Discuss: Are the GC cards on the table?

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Fotoreporter Sirotti

With two big mountain stages (18 and 19) and a 42.5km individual time trial all that remains to determine the General Classification of this year’s Tour de France, have we seen all we need to in order to speculate about the composition of the final podium?

• Thomas Voeckler, though gritty, may be showing signs of faltering
• Alberto Contador’s uphill attacks are getting stronger, but are still ineffective
• Cadel Evans has been climbing very strongly, and among the GC contenders, is best-suited to make considerable gains in the Grenoble Time Trial.
• The Schlecks are unable to distance Contador or gain time on Evans.

If these hold true, some key questions arise:

• Where will Alberto Contador gain the 1:57 he needs to overtake Cadel Evans?
• Will Andy Schleck, 1:14 behind his brother, work for Frank, who is only 1:22 behind Voeckler and :04 behind Evans?
• Will either Schleck be able to gain the minutes they will need to overtake Evans and hold off Evans and Contador in the Grenoble Time Trial?

Which, finally, leads to one final question: What will the final podium be, given where everyone stands today?