of the guards at Astana. Doing his own thing, attacking when he wants – even if it involves his own team-mates being dropped – and occasionally disobeying orders. The last occasion the winner of final individual time trial won the Tour de France was 2005 in St Etienne, when Lance Armstrong beat Jan Ullrich and Alexandre Vinokourov en route to his seventh Tour victory.

By virtue of Thursday's performance, is Contador telling the American to step aside?

No need to do that, Alberto – Lance has already indicated he's jumping ship at the end of the year, US consumer electronics company Radio Shack set to be the primary sponsor of what will be America's third ProTour team in 2010.

"To be able to compete for an American team comprised of the world's top cyclists, supported by the best coaches and staff – I couldn't be happier to partner with RadioShack, a truly iconic American brand," said Armstrong in a press release.

"I heard about the news," Contador said. "My thoughts are focused on keeping this jersey to Paris, not on my future team. I need to give all my concentration to that."

For images of stage 18 click here

In another 48 hours, all will be revealed

After 2,950.5 kilometres, just three stages remain. If anyone's to force a change on the leaderboard, it must happen Friday to Aubenas or Saturday to Mont Ventoux; everyone knows Sunday's road to Paris is a foregone conclusion.

Stage 19 is not overly difficult, but with the Cat. 2 climb of the Col de l'Escrinet at its tail end, its summit just 16 kilometres from the line in Aubenas, one could witness another Schleck showdown like we saw on the seventeenth stage to Le Grand-Bornand.

But it's the dreaded road to Ventoux – which will be tackled via its harder southern route from Bédoin – that strikes most fear.

2009 will mark the fourteenth occasion the Tour de France has paid a visit to this 1,912-metre Alpine ascent that looks like no other, and the eleventh via Bédoin. For now, all the riders can do is gaze at its milky silhouette, standing all alone like an ugly duckling in the middle of Provence.

Ventoux can be affected by both heat and wind, the most famous instance of the former being British rider Tom Simpson's collapse and subsequent death on ‘The Giant of Provence' in 1967, a monument now marking the site where he perished on that insufferably hot day.

If the forecasts are accurate, it's expected to be a scorcher on Saturday, around 31 degrees Celsius in Bédoin, and growing warmer as the riders head towards the Ventoux's bald head comprised of a mosaic of Cretaceous rocks, 95 million years old.