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As Alberto Contador and “The Chicken” Michael Rasmussen continue to impress, the rest of the field seems to be unable to compete. Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) was able to drop Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and the very end of Stage 14, the first in the Pyrenees, and take thesprint to the line. Todays stage proved to be tough for many of the top GC guys, including Astarloza, Pereiro, Valvarde, Mayo and even Kloden. Levi Leipheimer couldn’t match any of the accelerations, but was steady to the end, finishing in 4th, just 38 seconds back of his winning teammate.

Vinokourov paid the price for his amazing effort on the Time Trial yesterday, as he faded away from the yellow-jersey group halfway up the day’s first hors-catégorie climb, the 17km Port de Pailhères climb. The man once considered to be the favorite for the overall title in this Tour eventually finished 28:50 behind the day’s winners.

While Rasmussen solidified his grip on the yellow jersey, Contador vaulted past Australian Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) into second place overall, now trailing the Danish Rabobank leader by 2:23. Evans, who began the day in second overall at 1:00, dropped to third at 3:04 after failing to match Rasmussen and Contador’s pace in the final kilometers of what turned out to be a thrilling race of attrition.

“I’m thinking about tomorrow before I’m thinking about Paris. There’s still another two tough stages in the Pyrénées, and another time trial,” Rasmussen said. “Certainly the Discovery Channel team has two cards to play, Leipheimer is close on GC but Contador is the biggest rival. We still have two days in the Pyrénées. Nothing is over until the final day in Paris.”

The man holding that potentially winning hand, Discovery director Johann Bruyneel, said the day worked out as well as he could possibly hope. “We prepared a strategy in the morning and it worked to perfection,” Bruyneel said. “It was a good stage for Contador to win and we wanted to take time on Evans and Klöden. The team was like the old days, not in the sense of the domination, but how we achieved our goals as we stated them. We wanted the stage, to conserve the white jersey and push Levi and Alberto closer to the podium, so it was a successful day. I believe in both Alberto and Levi.” Contador said he was pleased with the stage victory on Sunday and didn’t dismiss the possibility of trading his white jersey for yellow before reaching Paris in a week.
“Today is a big win for me, but I think there’s still a lot of racing ahead,” Contador said. “Tomorrow is hard, so too is the Aubisque and the final TT. I can still have a bad day, but maybe Rasmussen can, too.”

Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.25.48 (36.28 km/h)
2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
3 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 0.37
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.40
5 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 0.53
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 1.52
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor – Lotto
8 Antonio Colom Mas (Spa) Astana 2.23
9 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana
10 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.06
11 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
12 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
13 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 3.45
14 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
15 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
FULL RESULTS and LIVE TEXT COVERAGE by Cycling news

Teams
1 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 16.21.10
2 Astana 2.52
3 Rabobank 4.53
4 Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.09
5 Caisse D’Epargne 7.31

General Classification After Stage 14
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 64.12.15
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.23
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor – Lotto 3.04
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4.29
5 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 4.38
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 5.50
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana 6.58
8 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 8.25
9 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 9.45
10 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 10.5

FULL REPORT by CYCLING NEWS
Stage 14: Recap by VERSUS
The final 1 km by VERSUS
Interview with Michael Rasmussen by VERSUS
Interview with Levi Leipheimer by VERSUS
Interview with Alberto Contador by VERSUS
Graham Watson’s Stage 14 Photos
ITV/Chris Boardman Podcast by ITV