Broken Evans sees Tour hopes dashed
Cadel Evans' hopes of becoming Australia's first Tour de France champion virtually ended on the ninth stage when he tumbled down the standings on an epic, but painful day of racing.
BMC rider Evans had assumed the race lead at the end of Sunday's eighth stage, when he finished 10 seconds behind stage winner Andy Schleck to take a 20-second overall lead on the Luxemburger.
However, a day after the race's first rest day Evans was dropped halfway through the 25.5-kilometre Col de la Madeleine climb as the Astana team of reigning champion Alberto Contador set a punishing pace.
He eventually finished 42nd, eight minutes and seven seconds behind Schleck and Contador, as Frenchman Sandy Casar took the stage honours, having been part of an early breakaway.
Evans, the two-time runner-up in 2007 and 2008, dropped 17 places to 18th overall and 7:47 behind Schleck.
Fellow Australian Michael Rogers is in 14th place, 7:04 behind Schleck.
After talking to BMC team manager John Lelangue, Evans finally found enough composure to explain his day of suffering in the saddle.
He revealed that the left elbow he injured in a crash early on the eighth stage was actually fractured, handicapping him for a stage which was billed as a major battle between the yellow jersey contenders.
"It cost me a lot of energy, but maybe in my situation, in the yellow jersey, it's also vulnerability," said the world champion, who added he will continue the race.
"I'm not at my normal level, but when you're in the yellow jersey at the Tour whether you're good or not you have to be there.
"The team were all fantastic, but obviously it's me who has to finish off the job.
"For the win, the Tour is over for this year.
"Everyone believed in me, in this whole project, all the team has been so good to me.
"Everything was going so good, I'm so sorry to let them all down."
As Schleck and Contador went on to duel to the summit, crossing over with a 2:10 deficit to a group of leaders, Evans battled up the rest of the climb to crest the summit 9:38 behind the front runners.
At the end of the 32km descent towards the finish line, Evans finished over eight minutes behind stage winner Casar with Schleck inheriting the yellow jersey with a 41-second lead on Contador.
Evans broke down in tears in a team-mate's arms after he crossed the line, distraught at seeing his 2010 Tour ambitions all but disappear.
Lelangue said the team would support Evans as he tries to win some stages along the way.
"We knew there would be repercussions after his crash. But for us the race continues," said Lelangue, who was quick to praise Evans's heroic efforts to close the gap on the descent.
"He tried to limit the damage on the way down from the Madeleine, he did a great job on the descent.
"We lost the yellow jersey, but that's racing, you just have to accept it. But Cadel really showed his fighting spirit today. He was more than courageous."
Schleck said afterwards he did not regard Evans as a big contender anyway, given the Australian's efforts at the three-week Giro d'Italia in May.
"I'm not really surprised Cadel had a bad day today, especially with the Giro behind him. I didn't really see him winning this Tour," Schleck said.
"He's got a fracture in his arm, and that doesn't make things easier. Unfortunately he lost the jersey but that's the race. I'm happy that I now have it."
Asked whether his Tour campaign was now over, Evans said: "I haven't seen the results yet but I'm pretty sure it's over for this year."
- AFP/Reuters