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By Chris Whyatt
Tour de France: Chavanel wins 19th stage, Sastre retains lead ...
Sastre takes over as Tour leader ...
Affectionate Chavez offers to hug Spain's king ...
Valverde doubts Evans challenge ...
Madonna's tour to kick off in UK ...
1051: Rain fell overnight and this morning in the Allier and Cher departments through which the Tour passes today and, though it's dry in the sky now, the roads are wet. But it's fairly hot and I'm guessing that any stagnant moisture will evaporate.
Riders go in reverse order according to their place in the general classification with the first 125 setting off at two minute intervals. The final 20 - the nerve-jangled contenders - will be separated by three minutes.
1039: It's a lung-busting race against the clock at break-neck speeds today and Evans (five times a top-10 Le Tour finisher) is quite clearly the man - with a 14-0 time-trial record over Sastre.
Cadel is precisely one minute 34 seconds behind Carlos (who put himself into the snug yellow jersey with that surprising break over L'Alpe D'Huez) and will be quietly confident he can claw back nearly two minutes.
In the first time trial of the Tour, Sastre lost one minute 16 seconds to Evans - albeit over a shorter distance. Extrapolate that over today's course and Evans would make up two minutes 19 seconds, thus snatching the yellow jersey.
I'd love to, but.... I can't take the credit for that light-shedding calculation. It was in one of this morning's papers.
1020: Nineteen stages, thousands of kilometres, barrell-loads of sweat, and billions of calories. Hello folks. This is the one.
Laid out before us as, utterly agog, we follow this crucial 53km stage 20 individual time-trial from Cerilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond are four riders within about 90 seconds of each other.
Spaniard Carlos Sastre has the lead but "wheel-sucking" Australian Cadel Evans, the favourite throughout, is widely expected to gorge up the the seconds like a herd of starving wildebeest.
Why not gaze into your crystal ball and predict a winner... Your thoughts on stage 20
(BBC)
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