14 DAY TRIAL // We had three HC climbs yesterday and last mountainous stage is about as tough, with two of the Out of Category ascents complimented by a First Category mountain, combined for a route that again has the potential to make or break this tour for the two main general classification favorites, Alberto Contador and my own Andy Schleck.
One of the oddities of this nineteenth stage is that it is just 110 kilometers long, meaning that there's no real reason for the riders that are suited to this terrain to conserve their energy.
From the onset, attacks can come thing and fast and, because my team has the Yellow Jersey, I will be tasked by the peloton with controlling them all.
My plan is to be as self interested as possible and only act and pull the peloton along when an actual threat arises, which pretty much means only when Contador attacks.
And it's surprising how close I was able to stick with my pre-race plan during this stage, which might say something about my maturing manager skills but also about how close to the real sport of cycling Pro Cycling Manager 2011 can often be.
The first climb was easy to control and I even managed to get climbing points for Frank Schleck, only to then realize that Contador was too far ahead in that classification so I happily renounced my efforts to get it.
It was harder to keep things stable on the second climb over the Galibier and a group of riders broke clear, but all of them were well down on Andy, so I let them do their thing.
On the legendary Alpe d'Huez, I exhausted most of my team in the first few kilometers and then waited for the forthcoming attack.
Contador did not disappoint and launched two very strong digs, but I managed to get close on his wheel and get a third place on the stage.
The race is decided tomorrow in the Individual Time Trial.
Here's how the entirety of this stage happened in Pro Cycling Manager 2011:
