Aussie Wins Yellow In Stage 20 Time Trial

The race for the overall lead (and the coveted yellow jersey) in this year's Tour de France has been a very close one -- with the top three riders going into stage 20 with a spread of only 57 seconds. Luxembourg's Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) went into the day as the race leader, but he needed to ride the best time trial of his life to hold off Australian Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) who is known as an excellent time-trialer.

And Evans proved just how good a time-trialer he was by blowing away both of the Schleck brothers and snatching away the yellow jersey. Evans beat Andy Schleck's time by 2' 31" and Frank Schleck's time by 2' 34". Assuming nothing weird happens in tomorrow's rather ceremeonial ride into Paris this will be the first time Evans (or any Australian) has won the Tour de France, although Evans has finished on the podium several times before.

The winner of stage 20 was German Tony Martin who rides for the American HTC-Highroad team. He finished 7 seconds ahead of Evans. The third place finisher for today's time trial was Spain's Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank), who was last year's Tour winner. He finished about a minute behind Evans.

The competition for the polka dot jersey, given to the best climber, is also over since there are no more climbs in this year's Tour. This jersey was won by Spain's Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). And it looks like an American team has won the team championship for the second year in a row. Garmin-Cervelo goes into tomorrow's race with more than an 11 minute lead. Last year's champion was the Radio Shack team.

The only competition not determined yet is the green jersey, given to the Tour's best sprinter. The final points for the green jersey will be decided by the sprint finish in Paris tomorrow.

Here are the current standings:

YELLOW JERSEY (INDIVIDUAL LEADER)
1. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)
2. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........1' 34"
3. Frank Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)..........2' 30"
4. Thomas Voeckler, France (Europcar)..........3' 20"
5. Alberto Contador, Spain (Saxo Bank)..........3' 57"
6. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi)..........4' 55"
7. Damiano Cunego, Italy (Lampre)..........6' 05"
8. Ivan Basso, Italy (Liquigas)..........7' 23"
9. Tom Danielson, USA (Garmin-Cervelo)...........8' 15"
10. Jean-Christophe Peraud, France (AG2R)..........10' 11"


GREEN JERSEY (SPRINTERS)
1. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Highroad)....280 pts
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Movistar)....265 pts
3. Philippe Gilbert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)....230 pts
4. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)....208 pts
5. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Garmin-Cervelo)....195 pts


POLKA DOT JERSEY (CLIMBERS)
1. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi)........108 pts
2. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Leopard-Trek)........98 pts
3. Jelle Vanendert, Belgium (Omega-Lotto)........74 pts
4. Cadel Evans, Australia (BMC Racing)........58 pts
5. Frank Schleck, Spain (Leopard-Trek)........56 pts


TEAM STANDINGS
1. Garmin-Cervelo (USA)
2. Leopard-Trek (Luxembourg)..........11' 04"
3. AG2R (France)..........11' 20"
4. Europcar (France)..........41' 53"
5. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)..........52' 00"