Schleck 'ready to die' for yellow jersey cause

Former Giro d'Italia runner-up Andy Schleck said Monday he will give every last ounce in the remaining six stages of the Tour de France to beat yellow jersey rival Alberto Contador.

Contador, the 2007 champion, took command of the race in style on Sunday when he won the first part of an alpine trilogy to leave Astana teammate Lance Armstrong in second place overall at 1min 37secs.

Schleck is fifth at 2:26 adrift, but he says there's plenty more racing to come.

Tuesday and Wednesday will see the peloton continue in the high Alps, although both the 16th and 17th stages do not end on a summit finish.

The 18th stage is a 40km time trial and comes two days before the potential race decider, the 20th stage which begins in Montelimar and ends with a 21.1km climb to the summit of the legendary Mont Ventoux.

It is on either of those days in the mountains that Schleck will be keeping a close eye on Contador for signs of the dreaded "bonk".

Contador lost the Paris-Nice stage race in March after he made the fatal mistake of not loading enough fuel into his body.

"We well continue to attack even if we die in the process," Schleck said here Monday on the race's final rest day.

"We have seen before that Alberto Contador can look strong and suddenly have a bad day, like in Paris-Nice this year. Back then he lost everything and went down. It may happen here as well."

Schleck won the race's white jersey for the best placed rider aged 25 and under when he came 12th overall at 11:32 behind Spaniard Carlos Sastre.

This year Sastre has flattered to deceive, and with the return of Astana - who were not invited to last year's edition - the landscape has changed dramatically.

"I have to admit that Astana have been controlling the race with great intelligence," added Schleck.

"It is clear to see that they have made (Sergio) Paulinho, Gregory Rast and (Haimar) Zubeldia use their powers and that Armstrong, (Andreas) Kloden and Contador have been very protected."

With older brother Frank, who finished sixth overall last year, at his side Schleck suggested it may be time to capitalise on their well-known ability to link well to try and destabilise his rivals.

"Yesterday was a big test for me," added Schleck.

"If we could turn back time maybe Frank and I should have gone (attacked) together. We are so strong riding together and could have minimised the loss. I think the stages to come will be in our favour.

"To be in fifth place is nice enough, but I am aiming higher than that. And I won't be standing in Paris thinking that I could have done more."

Frank Schleck added: "Of course we will try to exploit the possibilities with the course that lies ahead of us.

"Stage 17 to Le Grand Bornand is a real killer, and many things can happen."