Final Tour de France summit last chance for challengers

A first Tour de France visit to the summit of Peyragudes in the Pyrenees could signal the last chance of glory for several yellow jersey challengers on Thursday. At only 143.5 km, stage 17 is comparatively short but what it lacks in distance it will make up for in intensity, according to organisers. "It's short, but it's brutal," said course designer and top race official Jean-Francois Pescheux. "We wanted to create something similar to the Albertville-La Toussuire stage in the Alps. The key difference is that we are now only three days away from the finish in Paris." The peloton will tackle a total of five climbs, giving the likes of Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali a chance to make up their deficits to race leader Bradley Wiggins. If they fail, the pair face the daunting prospect of having to overcome their deficits to Wiggins in the 19th and penultimate stage Saturday, a 53.5 km time trial which most expect Wiggins to win. Wiggins began stage 16 in the Pyrenees with a lead of 2min 05sec on Sky teammate Chris Froome, with Liquigas leader Nibali third at 2:23 and defending champion Evans (BMC) fourth at 3:19. However if Wiggins' Sky team maintain the sustained efforts of pace-setting that have hindered the most experienced climbers in the peloton, the Englishman is likely to take yet another step towards yellow jersey triumph. On the 11th stage in the Alps to La Toussuire Evans bravely attacked Sky in a bid to close some of his then deficit of 1:53. But, 60 km from home, the Australian was brought to heel as Sky hammered out the tempo. By the end of the stage Evans lost another 1:26 to Wiggins, and with it virtually all chance of winning the Tour. Prior to the race's second rest day Tuesday Evans, for one, signalled his frustration with how his race has gone this year. "It seems like their riders have all come on the best form on their lives," Evans noted. "They ride a continuous tempo that's leaving the climbers pretty empty when they get to the final. It's making it difficult to do stuff." Nibali admitted it would be hard to beat Sky on his own: "It is a difficult challenge. To make the difference in the mountains I will have to find allies to help." Stage 17 could witness fireworks from the start. Several riders -- Swede Fredrik Kessiakoff, Frenchman Pierre Rolland and Dane Chris Anker Sorensen -- are still in contention for the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey. Although points can be won at each summit, most points are on offer at the summit of the category one Port de Bales (11.7 km long) and the 'hors categorie' (unclassified) Peyragudes (15.4 km). The Col de Mente, a category one climb of 9.3 km at a difficult average gradient of 9.1 percent, is first on the menu and will be tackled by its steepest side. Next up are the Col d'Ares (6 km) and the Cote de Burs (1.2 km), before the Port de Bales and Peyragudes. Tour director Christian Prudhomme seems happy to leave the peloton with a lasting impression of the final climbing stage. "There is barely a flat piece of terrain in the final 50 kilometres," he said,.