Evans blows Schleck away in final TT and takes yellow to Paris

Cadel Evans on podium, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Cadel Evans (BMC) decimated Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) in the final time trial of the 2011 Tour de France in Grenoble today, virtually winning himself the race title with a storming performance that almost landed him the stage win too.

Evans finished 2-31 ahead of Andy Schleck, giving himself a 1-34 lead over the Luxembourgean in the GC classification.

He was only seven seconds behind stage winner Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad), and Evans needs only reach the finish in Paris tomorrow to make himself the first ever Australian to win the Tour de France.

He was emotional as he stood on the podium, and it now looks, disasters aside, that he will finally take the prize that has eluded him on so many occasions before.

Tony Martin takes the stage

Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) took the stage with a time of 53-33, which only Evans came close to.

Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek), who was expected to be challenging for the stage win along with Martin, finished eighth, 1-42 down on Martin. He went of earlier than Martin, when conditions on the road were a little damper, which may have hampered his performance. His slower-than-expected time may also be due to the work he did in the Alps in aid of the Schlecks.

The frailty of Cancellara's time became clear when Richie Porte (Saxo-Bank Sungard) and then a surprise performance from Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) dislodged him at the top of the leader-board.

As it was, Tony Martin blew the rest of the field out of the water as he went 1-29 faster than De Gendt. Only Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky) of the riders outside the GC top ten could have threatened Martin's dominance. He ended up 2-10 down on Martin, but looked strong at the first time check and lost time after a problem with his tri-bars caused him to change his bike soon after.

Contador was close at the early time checks, and rode strongly, but Martin looked untouchable until Evans took to the road.

The Australian's performance was worthy of a Tour winner, underlining the strength that he has shown throughout the Tour and showing that he is indeed the strongest of the GC contenders this year.

He was only a few seconds down on Martin for most of the course, possibly spurred on by his dreams of yellow, and Martin admitted afterwards to being nervous as he watched Evans on the TV screens at the finish.

Indeed, the advantage that Evans takes to Paris is largely a reflection of the strength he showed over the 42.5km course rather than an unexpectadly poor performance from Andy Schleck.

Schleck never looked particularly comfortable and haemorrhaged time to Evans throughout, but his time was only about one and a half minutes slower than the likes of Contador, and he came in in 17th position. 

Rolland keeps white as Voeckler holds off strong Contador

Pierre Rolland (Europcar) held onto the white jersey, losing time on Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), but finishing 46 seconds ahead of him overall.

The French rider, who picked up his first stage win yesterday with a sensational ride to Alpe d'Huez, has some time trial pedigree, and although Taaramae was consistently up on him at the intermediate checkpoints, he managed to limit his losses and only lost 0-47 to the Estonian in the end.

In the GC top ten there was little change outside the obvious change in the top three. Alberto Contador's (Saxo-Bank Sungard) strong performance gave him third place on the stage at just over one minute behind Martin, but his gains were not enough to threaten either Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) or Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) in the overall standings.

Frank Schleck finished 20th, 2-41 down, but with Thomas Voeckler only going 27 seconds faster than him, he held onto his podium place. Though Voeckler did not do enough to threaten Schleck, he did hold off Contador, finishing with a 27-second cushion on the Spaniard.

A strong performance from Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), saw him move up one place to sixth overall, as Daminano Cunego (Lampre), who is not a noted time trialling talent, fell to seventh.

Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) held onto ninth position, while a strong performance from Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R-La Mondiale) saw him leap-frog Pierre Rolland into the top 10.

Brits feeling effects of tough Tour

It was tough going for the two Brits whose time trialling abilities might have got them into the stage's top 10. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) admitted that "it's been a one day too many for me" as he pedalled to 46th position, 4-24 down.

David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo), meanwhile, finished 32nd, 3-41 back on Martin. He has contracted bronchitis in the last few days, and said afterwards that he couldn't compete at his usual level. 

Tour de France 2011 stage 20; Grenoble-Grenoble ITT, 42.5km

1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad in 55-33

2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC at 7 seconds

3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo-Bank Sungard at 1-06 minutes

4. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM at 1-29 minutes

5. Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo-Bank Sungard at 1-30 minutes

6. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R-La Mondiale at 1-33 minutes

7. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi at 1-37 minutes

8. Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Leopard-Trek at 1-42 minutes

9. Peter Velits (Svk) (HTC-Highroad) at 2-03 minutes

10. Rein Taaramae (Estonia) Cofidis at 2-03 minutes

General Classification after stage 20

1. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC

2. Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard-Trek at 1-34 minutes

3. Frank Schleck (Lux) Leopard-Trek at 2-30 minutes

4. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar at 3-20 minutes

5. Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo-Bank Sungard at 3-57 minutes

6. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi at 4-55 minutes

7. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre at 6-05 minutes

8. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas at 7-23 minutes

9. Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Cervelo at 8-15 minutes

10. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R-La Mondiale at 10-11 minutes

Geraint Thomas, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Geraint Thomas

Alberto Contador, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Alberto Contador

David Millar, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

David Millar

Thomas Voeckler, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Thomas Voeckler

Andy Schleck, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Andy Schleck

Cadel Evans, Tour de France 2011, stage 20

Cadel Evans

Tour de France 2011: Related links

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Tour de France 2011: Latest news

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2011 Tour de France stage 10: Armstrong's famous bluff

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Cavendish nearly loses Tour's green jersey

Evans gambles with Tour win

Contador's attacks fail to cause major damage at the Tour

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Are the Tour de France's descents too risky?

