Try as he might, Australian cyclist Cadel Evans couldn't shake Alejandro Valverde as he tried to make up the 16-second margin that separated him from the yellow jersey in the final stage of the Dauphiné Libéré on Sunday.
No. 2 Evans attacked at least four times on the last climb, the St. Bernard-du-Touvet. Each time he was marked by Valverde and No. 3 Alberto Contador of Team Astana.
Stef Clement of the Netherlands won the stage in Grenoble, followed across the line by Garmin's Timothy Duggan of Boulder, Colorado.
Although it's considered a tune-up for the Tour de France, this year's Dauphiné featured a winner who won't be eligible to ride in the Tour. The race results, coupled with the earlier Paris-Nice, may call into question Contador's abilities to lead Astana, although the Spaniard has said he's just using it as a preparation ride.
Title defense
This is the second year in a row that Spanish cyclist Valverde has won the Dauphiné. He gained a slim margin over Evans on Thursday's Mont Ventoux stage and protected the find three days.
It's extremely unlikely that Valverde will race in the Tour de France this year, however. He's been banned by the Italian Olympic Committee after a blood sample taken during last year's Tour de France (while in Italy) matched evidence taken in the Operacion Puerto investigation.
The Tour once again passes briefly through Italy this year, so the Italian ban would omit Valverde. Meanwhile, the UCI is considering a worldwide ban against Valverde, who denies any wrongdoing.
Third place
Meanwhile, Contador finished in third place overall, 1:18 behind Valverde. The Astana cyclist didn't challenge Valverde in the final stage. In fact, Valverde placed his hand on Contador's shoulder at one point as if to thank him for holding off the attacks by Evans.
Although Contador is considered the team leader of Astana going into the Tour de France, it will be interesting to see how that plays out considering that teammates include 7-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer.
Contador led the week-long Paris-Nice bike race earlier this spring, but faded to finish in fourth place. Prior to the Dauphiné, Contador said he'd use it as a preparation ride, which might explain why he appeared to be bidding his time.
Top 10
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto, 16 seconds behind
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana, 1:18
4 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank, 2:41
5 Mikel Astarloza Charreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi, 3:40
6 Jacob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank, 4:08
7 Vicenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas, 4:21
8 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Astana, 5:05
9 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream, 5:28
10 Christophe Le Mével (Fra) Française Des Jeux, 6:19
See more results at CyclingNews and VeloNews. Also check out Versus (local listings) on Sunday for Dauphiné Libéré coverage.
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