Majestic Contador tightens grip on Tour win
The Spaniard, who rides for Astana, was three seconds quicker than Fabian Cancellara and now has a lead of four minutes and 11 seconds over nearest challenger Andy Schleck heading into the final three days of the Tour.
Having proved in the Alps he is the strongest in the mountains, the 2007 champion showed yesterday, on the 40.5 kilometres jaunt round Lake Annecy, that he was the best against the clock and looks in prime shape to claim his second Tour title.
The podium positions remain up for grabs, although Andy Schleck will be difficult to displace after consolidating his second place yesterday despite finishing 21st in the time trial.
The main movers yesterday were Lance Armstrong, who climbed into third overall, and Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, who jumps from sixth to fourth.
Astana’s Armstrong finished 16th yesterday while Garmin Slipstream’s Wiggins, who faded in the final 5km after starting the time trial superbly, came home sixth, a place behind fellow Briton David Millar.
The biggest loser was Saxo Bank’s Frank Schleck, who drops from third to sixth. The day belonged to Contador, who was the fastest at all the main splits.
“It’s been a great day,” said the 27-year-old, who posted a time of 48.30mins, told French television station France 2.
“Winning a time trial in the Tour de France is really special. And I beat all the specialists.
“We are near the end but there are still three days left. I must be careful.”
Russia’s Mikhail Ignatiev, the 19th rider out yesterday morning, set a very competitive time of 48.46mins that would ultimately secure him third place.
Cancellara, who beat Contador in a shorter time trial on day one of the Tour, improved Ignatiev’s time by 12secs and then saw rider after rider struggle to compete.
Sweden’s Gustav Larsson and Millar, who finished fourth and fifth respectively yesterday, were not too far behind Cancellara but Wiggins was expected to become the new leader when he went out sixth from last.
The Londoner was the fastest by 4.35mins through checkpoint three, at Cote de Bluffy 28.5km out, but he could not maintain that pace and faded badly towards the end. He at least overtook Andreas Kloden and Frank Schleck, the winner of stage 17 who is more of a climber than a time-trial specialist, and is just 11secs behind Armstrong with three days left. The American claimed 15 seconds over Andy Schleck yesterday but the best Armstrong can hope for now is probably third, with the Luxembourg rider and Contador set to dominate on the penultimate day, which sees a mountain finish at Le Mont Ventoux.
Kloden is only two seconds behind Wiggins in fifth place.
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