Cadel Evans on pole, but won't rule Contador out

Cadel Evans showed the extent of his bike handling skills in difficult conditions for the second day in a row to stay well in contention for the Tour de France yellow jersey on Wednesday. But while the thrills of stage 17 came on an 8km-long technical descent which had rival Alberto Contador attacking, it is the Australian's ability to climb at a higher altitude than he did in the Pyrenees that will soon come under scrutiny. Evans avoided losing any time to his main rivals on the first of three days in the Alps, even managing to take 27sec off race leader Thomas Voeckler after the Frenchman narrowly avoided crashing three times. The Australian is now 1min 18sec behind the Europcar leader, with Frank Schleck a further four seconds adrift and his younger brother Andy, the runner-up to Contador the past two years, a further 1:18 behind. Evans also has a lead of 1:41 on Euskaltel's Samuel Sanchez, and a lead of 1:57 on three-time and defending champion Contador of Saxo Bank. After battling through a tough start to the Tour and benefiting from the support of his BMC team during a strong performance in the Pyrenees, Evans is arguably in the best possible position ahead of two crucial days in the Alps. But while the Schlecks and their formidable Leopard-Trek team appear to be his biggest threat, he won't rule out Contador, who has shown in recent days that he could be back to his attacking best. "I've got a good advantage over Alberto now, but he's shown in years gone by what he can do when he's really at his top top," said Evans after helping the Schlecks close the gap to the Spaniard when he attacked with Sanchez on the descent of the Col de Pramartino. "All time gained, the more time the better. It would be good to go into the last time trial (on stage 20) with five or 10 minutes, then you're set. "But unfortunately.... I don't think that's going to happen." Apart from Voeckler's loss, the first day of three in the Alps was something of a damp squib for the yellow jersey battle although with two mountaintop finishes ahead that was always likely to be the case. A century after Emile Georget became the first rider in Tour history to crest the Galibier on his way to victory in stage five of the 1911 race, the legendary climb will be honoured twice by the peloton this week. It will host the highest ever finish on the race during Thursday's 18th stage when the peloton climb to 2645 metres altitude. Before then, the yellow jersey men could be called into action on the 23.7km climb to the summit of the Col d'Agnel, whose summit sits on the Italian-French border, or the 14.1 km climb to the Col d'Izoard. Andy Schleck, who at times has looked less convincing than his older brother Frank this year, hinted that the fireworks could come early on Thursday. Calling stage 18 "decisive", he said: "I hope it's not going to be a case of everyone watching each other until we get to the final climb (Galibier)." Given his comparative lack of climbing skills, Voeckler is not considered a real candidate for overall victory. So Evans, like Schleck a former two-time runner-up, remains the man to beat for most challengers although, like the Australian, Andy Schleck still refuses to rule Contador out. "I think that Cadel is very strong and Alberto was really strong yesterday, although that was in rainy and cold conditions," said the Luxemburger when asked to name his principal rivals. "(Samuel) Sanchez, Alberto et Cadel." Contador took time off both Schleck brothers on Tuesday when he attacked on a technical descent in the rain. Despite failing to repeat on Wednesday, the Spaniard's sporting director at Saxo Bank, Brad McGee, says the signs look good. "Alberto showed that he masters both attacking uphill and on the descent," said McGee. "It ensures us that he physically looks like he's where he has to be at the moment and it looks promising in terms of the entire race and of the next few days."