 The team set about taking time back in the high mountain stage 18, ending with an hors catégorie arrival at the Col du Galibier. Monfort and Posthuma both made the morning breakaway, providing support for Andy Schleck after he attacked out of the group of overall favorites on the ascent of the Col d 'Izoard. Schleck bridged first to Posthuma and then to Monfort, the latter guiding him down the 17 km (11 mi) long descent of the Izoard, as Schleck is a superlative climber but a poor descender. After catching and surpassing all other remaining members from the morning breakaway, Monfort then rode an extremely lengthy and strenuous pull ahead of Schleck until 17 km (11 mi) remained in the stage, when he finally bonked and dropped back. This left Andy free to climb the Galibier solo, taking the stage win alone two minutes ahead of the next rider, which happened to be brother Fränk. He rode clear of the group of the race's top riders in the final kilometer, gaining eight seconds against Evans. While the team's tactics on the day appeared to cinch the yellow jersey for Andy, prior race leader Voeckler retained the yellow jersey by a margin of 15 seconds. The status quo among the Schlecks and Evans held on stage 19, though with Voeckler finally falling from the top of the overall classification that gave Andy Schleck the yellow jersey ahead of the stage 20 individual time trial. Stage 19, ending at Alpe d'Huez, had favored Schleck ahead of Evans, and he was characterized as missing an important opportunity to pad his lead ahead of the time trial, where Evans' skills are superior.
