Contador Fires Another Shot!

Tour de France

 Alberto Contador confirmed his status as leader of the Tour de France with a fine victory in the race against the clock around Lake Annecy. The Spaniard increased his leading margin, moving to over four minutes ahead of Andy Schleck, while his team-mate Lance Armstrong moved up from fourth overall to third.

Only two riders finished the stage at an average speed faster than 50km/h – Contador and the runner-up in Annecy, Fabian Cancellara. The first yellow jersey wearer of the 96th Tour finished just three second shy of victory on a day when the leader of the Astana team absolutely confirmed his status. The Boss is back, but the champion of 2007 is in complete control of the race.

Stage 18 Top Ten finishers:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Alberto Contador ASTANA 48′ 30″ -
2 Fabian Cancellara TEAM SAXO BANK 48′ 33″ + 00′ 03″
3 Mikhail Ignatiev TEAM KATUSHA 48′ 45″ + 00′ 15″
4 Gustav Larsson TEAM SAXO BANK 49′ 03″ + 00′ 33″
5 David Millar GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 49′ 11″ + 00′ 41″
6 Bradley Wiggins GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 49′ 13″ + 00′ 43″
7 Luis-Leon Sanchez CAISSE D’EPARGNE 49′ 14″ + 00′ 44″
8 Christophe Moreau AGRITUBEL 49′ 15″ + 00′ 45″
9 Andréas Kloden ASTANA 49′ 24″ + 00′ 54″
10 David Zabriskie GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 49′ 32″ + 01′ 02″

Overall Classification after Stage 18:

Yellow Jersey:

No Rider Teams Time Gap
1 Alberto Contador ASTANA 73h 15′ 39″ -
2 Andy Schleck TEAM SAXO BANK 73h 19′ 50″ + 04′ 11″
3 Lance Armstrong ASTANA 73h 21′ 04″ + 05′ 25″

Green Jersey (Sprint):

No Rider Teams Points
1 Thor Hushovd CERVELO TEST TEAM 230
2 Mark Cavendish TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC 200
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas CAISSE D’EPARGNE 126

Polka Dot Jersey (King of Mountain):

No Rider Teams Points
1 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS 196
2 Egoi Martinez EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 118
3 Pierrick Fedrigo BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 99