Defending champion Alberto Contador and his main rival Andy Schleck have yet to properly test each other in this year's Tour de France _ they have been too busy avoiding serious injury in nine days of manic racing.
Although Contador has already crashed twice, the Spaniard was somewhat lucky to escape with just a bruised right knee, given that several other riders had to retire with more serious injuries. They include Alexandre Vinokourov and Bradley Wiggins.
Schleck, the Tour runner-up to Contador in the past two years, says "we feel very fortunate that none of our team members was involved in a big crash."
With Contador's sore knee still bothering him, Schleck will gauge the three-time champion's true fitness in the Pyrenees climbs starting Thursday.
