Evans secures top 10 spot as green jersey battle resumes
Australian Cadel Evans put down a huge time trial performance in the penultimate stage of the Tour de France overnight to secure his dream of a top 10 finish in the race.
Evans, on his race debut, finished seventh at two minutes and six seconds behind American Lance Armstrong, who affirmed his superiority to claim his first stage win of the race and 22nd overall.
Evans' performance has left him in eighth place overall ahead of Sunday's final stage - a 144-kilometre race from the suburbs of Paris to the Champs Elysees, where he will surely celebrate a great first Tour.
The 27-year-old from Katherine in the Northern Territory was exhausted - just like every other rider after the end of 55.5km of hard slog on a tough, undulating course.
Despite hoping that his display had managed to push him up one place from his previous night's position of seventh, Evans was still happy to be eighth on what is his first Tour campaign after years of trying to get to the start line.
"I gave it everything I could, but it was a really difficult course," said Evans.
He pipped a number of stage contenders to the finish, including American Levi Leipheimer, who finished 14th at 3:13, and Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara, who was 20th at 4:03.
However, the Davitamon rider could do little to oust the big guns.
Armstrong's time of one hour 11 minutes and 46 seconds was 23secs better than Germany's 1997 winner Jan Ullrich and 1:16 better than third place finisher Alexandre Vinokourov.
With his place in the top 10 hanging in the balance despite a series of great performances in the mountains it was going to need a good showing from the former mountain bike world champion to achieve his ambition.
Meanwhile world time trial champion Michael Rogers, whose Tour this year has been one to forget as he fought off a lack of form and a lack of support from his Quick Step team, finished in 30th place at 5:18.
It could be said that Rogers, who is set to leave his Belgian outfit and soon join Ullrich at T-Mobile, lacked motivation to go out and improve his standing in the general classification.
However the Canberran admitted after the stage what he has been saying for days.
"I'm really tired. That was a really tough course. All I want to do is get to Paris," said Rogers, who in the general classification is 41st place at over 1hr 24min behind Armstrong - way off his aim of a top 10 finish.
Tonight's stage should change little in the general classification, but there will be everything to play for in the battle for the green jersey for the points competition.
Yet again, it's another all-Aussie battle for the sprinters' main prize - although Stuart O'Grady and Robbie McEwen, a two-time winner, will need luck on their side if they are to dispossess Norwegian hardman Thor Hushovd.
Hushovd has a 15-point lead on Cofidis rider O'Grady, and a 23-point lead on McEwen - who has won three stages on the race already.
To have any chance of snatching the jersey, O'Grady will have to make sure he gets to the finish line of Sunday's stage well ahead of Hushovd - who was rather lucky himself in pulling it on in the first place.
The Credit Agricole man took possession after Belgian Tom Boonen, the winner of two stages and who won on the Champs Elysees last year, had to abandon last week with a knee injury.
-AFP