Brajkovic tightens grip on lead

Alpe D'Huez - Alberto Contador of Astana won the sixth and penultimate stage of the Dauphine Criterium on Saturday as RadioShack's Janez Brajkovic tightened his grip on the race lead.

Slovenian Brajkovic started the day with a lead of 1min 41sec on two-time Tour de France champion Contador and maintained his advantage after repelling a series of attacks by the Spaniard on the 13.8km climb to Alpe d'Huez.

The seventh and final stage of the race is a 148km ride from Allevard-les-Bains to Sallanches.

Although it is held on a hilly circuit which played host to the world championships in 1980, it is unlikely to stage a final duel between Contador and Brajkovic.

Contador is racing the Dauphine primarily to fine-tune his preparations for the July 3-25 Tour de France and showed, at times, that he is lacking the killer punch that has become his trademark on the most difficult climbs.

After the pace of his Astana team on the climb left RadioShack in trouble, Contador tried to attack Brajkovic on several occasions.

However Brajkovic, who took the race lead after winning the fourth stage time trial, was imperious throughout the climb, responding immediately whenever Contador accelerated.

Both riders were left to duel for the stage win at the line, with Contador pulling ahead of the Slovenian in the final metres.

Poland's Sylvester Szmyd finished third with Frenchman Jerome Coppel in fourth just ahead of Belgian Jurgen van den Broeck.

Sixth Stage Results:

1. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 4 hours, 31 minutes, 1 second.
2. Janez Brajkovic, Slovenia, RadioShack, same time.
3. Sylvester Szmyd, Poland, Liquigas-Doimo, 17 seconds behind.
4. Jerome Coppel, France, Saur-Sojasun, :24.
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium, Omega Pharma-Lotto, :40.
6. Christophe Moreau, France, Caisse d'Epargne, 1:17.
7. Christophe Riblon, France, AG2R-La Mondiale, 1:18.
8. Samuel Sanchez, Spain, Euskaltel, same time.
9. Nicolas Vogondy, France, BBox Bouygues Telecom, same time.
10. Christopher Horner, United States, RadioShack, 1:26.

Overall Standings

1. Janez Brajkovic, Slovenia, RadioShack, 24 hours, 26 minutes, 5 seconds.
2. Alberto Contador, Spain, Astana, 1 minute, 41 seconds behind.
3. Tejay Van Garderen, United States, HTC-Columbia, 2:41
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium, Omega Pharma-Lotto, 3:46.
5. Nicolas Vogondy, France, BBox Bouygues Telecom, 4:01.
6. Jerome Coppel, France, Saur-Sojasun, 4:17.
7. Christophe Riblon, France, AG2R-La-Mondiale, 4:23.
8. Pierre Rolland, France, BBox Bouygues Telecom, 5:54.
9. Christopher Horner, United States, RadioShack, 6:10.
10. Sylvester Szmyd, Poland, Liquigas-Doimo, 6:33.