Contador struggles in Pyrenees

Defending champion Alberto Contador insisted he was satisfied with the opening mountain stage of the Tour de France despite losing more time for overall glory in Paris.

The three-time champion began Thursday's 211-kilometre 12th stage across the Pyrenees from Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden four minutes seven seconds behind race leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) - the Frenchman who successfully defended the maillot jaune on Bastille Day - and now sits four minutes behind.
Crucially, though, Contador is 2mins 11secs, 1:54 and 1:43 adrift of second-placed Frank Schleck, third-placed Evans and fourth-placed Andy Schleck, respectively.
The Schleck brothers (Leopard Trek) and Evans (BMC Racing) are likely to be Contador's main rivals for glory come July 24.
Contador, who won the Giro d'Italia in May, lost more than a minute on the opening stage on July 2 and has been caught up in numerous crashes since, while he has also been complaining of a sore knee.
He said: "It was finally a good day for me because my knee hurt since the Tourmalet and I was feeling very rough.
"I couldn't do anything more, Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck have improved their chances now and Evans and Ivan Basso are stronger.
"I have to race intelligently. I hope the knee gets a little bit better and I'm feeling a bit tired after the Giro.
"It could have been worse and I have to see what happens. Overall, I'm pleased."
The Tourmalet was the decisive climb of the 2010 Tour, although the final result will be determined only after Contador appears before the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month.
Contador tested positive for clenbuterol on the second rest day of last year's Tour in Pau - where he and his Saxo Bank-SunGard team are staying on Thursday evening - and is the subject of a CAS hearing to determine his fate.
The 28-year-old Spaniard protests his innocence, attributing the adverse result to contaminated meat.
Contador appeared to be comfortable on Thursday climbing the 17.1km Pyrenean peak, the Tour's first hors categorie (beyond category) climb, marking his rivals.
It was a race within a race, but Contador saw his resistance broken in the final 500metres of the final climb, the 13.3km ascent to Luz-Ardiden.
After an Andy Schleck attack and two from Frank Schleck, a third from the older Schleck brother saw him break clear.
Frank Schleck closed in on leading duo Samuel Sanchez and Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), while behind him Evans, Basso (Liquigas) and Andy Schleck continued to push at a high tempo.
Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) claimed victory, finishing seven seconds ahead of Vanendert, with Frank Schleck three seconds further back.
Basso was fourth, Evans fifth and Andy Schleck sixth, all three 30 seconds behind Sanchez - but crucially 13 seconds ahead of Contador.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) was seventh, five seconds behind Basso's group, before Contador crossed the line in eighth, followed by Voeckler in ninth.
Frank Schleck said: "The plan was to make the whole race very hard beginning on the Tourmalet.
"We would see what happened with the general classification contenders and see what kind of selection we could make."
Andy Schleck added: "Frank was super strong. His attack was perfectly timed.
"We knew that if we attacked left, right, left, right, they would eventually have to let one of us get away.
"That was the plan, and it's exactly what happened."
Andy Schleck, the runner-up in each of the last two years, does not anticipate Contador's time loss will be have too great an impact, though.
He added: "The time Contador lost today [Thursday] won't make a difference in Paris.
"He is a great champion and he knows tomorrow [Friday] is another day.
"He could come back and have a super strong day to put time into his rivals."
Voeckler now leads overall from Frank Schleck by 1:49.
He said: "In the last ten kilometres I surprised myself. It's been hard but I'm very pleased."
Olympic champion Sanchez, too, was delighted.
The Spaniard, who finished fourth overall in 2010, said: "The only goal of the day was to win this stage.
"Now I have the polka-dot jersey, but that is just a bonus."
Sanchez now lies eighth overall, 4:11 behind Voeckler.
Stage 12 result (Cugnaux to Luz-Ardiden, 209km): 1 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6hrs 01min 15secs, 2 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 0.07secs, 3 Frank Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek at 0.10, 4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 0.30, 5 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team at same time, 6 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek at same time, 7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD at 0.35, 8 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard at 0.43, 9 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar at 0.50, 10 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar at same time, 11 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo at 1min 03secs, 12 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ at 1.19, 13 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Sky Procycling at 1.25, 14 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack at same time, 15 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 1.56, 16 YuriyTrofimov (Rus) Katusha Team at same time, 17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 2.02, 18 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team at 2.10, 19 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team at same time, 20 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack at 2.53
Selected Others: 36 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Sky Procycling 6hrs 06min 35secs, 139 Ben Swift (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 33mins 05secs, 148 David Millar (Gbr) Team Garmin-Cervelo at same time, 153 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Highroad at same time
General classification after stage 12: 1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 51hrs 54mins 44secs, 2 Frank Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek at 1min 49secs, 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team at 2.06, 4 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek at 2.17, 5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 3.16, 6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD at 3.22, 7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard at 4.00, 8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi at 4.11, 9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo at 4.35, 10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 4.57, 11 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team at 5.07, 12 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 5.24, 13 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ at 5.50, 14 Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad at 6.03, 15 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack at 7.17, 16 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne at 7.27, 17 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack at 7.51, 18 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Sky Procycling at 7.55, 19 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 8.20, 20 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ at 8.47
Selected Others: 25 Geraint Thomas (Gbr) Sky Procycling 52hrs 05mins 15secs, 60 David Millar (Gbr) Team Garmin-Cervelo at 37mins 47secs, 118 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) HTC-Highroad at 1hr 17mins 57secs, 124 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling at 1.19.58