Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini jumped 32 places on Stage 7 to take over the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Friday.
After Fabian Cancellara wore the leader's jersey since the end of the bicycle race's first stage — the last three virtually tied with Lance Armstrong, this first stage in the Pyrenees was expected to usher in a new leader.
But few could have predicted Nocentini, an AG2R cyclist who moved up the rankings by joining a breakaway earlier in the day and surviving to finish in fouth place, 26 seconds behind stage winner Brice Feillu of France.
Astana
Meanwhile, the favorites battled it out about three minutes behind. After Cadel Evans attacked in an attempt to make up time he lost earlier in the week, Alberto Contador scampered past him to take over the overall No. 2 spot from Armstrong, who now sits in 3rd place, 2 seconds behind Contador.
Throw in Levi Leipheimer in 4th place, at 39 seconds out of first, and you have a 3-man Astana bottleneck high in the General Classification.
Contador
After the race, Contador said Astana didn't want to take the lead so early in the race. As for his attack near the finish:
was a very tactical one and my team did a great job to set it up just
right at the finish. They worked really hard to keep the pace high and
ensure we had a good position when it matters.”
How about the reported intra-squad rivalry between Armstrong and Contador?
really tired of the question about leadership at Astana. Let’s just
watch the Tour and see what unfolds and hopefully it will be clear by
the end of the race.”
Finish
The 139 mile race into the Pyrenees from Barcelona ended in an amazing switchback climb to Andorre Arcalis. It was not race leader Cancellara's terrain, and he fell back to 39th place, 5:37 behind the leader.
Earlier this year, 31-year-old Nocentini won a stage of the Tour of California. This is his first Tour de France.
French cyclists dominated the stage, finished in 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th.
Top 10 overall
1. Rinaldo Nocentini, AG2R
2. Alberto Contador, Astana – 6 seconds
3. Lance Armstrong, Astana – 8 seconds
4. Levi Leipheimer, Astana – 39 seconds
5. Bradley Wiggins, Garmin – 46 seconds
6. Andreas Kloden, Astana — 54 seconds
7. Tony Martin, Columbia – 1:00
8. Christian Vande Velde, Garmin – 1:24
9. Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank – 1:49
10. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas – 1:54
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