Although the trio of alpine stages did not determine who will win the Tour de France, the combination did decide who most likely will not. CSC’s Fränk Schleck came to the race to ride support for team captain Carlos Sastre, but also to test his own fate in the high mountains. Schleck see-sawed in high climbing performances, but remains confident in his abilities going into the Pyrenees.

After finishing ahead of Sastre on stage 8 in Tignes and moved into fifth overall, the Luxembourger crossed the line on stage 9 in Briançon minutes behind Sastre for a general classification placement of 13th, 5:56 down on race leader Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and 2:17 behind 7th-placed Sastre.

Despite the time difference, Schleck bristled at the idea that the Tour’s first hors categorie climbs on stage 9 reduced him to common domestique status. Sastre was the team leader, Schleck said, but he insists he is still CSC’s wild card to be played.

“In Tignes I was in front of Carlos. I was in the first big group, and the first through with the leaders,” Schleck said. “In Briançon it was just the other way around. I lost a little bit more time than he did in Tignes. I always said that Carlos was going to be the leader. There was no doubt about it. In Tignes I was a joker. I think I will still be a joker.”

Although Schleck was dropped on stage 9 from Sastre’s group on the last climb of the day, the hors categorie Galibier, he certainly was not alone. He rode over the top in a group with riders like Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) and Alexandre Vinokourouv (Astana). Although the stage was the hardest the race has seen so far – it featured 8500 feet of total elevation gain and began with the hors categorie grind up the 9100-foot Val d’Isère, one of Europe’s highest passes open to traffic - all the race favorites are saying it pales in comparison with the harder climbs to come in the Pyrenees. There, riders will face three consecutive days of approximately 200km, with each stage featuring at least one hors categorie climb. And it is there, on the long hard days, where Schleck hopes to shine.

“I always said I’m not faster than anybody else. But sometimes I’m faster when the stage is hard and long so the others more tired than I am,” Schleck said. “I’m riding on economy and surplus and agility. That’s how I feel better. I need a hard long stage, and that was not the case [on the 160km stage 9]. The other riders were fresher than I was. I don’t know what happened and I’m not going to look for excuses in bike racing. I was not good enough that day. That’s it.”

“The Tour de France is like a rollercoaster; you have ups and downs,” Schleck said. “On the Galibier I had a down.”

After the Galibier stage, team manager Kim Andersen visited Schleck is his hotel room for a pep talk.

“I was down of course [after the Galibier]. Kim spent an hour in my room just convincing me that I’m not a bad rider,” Schleck said.

Andersen is running the team in the absence of team owner Bjarne Riis, who opted to avoid the Tour this year after the media explosion on the doping confessions of former Telekom team riders. A recent tell-all book written by former Telekom soigneur Jef d’Hont prompted confessions from Bertz Dietz, Rolf Aldag, Christian Henn, Udo Bölts, Erik Zabel (who is racing the current Tour) and Riis.

Schleck said he was happy to have Andersen running the show.

“Kim is like my dad; he is a part of my family,” Schleck said. “He lives in Luxembourg and he comes by my place and to my parents’ place like he’s one of my family. He’s a very important person for me. And I’m just enjoying being with him. He’s not only a coach he’s a good friend of mine.”

Riis remains in touch with the team daily via Andersen.

“Of course we have contact with him,” Schleck said. “It’s his team. He owns it. He is still the manager.”

Asked whether he feels tired after the first half of the Tour, Schleck responded simply: “I hope everybody feels tired.”

That will certainly be the case after in the Pyrénées, when the general classification could look very different.