THERE was a moment when the Tour de France winning hopes of Cadel Evans were going to go one of two ways in the 18th stage from Pinerolo to Galibier Serre Chevalier - for the better or worse. Fortunately, as the stage winning break by Andy Schleck (LeOpard) on the ascent of the Col du Izoard extended to beyond four minutes, Evans took it upon himself to ignite the chase, even though those on his tail refused to share the work.
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The mountain of work Evans produced with 9.8km to go the ascent to the finish will have taken a lot of energy out of him - but his dream of winning the Tour is still very much alive, even though he dropped from second overall to fourth place behind Frenchman Thomas Voeckler (Europcar).
But as his team doctor Massimo Testa told The Herald only last week, one of Evans' greatest attributes is his recovery rate after massive efforts.
Going into the 109km stage 19 from Modane to the summit of l'Alpe d'Huez on Friday, Evans is fourth overall at 1 minute 12 seconds to French race leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) after finishing third on the stage at 2m 15s.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg's Schleck is now second overall at 15s and his brother Frank, who outsprinted Evans for second place on the stage and came in at 2m 7s to his younger brother, is third overall at 1m 8s.
However, had Evans not chased when he did with 9.8km to go, the only option left for Evans - judging by the unwillingness, or inability, of all with him bar Frank Schleck who was not going to chase his sibling and whose overall prospects were increasing by the minute - would have been to farewell his Tour hopes.
Instead, Evans responded in a ride that I believe was one of the greatest of his career.
Evans initially tried his best to cajole his companions to share the work while ascending the Col du Galibier, by doing their turns at the front setting tempo; but his pleas and gesticulations fell on deaf ears. So he took the bull by the horns and pedalled furiously into the howling wind that came from the north.
This takes nothing away from the Schlecks and their LeOpard teammates - they rode superbly to get riders in the main break of the day, ride tempo at the front of the peloton earlier and then to set up Schleck for his stage wining move when Australian Stuart O'Grady and German Jens Voigt came tot he front and upped the ante of the peloton's speed. Then out from their right came Schleck at his lightening best and within seconds up the road.
The master stroke that was the move to get two riders in the break became clear when Schleck was away and began to make inroads on the move. For soon the LeOpards in the break, Belgian Maxime Monfort and Dutchman Joost Posthuma, had dropped back under orders to wait or their Luxembourg leader and then help him back up to the leaders.
This is a dream come true," said Andy Schleck. "I am very proud of this win. I like to have a plan and I like even more when it works out like that.
"The team has worked incredibly so far in this Tour. I said this morning 'no guts no glory'. I took the race by the horns and went all in.
"I just tried to concentrate on the pain I had in my legs, and believe me I had a lot. Without Maxime this wouldn't be possible. We've been working a lot to get a win like this. Without these guys, it would not have been possible. Now I'm in second overall and it's a perfect position for tomorrow."
"Everything went perfect. I'm very proud - this is a big thanks to this new Leopard Trek team," said elder brother Frank. "All the guys put a lot of effort into building this, and this is a message about our team and its spirit. I'm very proud of the team, my brother and myself."
But Evans' chase was regal. While he lost time to the Schlecks, his effort was strong enough to drop Voeckler, Contador, Basso and Sanchez..
In turn, as much as he saved his Tour winning hopes, he went a long, long way to securing himself a place on the podium for when the Tour finishes on Sunday.
Much will hinge on how each and every overall recovers overnight and returns to do it all again in friday's 109km stage from Modane to l'Alpe d'Huez.
Can Andy Schleck and Evans recover? Is Frank Schleck the next LeOpard grenade to be thrown? Will Voeckler, who said he has zero chances of winning the Tour a few days ago, do the supposedly impossible - again - and hang on to his yellow leader's jersey? What has Contador got left?
What is sure amid so much doubt is that it has been a long long time since the Tour has been so open for so many with three days to go.
Twitter: @rupertguinness
