• Tour de France Stage 20, Grenoble

Evans earns historic Tour win

Cadel Evans' pace left Andy Schleck in his wake © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Cavendish claims green jersey as Evans is crowned
  

Cadel Evans will become the first Australian to win the yellow jersey at the Tour de France after storming ahead of Andy Schleck during the penultimate stage, a time trial at Grenoble. Sunday's final stage is traditionally a procession for all but the sprinters.

Schleck moved to the top of the general classification on Friday, but his exertions appeared to take their toll as Evans raced to the summit 24 hours later.

Evans began the day 57 seconds down on Schleck, but he finished it one minute and 34 seconds in front of his rival after ending stage 19 in second place behind Germany's Tony Martin. Evans completed in 55 minutes 41 seconds, seven seconds slower than Martin managed, with Schleck recording 58:11.

It is another heartbreaking end to the race for Luxembourg's Schleck, who has finished second at each of the last two iterations.

"I've still got to cross the finish line tomorrow, that's my main focus now," Evans said. "Got to get through without any trouble. I've had some bad moments in the past ten years but that just makes the good moments even better."

It became clear early on that Schleck did not have the pace to trouble Evans, who rode the same course earlier this year during the Criterium du Dauphine. Schleck found himself 36 seconds behind Evans through the first checkpoint at 15km, and that gap just kept on increasing.

Alberto Contador was third in the stage, one minute six seconds slower than Martin, leaving him in fifth overall. Frank Schleck, Andy's brother, wound up third in the battle for yellow, with Thomas Voeckler fourth.

Mark Cavendish faces the prospect of defending his 15-point green jersey lead during the final stage. Samuel Sanchez earned the polka-dot shirt, with Pierre Rolland wearing white.

Tour de France, Stage 20, Grenoble
1. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad - 55 minutes 33 seconds
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team - at seven seconds
3. Alberto Contador (Esp) Saxo Bank Sungard - at one minute six seconds
4. Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM - one minute 29 seconds
5. Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo Bank Sunguard - one minute 30 seconds
6. Jean-Cristophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale - one minute 33 seconds
7. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi - one minute 37 seconds
8. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Leopard-Trek - at one minute 42 seconds
9. Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad - at two minutes three seconds
10. Rein Taaramae (Est) Confidis Le Credit En Ligne - same time

General classification after Stage 20:
1. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team - at 83 hours 45 minutes and 20 seconds
2. Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek - at one minute 34 seconds
3. Frank Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek - at two minutes 30 seconds
4. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar - at three minutes 20 seconds
5. Alberto Contador (Spa) Saxo-Bank Sunguard - at three minutes 57 seconds
6. Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi - at four minutes 55 seconds
7. Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - at six minutes five seconds
8. Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas - at seven minutes 23 seconds
9. Tom Danielson(USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo - at eight minutes 15 seconds
10. Jean-Cristophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale - at ten minutes 11 seconds

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.