Andy Schleck wants to isolate Alberto Contador from Astana teammates to win Tour de France

Schleck still confident he can win Tour de France

VERBIER, Switzerland — Andy Schleck isn’t ready to concede the Tour de France to Alberto Contador just yet.

The 24-year-old was the only rider able to stay close to Contador in the final ascent to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier in Sunday’s 15th stage.

While all other Tour contenders lost more than a minute, Schleck dropped 43 seconds in climbing to fifth overall. The Saxo Bank rider wants to isolate Contador from his Astana teammates in the two remaining Alpine stages in hopes of beating the Spaniard in Paris next Sunday.

“I was impressed by Contador, I wasn’t expecting him being so strong,” Schleck said during a rest day Monday. “Now we are ready to take all the risks in the third week. We can isolate them. The ideal scenario would be to find myself with Contador and (brother) Frank in the finale of the Grand Bornand stage.”

Riders got a rest before the two other Alpine stages, an individual time trial in Annecy on Thursday and a ride up the feared Mont Ventoux on Saturday before the race ends in Paris on Sunday. Wednesday’s stage from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand features five difficult climbs, including two Category-1 ascents over the last 25 miles.

“In the coming big mountain stages, the scenario will be different,” said Schleck, who was runner-up at the 2007 Giro d’Italia. “We have to isolate Contador. In Verbier, we could have dropped (Contador’s teammates) Jaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia with a strong acceleration.”

Schleck, who won the best young rider’s white jersey with his 12th-place finish in last year’s Tour, would love to be on the podium in Paris with his older brother Frank, who stands in 10th place, 3:25 back.

“When I imagine the Schleck brothers on the podium, I keep shivering,” he said. “To reach this goal, we have to remove (Bradley) Wiggins and (Lance) Armstrong. We are going to try some moves and to play it smart.”

Armstrong trails Contador by 1:37 in the overall standings. Former track cycling specialist Wiggins climbed from sixth place to third in Verbier, 1:46 back.

“I’m stronger (than) Armstrong in the mountains,” said Schleck, who doesn’t believe tensions within the Astana team between Armstrong and Contador could derail its ambitions.

“I don’t believe in dissension between Armstrong and Contador,” Schleck said. “You constantly write about this, but it doesn’t match with what I see in the peloton. Armstrong will work for Contador.”