Casar wins 9th stage as Schleck takes overall lead
Source: Agencies |
July 14, 2010, Wednesday
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ANDY Schleck of Luxembourg captured the overall lead at the Tour de France yesterday at the end of a mountainous ninth stage won by French rider Sandy Casar.
Schleck took the yellow jersey from Australia's Cadel Evans, who only wore it for one day, after finishing seventh in the stage, two seconds behind Casar and alongside two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador.
Evans was dropped on the fabled Madeleine pass and lost more than 8 minutes on Schleck and Contador.
Casar led a sprint among seven breakaway riders at the finish of the 204.5-kilometer trek from Morzine to Saint-Jean-La-Maurienne - the second and final day in the Alps containing three tough climbs.
The Francaise des Jeux rider collected his third career stage win at the Tour, blazing ahead of Luis-Leon Sanchez in second and Damiano Cunego in third - all three riders clocking 5 hours, 38 minutes, 10 seconds.
"It's pure happiness," the 31-year-old Casar said. "I wanted it so much it couldn't have happened any other way."
Contador and Schleck trailed just behind Casar, setting the stage for a two-man fight for the title. Schleck leads his Spanish rival by 41 seconds, while Sanchez jumped to third and trails the leader by 2:45.
Evans finished 8 minutes, 9 seconds back from Casar, in 42nd place. The two-time Tour runner-up broke down after the finish, burying his head in the hug of a BMC Racing teammate and sobbing.
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong fared relatively well as many other riders dropped off the title contenders on the Madeleine - one of the toughest climbs in cycling. The United States rider finished 18th, 2:50 behind Casar.
The Texan's victory ambitions collapsed on Sunday in the first day in the Alps, when he lost nearly 12 minutes to the stage winner and fell far behind the main race contenders.
The peloton faces three medium- to high-level ascents in today's 10th stage, a 179-kilometer ride from Chambery to Gap.
Earlier, Russian rider Vladimir Karpets of Team Katusha dropped out of the Tour after breaking his hand in a crash earlier in the race. The team said a special diagnostic scan on its leader turned up a broken bone in his left palm from an injury sustained in Stage 2 on July 5.
Schleck took the yellow jersey from Australia's Cadel Evans, who only wore it for one day, after finishing seventh in the stage, two seconds behind Casar and alongside two-time Tour winner Alberto Contador.
Evans was dropped on the fabled Madeleine pass and lost more than 8 minutes on Schleck and Contador.
Casar led a sprint among seven breakaway riders at the finish of the 204.5-kilometer trek from Morzine to Saint-Jean-La-Maurienne - the second and final day in the Alps containing three tough climbs.
The Francaise des Jeux rider collected his third career stage win at the Tour, blazing ahead of Luis-Leon Sanchez in second and Damiano Cunego in third - all three riders clocking 5 hours, 38 minutes, 10 seconds.
"It's pure happiness," the 31-year-old Casar said. "I wanted it so much it couldn't have happened any other way."
Contador and Schleck trailed just behind Casar, setting the stage for a two-man fight for the title. Schleck leads his Spanish rival by 41 seconds, while Sanchez jumped to third and trails the leader by 2:45.
Evans finished 8 minutes, 9 seconds back from Casar, in 42nd place. The two-time Tour runner-up broke down after the finish, burying his head in the hug of a BMC Racing teammate and sobbing.
Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong fared relatively well as many other riders dropped off the title contenders on the Madeleine - one of the toughest climbs in cycling. The United States rider finished 18th, 2:50 behind Casar.
The Texan's victory ambitions collapsed on Sunday in the first day in the Alps, when he lost nearly 12 minutes to the stage winner and fell far behind the main race contenders.
The peloton faces three medium- to high-level ascents in today's 10th stage, a 179-kilometer ride from Chambery to Gap.
Earlier, Russian rider Vladimir Karpets of Team Katusha dropped out of the Tour after breaking his hand in a crash earlier in the race. The team said a special diagnostic scan on its leader turned up a broken bone in his left palm from an injury sustained in Stage 2 on July 5.
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