Cerv?lo TestTeam’s Carlos Sastre bounced to 15th overall at the Tour de France at 2:52 back after finishing with his top GC rivals in Friday’s 224km climbing stage into the Pyr?n?es.
Sastre chose not to attack against strong headwinds and was content to follow the wheels as arch-rival Astana set a blistering pace up the final 10.6km climb to the Arcalis summit. Sastre crossed the line 18th at 3:47 off the winning time.
A nine-man breakaway dominated the stage from Barcelona to Andorra, with French rookie Brice Feillu claiming the stage victory and the polka-dot climber’s jersey. Overnight leader Fabian Cancellara finally forfeited his lead when he faded on the long climb and tumbled to 39th overall.
Italian veteran Rinaldo Nocentini snuck into the breakaway and finished more than three minutes clear of the chasing favorites to slip into the yellow jersey. Nocentini leads Alberto Contador by six seconds and seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong by eight seconds.
Strong headwinds on the final climb neutralized attacks until the closing kilometers when 2007 Tour winner Contador surged clear of the top favorites, crossing the line 22 seconds ahead of the Sastre group of 11 riders.
Sastre was well-protected throughout the stage, with Volodymir Gustov and Jos? Angel Marchante riding with the Cerv?lo team captain up most of the long and not terribly steep climb to open three stages in the Pyr?n?es.
The 96th Tour de France continues Saturday with the 176.5km eighth stage from Andorra to Saint-Girons in an ideal opportunity for breakaway riders.
The route climbs out of Andorra over the Cat. 1 Port d’Envalira in the opening 23.5km and features two more climbs, including the difficult Cat. 1 Col d’Agnes at 132.5km, which could produce some surprise splits in the bunch.
