Contador tames Ventoux and rivals, eyes second Tour

MONT VENTOUX, France, (Reuters) – Alberto Contador  was within reach of his second Tour de France victory yesterday after the much-anticipated Mont Ventoux stage failed to  significantly modify the final standings. 

“It has been a different, special, tough Tour,” said the  Spaniard, who finished fourth in the 167km penultimate stage,  won by his compatriot Juan Manuel Garate. 
 
Contador, who won his first Tour in 2007 and was banned from  taking part last year, easily checked countless attempts on the  Ventoux climb by Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, who is poised to  finish second, four minutes and 11 seconds behind.  

The last laurels at stake on the 21.1km of the hardest climb  in cycling were the last spot on the podium.  
Seven times champion Lance Armstrong showed he remained a  formidable rider at 37, finishing 5th in the stage to retain his  third place, 5:24 behind Contador.  

The Spaniard was even seen helping the American bridge the  gap on one of Andy Schleck’s moves, proving there were no hard  feelings between the two leaders of the Astana team they will  probably both leave next season. 
 
“The only thing I had to do was to control Andy Schleck and  I was able to do it. He tried to attack many times and he was  very strong, but I was too,” Contador said.  
“I’m also glad we managed to keep Lance in third place,” he  said.  
   
 WIGGINS DROPPED  

Briton Bradley Wiggins, who again performed like a sheer  mountaineer, finally lost touch in the last km but limited the  damage to retain 4th place in the general classification. 
 
The pursuit Olympic champion is three seconds ahead of Frank  Schleck, who is set to improve on his 6th place last year.  

Andy Shleck, who was also full of praise for Contador, said:  “The aim was to defend my second place and put Frank on the  podium. It didn’t work out because Armstrong was very strong”.  
“He was undoubtedly the strongest rider in the Tour. He was  there everyday, never had a bad day. He won three stages and is  a gentleman,” he said. 
 
“Next year, against such a rider, it will be tough again but  I’m young and can improve again,” added the younger Schleck, 24. 
 
Sixteen riders went on the gun in Montelimar to try and  tackle the Ventoux ahead of the rest of the pack.  
The escapees held a maximum lead of 10:40 of which only 4:30  was left when the bunch tackled the last climb.   

On the mountain, swept by a headwind, the fugitives were  caught one after another with the exception of Garate and  Germany’s Tony Martin, who resisted bravely and went on to  battle it out for the stage honours.  
Garate, a better climber, outpaced Martin on the line and  has now won a stage in each of the three big Tours.  

“I had already won a stage on the Giro and one on the Vuelta  but this is the biggest,” said the Rabobank climber, who had  started the Tour to help Russian Denis Menchov. 
 
Andy Schleck finished third, 38 seconds adrift, with  Contador in his wheel.  
The Tour finishes on Sunday after a 164.5km ride from  Montereau-Fault Yonne to the Champs-Elysees, usually an ideal  terrain for sprinters. 

Briton Mark Cavendish will look for his 6th stage victory of  this year’s Tour on the famous Parisian avenue.