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Evans in driving seat as Tour heads towards decisive stages

Cavendish's green jersey chances looking 'good'

Evans gains time as the weather leaves its mark

Schlecks falter ahead of Tour's final mountain days

Tour analysis: How the Schlecks can win

Swift sprinting towards Tour win

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Weather wreaks havoc in Etape du Tour

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Tour rest day review (July 11)

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Hoogerland's Horror crash

Tour de France 2011: Teams, riders, start list

Tour de France 2011: Official start list

Tour de France 2011: Who's riding?

Tour de France 2011: Team guide

Tour de France 2011: Stage reports

Stage 20: Evans blows Schlecks away and takes yellow to Paris

Stage 19: King Rolland crowned on the Alpe but team-mate Voeckler loses yellow to Andy Schleck

Stage 18: Andy Schleck wins, Contador cracks and Voeckler keeps yellow by seat of his pants

Stage 17: Boasson Hagen makes it two for Sky as Voeckler loses more time

Stage 16: Evans and Contador go on the attack as Hushovd wins in Gap

Stage 15: Cavendish takes fourth stage win in 2011 Tour

Stage 14: Vanendert surprises the favourites as Voeckler holds on

Stage 13: World champ Hushovd takes well deserved solo Tour win

Stage 12: Sanchez wins at Luz Ardiden as Frank Schleck gains on other contenders

Stage 11: Cavendish moves into green after winning in Lavaur

Stage 10: Greipel beats Cavendish in Tour stage 10 sprint

Stage nine: Sanchez conquers day of crashes and climbs

Stage eight: Costa wins first mountain stage of 2011 Tour

Stage seven: Cavendish wins but Wiggins crashes out of Tour

Stage six: Boasson Hagen takes Sky's first Tour de France win

Stage five: Cavendish wins in Cap Frehel

Stage four: Evans edges out Contador on the Mur-de-Bretagne

Stage three: Farrar sprints to first Tour victory in Redon

Stage two: Garmin win team time trial to put Hushovd in yellow

Stage one: Gilbert blasts to victory as Tour gets off to spectacular start

Tour de France 2011: Highlights videos

Stage 19 video highlights

Stage 18 video highlights

Stage 17 video highlights

Stage 16 video highlights

Stage 15 video highlights

Stage 14 video highlights

Stage 13 video highlights

Stage 12 video highlights

Stage 11 video highlights

Video: Feeding the riders at the Tour

Stage 10 video highlights

Stage nine video highlights

Stage eight video highlights

Stage seven video highlights

Stage six video highlights

Video: Erik Zabel's role as Cavendish's sprint advisor

Stage five video highlights

Video: The ride of Philippe Gilbert at the Tour de France

Stage four video highlights

Stage three video highlights

Stage two video highlights

Stage one video highlights

Tour de France 2011: Photo galleries

Stage 20 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 19 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 18 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 17 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 16 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 15 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 14 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 13 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 12 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 11 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage 10 photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage nine photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage eight photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage seven photo gallery by Graham Watson

Tour de France 2011 wallpaper gallery

Stage six photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage five photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage four photo gallery by Andy Jones

Stage four photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage three photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage two photo gallery by Andy Jones

Stage two photo gallery by Graham Watson

Stage one photo gallery by Graham Watson

Tour de France 2011 team time trial training photo gallery by Andy Jones

Tour de France 2011 team presentation by Andy Jones

Tour de France 2011 team press conferences by Andy Jones

Tour de France 2011 team presentation by Graham Watson

Tour de France 2011: Live text coverage

Tour de France 2011 LIVE: CW's text coverage schedule

Stage seven live text coverage

Tour de France 2011: Archive videos

Video: 2003 Centenary Tour

Video: Lance Armstrong retrospective

Video: Behind the scenes at the Tour

Video: Guerini's 1999 stage win

Video: Thrills and spills at the Tour

Video: Armstrong in 1999

Video: The Indurain years

Video: Ladies of the Tour

Video: Best of bizarre



Tour de France 2011: Archive articles
1999 Tour de France stage two: Passage du Gois causes chaos

Tour de France 2011: TV schedule

British Eurosport Tour de France 2011 TV schedule

ITV4 Tour de France 2011 TV schedule

Tour de France 2011: Related links

Tour de France: The jerseys, what they are and what they mean

Potted history of the Tour de France

The closest Tours in history

Brits in the Tours: From Robinson to Wiggins

Tour de France 2010: Cycling Weekly's coverage index

 

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