Tour de France 2010: Home rider Christophe Riblon celebrates big day

They say that cycling will be able to declare itself a clean sport when French riders, who have underperformed for a quarter of a century, start winning their own race again. The assumption that the French have been uniquely free from the temptation to dope is a big and probably exaggerated one, but today, as the sun shone from a cloudless sky and Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador shadow-boxed their way up to a Pyrenean ski station in their battle for overall supremacy, Christophe Riblon claimed the fourth stage win for his nation in the 2010 Tour de France. This was a victory in the grand style, the reward for a heroic escape on the slopes of a vicious mountain pass rated hors-catégorie . With 44km left of the 184km stage from Revel to Ax 3 Domaines, the riders started to ascend to the Porte de Pailhères, a climb used for the first time in 2003 but already a firm favourite with those who like to witness suffering on wheels. Rising out of the valley of the Aude, the Porte de Pailhères is 15km long but its last section is the one that hurts. Each of a dozen tight hairpins is followed by a ramp seemingly steeper than the one before, their gradients rising to a leg-snapping 12%, every metre of the narrow road thronged with enthusiastic voyeurs. "Bienvenue en enfer", a handwritten poster warned, and Riblon was approaching the first of those infernal bends when he made the crucial attack and jumped away from his compatriot Amaël Moinard, a Cofidis rider. The two had been the last survivors of a nine-man break, including Geraint Thomas of Team Sky, that formed while the race was still traversing the lush Ariège countryside and rolling through little towns such as Castelnaudary, the self-proclaimed "world capital of cassoulet". All sorts of cooking smells were left over from Sunday picnics as the riders made their way towards their rendezvous with the Pyrenees, glimpsed for the first time in their distant sombre majesty as the peloton went over a little ridge outside the village of Plavilla, 40km into the stage. Few could have foreseen then that, four hours later, Riblon would have been the last man left standing. The white, chocolate and azure jersey of the AG2R‑La Mondiale team crested the 2,001m summit of the Porte de Pailhères alone before swooping down a vertical 1.5km to the resort of Ax-les-Thermes and climbing back up a broader but still winding road to the finish among the ski hotels at 1,372m. The man who conquered one of the Tour's most fearsome climbs comes from Tremblay-en-France, a small town north of Paris, where the maximum altitude is 85 metres. The town's attractions include a Cinéma Jacques Tati, dedicated to the celebrated comedian whose film Jour de Fête contained a much-loved homage to the Tour. Today was Riblon's very own jour de fête , a great achievement for a 29-year-old rider who began his career on the track and whose previous appearances in the Tour yielded 137th and 82nd places in the general classification. His success followed those of Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step, who led the field home in Spa and Station des Rousses in the first week, and Sandy Casar of Français des Jeux in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on the second Monday. Chavanel and Casar had claimed Tour stages before, but Riblon is a first-timer. It is too soon to start predicting the date of the next home-grown winner of the world's greatest bike race, but the dwindling number of French cycling enthusiasts – as opposed to the vast crowds who come out to watch this one event – will be justified in feeling the stirrings of hope. Behind Riblon, the day's big climb scattered the field across the mountain. Schleck, wearing the yellow jersey for the sixth day in a row, stayed close to Contador all day. The Spaniard, starting the day 31 seconds behind on general classification, attacked several times on the final ascent without managing to dislodge the Luxemburger from his wheel. Lacking the support of his older brother Frank, who broke his shoulder in a fall during the race's third stage, Schleck refused to be disturbed by his rival's efforts. When Contador accelerated, Schleck went with him. When the Astana rider slowed down and allowed several other riders to pass them, the Saxo Bank man kept his nerve and slowed down in unison. "It was a bit of mind games," Schleck said. "I've got some pressure on my shoulders but I can handle it. I won't break down. And I guess he's not happy with how it went today. He didn't gain any time on me. It didn't work for him." Denis Menchov of Russia and Samuel Sánchez of Spain benefitted from the leaders' games to jump ahead and finish second and third in the stage. Sanchez lies third in the overall standings, with Menchov fourth. Finishing in the group with Schleck and Contador were Joaquin Rodriguez of Spain, Robert Gesink of Holland and Jurgen van den Broeke of Belgium. Behind them all sorts of famous names encountered further difficulty, including Bradley Wiggins, Ivan Basso, Cadel Evans and Lance Armstrong, who finished 70th, in a group 15 minutes behind the winner, and now lies 38th overall, almost 40 minutes behind Schleck. Tomorrow's stage features another hors-catégorie climb, the 1,755m Port de Balès, and offers no respite.