Alberto Contador closes in on Tour win
Alberto Contador all but sealed a successful defence of his Tour de France title when he increased his advantage in Saturday's penultimate stage.
The Astana rider began the day with an eight-second overall lead over Andy Schleck, of Team Saxo Bank. The Spaniard then completed the 52-kilometre time-trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac one hour six minutes 39 seconds.
That put him a further 31 seconds ahead of Schleck, who looks destined to finish runner-up for the second successive year, barring some freak accident.
Schleck’s teammate Fabian Cancellara, the Olympic and world time-trial champion who won the Rotterdam won the prologue, took the stage honours, but it was Contador who was firmly centre stage as the riders prepare for the run to Paris.
Contador, on the verge of his third Tour win in four years, admitted that the stage had been “the hardest day of this Tour,” he said. "All the tours are difficult to win for one reason or another. Last year, for different reasons, it was very difficult. This year, there are times when I was not particularly good. It was the case today.
"I suffered a lot. I had information that told me I was five seconds behind Andy. I thought only to keep the same pace until the finish, I stayed very focused. But it was really difficult. At one point, I thought it was over because they told me I had a lot of difference, up to 30 seconds. I had doubts until arrival."
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, from Team RadioShack, was 67th, but held on to 23rd place overall by four seconds ahead of Bradley Wiggins, of Team Sky, who was ninth.
The final stage, 102.5 kilometres Longjumeau to the Champs-Élysées, will determine the winner of the points classification's green jersey, with 35 points awarded to the stage winner.
Alessandro Petacchi, of Lampre-Farnese, holds the maillot vert on 213 points, with Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) 10 points behind and Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) six points further behind.
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