PAU, France — Frank Schleck of Luxembourg wants ideas. The Tour de France resumes today and he’s trying to figure out how to erase his one-second deficit to race leader Cadel Evans of Australia.
After 10 stages and more than 46 hours of racing, competitors took a rest day Tuesday after two punishing days in the Pyrenees.
Several rivals wilted up the Tourmalet and Hautacam passes, narrowing the field of likely competitors for cycling’s ultimate prize when the three-week race ends in Paris on July 27.
The final shakeout is expected to come in three agonizing stages in the Alps and a time trial a day before the Champs-Elysees finish.
Schleck doesn’t expect to overtake Evans in today’s 11th stage, a 104-mile trek from Lannemezan to Foix.
“I ain’t gonna catch Cadel,” Schleck said. “I guess it’s going to be a breakaway day and the favorites are going to watch each other.”
But the prospect of trying to swipe the jersey did cross his mind.
“If you have any other options, I’ll take it,” he said.
