Plucky Contador keeps the heat on Rasmussen

	Best Young Rider Alberto Contador (left) has been giving leader Michael Rasmussen all he can handle. Franck Fife/Getty Images
	MAILBAG Austin Murphy will answer questions from SI.com users. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Loudenvielle -- The Human Phoenix, Alexandre Vinkourov, whose serial resurrections have become a subplot in this Tour, got over the parcours in five hours, 34 minutes and 28 seconds today (almost exactly half as long as it took me to ride this stage one week ago, a misadventure that I will share with you tomorrow). The two guys locked in mortal combat over who will win this three-week beast -- Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen and Discovery Channel's thrilling young talent, Alberto Contador -- powered down the Col de Peyrosourde together, crossing the line 5 ˝ minutes after Vino.

While they were out there for the better part of six hours, the heart-in-your throat moments lasted less than five minutes. And it was worth the wait.

Just when it appeared that the only dramatic development of Stage 15 would be Vinokourov's latest return to life (after losing half an hour to the leaders yesterday, Vino escaped and won today: like the obstreperous peasant in the Monty Python & The Holy Grail, he's not dead yet), the Tour was rocked by the raw aggression of its Best Young Rider. (That's what Contador's white jersey signifies. He came very close today to finishing the stage as its Best Rider, period.)

And just when it appeared that Rasmussen and Contador had agreed to put off all of this unpleasant attacking and counterattacking until after tomorrow's rest day -- BOOM. Contador had the blade-thin Dane on the ropes, throwing combinations, attacking not once, not twice, but four times in the space of just a few kilometers and rewarding the cycling fans who'd parked their RVs and campers on the slopes of this Category 1 mountain days ago in hopes of seeing precisely this sort of drama.

It was an electrifying sequence. The 2007 Tour de France was on the line. The first three times that Contador surged, he opened a gap of 15 or 20 yards. Each time, with a supreme effort, Rasmussen brought him back. The fourth time that Contador fired off the front, he nearly rear-ended a phalanx of motorcyle-gendarmes, who were having trouble getting through the mob. The cops set a pick, essentially, for Rasmussen.

Describing the hours preceding his farrago of attacks as "pretty tranquil," Contador modestly allowed that he and Rasmussen put on quite the espactaculo -- or sensational show. More importantly, he said, he put time into the other podium threats -- Cadel Evans, Andreas Kloden, Carlos Sastre -- tightening his grip on what should be at least a second-place finish.

Admitting afterward that he suffered deeply to stay with the younger rider, Rasmussen noted that Contador is "probably the best" in the world at executing those short, sharp accelerations in the mountains. "I was certainly under pressure," Rasmussen allowed, referring to his ordeal on the Peyrosourde. "Luckily I managed to get back each time."

We've got one mountain stage left. Wednesday's ominously serrated stage profile features five categorized climbs, concluding with a mountaintop finish on the Col d'Aubisque. It will be a treat to see how Discovery director Johan Bruyneel maneuvers his various chess pieces to soften up the Rabobanks and get Rasmussen isolated on that final climb. Two of Bruyneel's stated goals going into this Tour -- modest-sounding, considering Discovery's recent past -- were to get Levi Leipheimer on the podium and get Contador in white. In this case, the cagey Belgian's grasp has actually fallen short of his reach. While Leipheimer now sits fourth in the GC, he's well positioned to bump up to third following Saturday's long time trial -- the last competitive stage of the Tour. What's stunning is that he's likely to be standing slightly beneath his teammate.

In last Saturday's 54 km "race of truth," Contador was 37 seconds better than the yellow jersey. While he is clearly a better time triallist, I doubt the lad can pull back the entire deficit (he trails Rasmussen by 2:23) over the course of Saturday's 55.5 km contre-la-montre -- against the clock -- from Cognac to Angouleme. Which means there will be fireworks on the Col d'Aubisque.

"Everything is possible," said Contador in the moments following Monday's stage. "I'm going to give it a try."

It should be quite the espectaculo.