JAUSIERS, France: The Tour de France yellow jersey is set to be decided on the final alpine stage on Wednesday after a dramatic 16th stage here in which CSC failed to shake off Australia's Cadel Evans.

CSC's race leader Frank Schleck of Luxembourg finished the 157km stage from Cueno in Italy to here with his 7 sec lead on Austrian Bernhard Kohl intact, with Evans still in third at 8 sec.

Spaniard Carlos Sastre, Schleck's teammate at CSC, is fourth at 49 while Denis Menchov is now at 1min 13 sec after losing 35 sec to his rivals on the tricky descent towards the finish line.

It means CSC, which needs to have Schleck and Sastre with a two- to three-minute lead on Evans ahead of the penultimate stage time trial on Saturday, has no choice but to rip the race apart on Wedneday's 17th stage.

Held over 210km, it is considered the most difficult in the Alps and features two unclassified climbs before the 14km-climb-to-the-summit finish of Alpe d'Huez.

It promises fireworks, and Schleck - who won his only Tour stage there in 2006 - admitted CSC will do whatever it can to make sure that either he or Sastre wins in Paris this Sunday.

"The Tour can't be won in a day, but it can be lost in a day. We're going to try and make our rivals lose the tour tomorrow," said the 28-year-old Luxembourg champion.

CSC team manager Bjarne Riis said adverse wind conditions atop the day's second unclassified climb, the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond, had scuppered its plan to leave its rivals in their wake.

The Dane, who won the 1996 Tour de France, said CSC will now have to give it full gas on Wednesday if it is to eliminate Evans ahead of the time trial, in which the Australian is a big favorite.

"It was quite windy, too much to attack, and that was our biggest problem today. We weren't able to attack and make the difference," Riis said after the stage.

"Tomorrow will suit us better. I think the big battle will be on the Alpe d'Huez, but after the Galibier and the Croix de Fer (climbs), if you're suffering on the Alpe d'Huez you can really lose a few minutes.

"If you go too deep today, you pay for it tomorrow. Everybody suffered a lot today, everybody made a lot of sacrifices and some will pay for that in their legs tomorrow. But hopefully not us."

CSC once again benefited from the sterling pace work of Frank Schleck's younger brother Andy.

But despite boasting the numerical advantage, Evans has emerged as one of the big winners after the second of three days in the Alps.

Both Menchov and American Christian Vande Velde are, like Evans, big contenders in the time trial.

While Menchov lost half a minute, Vande Velde dropped virtually out of contention after failing to keep pace with the CSC-led chasing peloton on the way over the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond.

He finished two-and-a-half minutes behind his rivals and dropped to sixth place overall at 3:15 behind Schleck. If the 32-year-old American had held on a little further, his yellow jersey bid would still be alive.

Evans, for one, was one beneficiary of the strong headwind blowing over the summit of the Restefond, which at 2802 metres altitude is the highest road pass in Europe.

"CSC rode an incredible pace for the entire climb, that made it a bit difficult," said Evans.

The Australian, a strong downhiller, had targeted the tricky descent towards Jausiers as his chance to take some time back from his rivals.

But an accident minutes earlier involving South African John-Lee Augustyn - which brought an official on a motorbike to his aid at the roadside - almost caused disaster for Evans.

First, he had to correct himself to avoid hitting the motorbike, and that hampered his intention to follow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez when the Euskaltel rider attacked.

"I was a bit unlucky on the descent, I wanted to go with Sanchez when he went and just in the corner when I went to pass him a motorbike was just stopped on the exit of the corner," added Evans.

"That gave him 200 meters and he stayed there until a kilometer from the end."

Evans ended up coming over the downhill finish in a 10-man group, which contained Schleck and Sastre, with Menchov trailing in 35 sec later.

However the Aussie acknowledged the race is still far from over.

"Tomorrow's going to be the mountain stage of the Tour, so it's a long way from being over yet."

AFP

(China Daily 07/24/2008 page24)