TOUR DE FRANCE 2007: RASMUSSEN AND CONTADOR DOMINATE IN PYRENEES

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Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) emerged as the strongest and most aggressive climbers in the Tour de France on Sunday, gaining time on all their rivals on the tough uphill finish to Plateau de Beille.

Contyador and Rasmussen eventually went clear together five kilometres from the finish and began their own fight for the stage victory. They caught and past Antonio Colom (Astana), the last survivor of the early break, and then sprinted for the stage win and the precious 20 second time bonus. Rasmussen went early but Contador came round him to win the first stage for Spain in this year's Tour de France.

Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) finished third at 37 seconds, Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) was fourth at 40 seconds, Carlos Sastre (CSC) was fifth at 53 seconds and Andreas Kloden (Astana) was sixth at 1-52. Cadel Evans (Predictor) initially tried to stay with Contador and Rasmussen but paid a huge price, finishing seventh, alos 1-52 behind. Everybody else was spread all over the slopes of the climb to the finish, with Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) the biggest loser. After his time trial win on Saturday he had claimed he was bsck in overall contention but finished 81st, 28-50 down. He dropped out of the overall standings like a stone and is now 30th at 34-12.

Thanks to the time gained on Evans, Contador moved up to second place overall, 2-23 behind Rasmussen. Evans is now third at 3-04, with the other big names filling the top ten but spread over ten minutes. Even with two other major mountain stages in the Pyrenees on Monday and Wednesday and a final time trial next Saturday, the Tour de France now seems a battle between the Rasmussen, Contador and perhaps Cadel Evans.

"I'd go crazy if I had to deal with everything. With a week to go, I'm trying to stay focused on my cycling," he said, when it was pointed out that according to a survey 78% of French people no longer beleive the yellow jersey.

However he is convinced he has a chance of winning the Tour de France: "This is a important result for me but there are still three hard stages to go and it?ll be a difficult final week. I could have a bad day but so could Rasmussen,? he said.

9 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 9.45

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