Stage 17 Gap - Pinerolo km A similar parcours to stage 16 and again Contador goes on the attack. This time the conditions are dry and his accelerations on the Pramartino are telegraphed. On the descent, however, Contador goes again and along with Sanchez they distance all their rivals, including Evans, who claims he was boxed in when Contador attacked. The two Spaniards work together but are caught just before the line by a group containing Evans, the Schlecks, and Cunego.
Basso and Voeckler both lose 26 seconds to their rivals. Stage 18 Pinerolo - Galibier Serre-Chevalier It sparks panic in the peloton and leads to one of the most iconic images in this year's Tour, as Schleck pulls further and further ahead, at one point with a lead of over 4 minutes. It's Evans who responds, however. First the Australian burns up all his teammates at the front of the bunch before he himself drives the yellow jersey group to limit his loses and save his Tour chances.
Evans thins a group of around 30 riders to a select few with Samuel Sanchez the first to relinquish any realistic hopes of a podium place, losing on the stage. However Evans's metronomic pace is too much for even Contador and the Spaniard, who many thought had been bluffing all day, blows inside the final 4km.
Cunego, Voeckler and then Basso are all distanced in the closing stages and while Andy Schleck takes one of the most incredible stages the Tour has seen in recent years, it's Evans' performance that keeps the race alive. Stage 19 Modane - Alpe-d'Huez km France secures its first stage win of the race thanks to Pierre Rolland's Europcar win but the day belongs to Evans, who rides a tactically astute stage.
For a brief moment it looks at though Contador could have the entire race at his mercy. Sanchez makes it to Contador's group but it all comes back together before the final climb up Alpe d'Huez with Basso the most noticeable GC contender in trouble.
Contador again attacks but the battle behind is between the Schlecks and Evans. All three trade attacks but it's the Leopard riders who need to distance the Australian with only a slim margin ahead of the Grenoble time trial.
Evans, both Schlecks and Cunego all finish less than 30 seconds down on Contador, while the big loser is Basso, who concedes over a minute to his closet rivals. Voeckler falls out of the lead despite one of the most dogged performances the yellow jersey has seen. Australia's first Tour de France winner , Cadel Evans' place in cycling history is assured.
Evans' career has been one of highs, lows, and variety. He started racing in mountain bike cross-country winning a junior world medal in He was UCI mountain bike World Cup series winner in both and thanks to a level of consistency that went on to serve him well in his road career.
He switched to road racing full time in and based himself in Italy. Evans had a long relationship with respected Italian coach Aldo Sassi and dedicated his Tour win to Sassi, who died from Cancer in Incredibly enough, by , some people had written off Evans despite him twice being second.
A move to the second-tier BMC Racing outfit in was seen by some as a step down for Evans, but he quickly proved the doubters wrong. In what was a thrilling tactical battle between Andy Schleck and the rogue attacker Thomas Voeckler , Evans finally captured the yellow jersey on the final time trial stage.
Here are excerpts from the interview:. VN: Looking back in your career, some of the statistics are amazing. You were a pioneer mountain biker, and then you transitioned into the road scene, a plus year career with a Tour win, a world title, and more; what does it mean to you looking back on your career?
A lot of the opportunities I had to sort of make for myself, but that was all part of the adventure and part of the process. I think I had my first World Cup victory in mountain biking in , and at the time, I was the youngest World Cup winner. And then I go to , and I was the oldest post-war Tour de France winner.
And there was a fair bit that went on between those two periods. CE : I wanted to close my career having given everything that I could have, and I not having any regrets.
Of course, I would have liked to have had a little bit more luck on my side occasionally or a little bit less bad luck. VN: This year is the 10 th anniversary of your victory at the Tour de France.
Set the scene what it was like for you going into that Tour? With being our first season, no one expected much from us. I took the pink jersey but contracted something at the Giro, and then I took the yellow jersey with a broken elbow.
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Rider Profile. Personal Details: Nationality Australia.
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