Australian Evans on course to take Tour
CADEL Evans was set to become the first Australian to win the Tour de France after leapfrogging the Schleck brothers in a final time trial won by Germany's Tony Martin yesterday.
The BMC rider, who finished second in the Tour in 2007 and 2008, started the 42.5-kilometer time trial around Grenoble with a 57-second deficit to overall leader Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and four seconds behind Frank Schleck.
Evans, 34, took second place in the penultimate stage - seven seconds adrift of Martin, who clocked 55 minutes 33 seconds.
Evans now leads Andy Schleck by 1:34 going into today's final parade to the Champs Elysees in Paris, with Frank Schleck in third place overall and 2:30 off the pace.
It will be the first time that two brothers finish together on the Tour de France podium.
Three-time champion Alberto Contador of Spain finished the time trial with the third best time, 1:09 off the pace, and will finish fifth.
Evans, who finally started to live up to expectations in 2009 when he won the world championship, got off to a strong start. At the first intermediate time check after 15km, the tide had already turned as Evans had shaved 36 seconds off Schleck's advantage.
The Australian, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico race and the Tour de Romandie this year, took the virtual lead after some 20km and there was no looking back. Andy Schleck was helpless as the gap dramatically widened in the second part of the stage.
The BMC rider, who finished second in the Tour in 2007 and 2008, started the 42.5-kilometer time trial around Grenoble with a 57-second deficit to overall leader Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and four seconds behind Frank Schleck.
Evans, 34, took second place in the penultimate stage - seven seconds adrift of Martin, who clocked 55 minutes 33 seconds.
Evans now leads Andy Schleck by 1:34 going into today's final parade to the Champs Elysees in Paris, with Frank Schleck in third place overall and 2:30 off the pace.
It will be the first time that two brothers finish together on the Tour de France podium.
Three-time champion Alberto Contador of Spain finished the time trial with the third best time, 1:09 off the pace, and will finish fifth.
Evans, who finally started to live up to expectations in 2009 when he won the world championship, got off to a strong start. At the first intermediate time check after 15km, the tide had already turned as Evans had shaved 36 seconds off Schleck's advantage.
The Australian, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico race and the Tour de Romandie this year, took the virtual lead after some 20km and there was no looking back. Andy Schleck was helpless as the gap dramatically widened in the second part of the stage.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.