Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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Levi Leipheimer races
to victory in today's
Stage 19 time trial.
Joe Klamar/AFP/
Getty Images |
Angouleme, France (dpa) - Alberto Contador of Spain all but clinched the overall title of the Tour de France on Saturday as his Discovery Channel teammate Levi Leipheimer won the next-to-last stage of the race, an individual time trial.
The 24-year-old Contador finished in fifth place, 2 minutes, 18 seconds behind the winner and 1 minute, 27 seconds behind second-place Cadel Evans of Australia. He now leads Evans by 23 seconds in the overall standings, with Leipheimer in third place, 31 seconds behind.
Since Sunday's final stage is generally a ceremonial parade down the Champs Élysées in Paris, it seems virtually certain that, barring accident or a positive doping test, Contador will win the 2007 Tour de France.
"We still have one more day to go, but I feel like the champion of the Tour now," said Contador, who dedicated the title to his family.
"It was an impressive time trial and I managed to maintain momentum," he said. "I had a lead to defend and I lost a bit of time, but I expected that. Cadel is a good time trial rider and he showed that today."
For Evans, the narrow deficit in the standings was bitter.
"Second place in the Tour de France is very good," he said. "But it was my goal the entire year to win. I was ready to win. For a cyclist, to win the Tour de France is the greatest thing in the world."
Leipheimer raced the 55.5-kilometer course in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 44 seconds--a blistering pace of 53.1 kph--to take his first-ever Tour stage victory. Evans finished second, 51 seconds behind, with Russian Vladimir Karpets coming in third, 1 minutes, 56 seconds adrift.
Contador was the last of the 141 riders left in the race to roll down the starting ramp, three minutes after Evans hit the course, and six minutes after Leipheimer.
The Spaniard started the stage with a cushion of 1:50 over Evans and 2:49 ahead of his American teammate. But the lead melted away as the kilometers passed, and at every interim timing station it seemed that Contador would lose his grip on the coveted yellow jersey. However, an excellent climber, he was able to retain his overall lead in the final five kilometers, which included several small ascents.
If everything goes according to script on Sunday, Contador will become the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France since the great Miguel Indurain won the last of his five titles in 1995.
Contador inherited the race lead--and apparently the title--after former leader Michael Rasmussen was tossed out of the Tour by his Rabobank team for having lied about his whereabouts to avoid two out-of-competition drug tests.
But Contador is not beyond controversy either, as his name was mentioned in the Spanish probe centering on doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Contador protested his innocence, but Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Saturday that Spanish authorities were allegedly in possession of a blood bag with the initials A.C., which could stand for Alberto Contador.
Stage 19 Top 10 Results
- Levi Leipheimer, United States, Discovery Channel, 1 hours, 2 minutes, 44 seconds
- Cadel Evans, Australia, Predictor-Lotto, +51 seconds
- Vladimir Karpets, Russia, Caisse d'Epargne, +1:56
- Yaroslav Popovych, Ukraine, Discovery Channel, +2:01
- Alberto Contador, Spain, Discovery Channel, +2:18
- Jose Ivan Gutierrez, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, +2:27
- George Hincapie, United States, Discovery Channel, +2:33
- Oscar Pereiro Sio, Spain, Caisse d'Epargne, +2:36
- Leif Hoste, Belgium, Predictor-Lotto, +2:48
- Mikel Astarloza, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +2:50
Other American Riders:
- Christian Vandevelde, 19th, +3:58
- Christopher Horner, 27th, +4:15
GC Standings
- Alberto Contador, Spain, Discovery Channel, 87:09:18
- Cadel Evans, Australia, Predictor-Lotto, +23 second
- Levi Leipheimer, United States, Discovery Channel, +31 seconds
- Carlos Sastre, Spain, Team CSC, +7:08
- Haimar Zubeldia, Spain, Euskaltel-Euskadi, +8:17
Other American Riders:
- Christopher Horner, 15th, +25:09
- George Hincapie, 24th, +54:50
- Christian Vandevelde, 25th, +55:50
Sprint Standings
- Tom Boonen, 234 pts.
- Robert Hunter, 210 pts.
- Erik Zabel, 206 pts.
Mountain Standings
- Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez, 206 pts.
- Alberto Contador, 128 pts.
- Yaroslav Popovych, 104 pts.
Youth Standings (Under 25)
- Alberto Contador, 87:09:18
- Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez, +16:41
- Amets Txurruka, +49:24
Team Standings
- Discovery Channel, 261:39:33
- Caisse d'Epargne, +19:31
- Team CSC, +22:10
- Rabobank, +36:14
- Euskatel-Euskadi, +46:51