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Schleck wins epic in the Alps

Col du Galibier - Andy Schleck roared to victory on the history-making 18th stage featuring the highest ever finish in Tour de France history here on Thursday.

But the Luxembourger's bid for the overall lead was thwarted by Thomas Voeckler.

The French rider put up a successful effort to retain the yellow jersey on the punishing second of three day's riding in the Alps, crossing the 2 645 metre Col du Galibier summit in fifth.

Schleck, who began the day 2min 36sec behind Voeckler, gambled with a solo attack on the gruelling 23km climb up Galibier, and he rounded the final bend with yellow in his grasp.

But Voeckler gritted his teeth to hold onto the lead by 15sec.

Schleck's brother, Frank, took second in the stage to be third in the overall standings, 1:08 adrift, with Australian Cadel Evans, third to cross the line, 1:12 off the lead in fourth.

Alberto Contador, bidding for a fourth successive title, was the day's biggest loser.

The Spaniard started out on the gruelling 200.5km run in sixth, 3:15 off the pace, but dropped back to seventh to lie 4:44 behind Voeckler after failing to keep tabs with his main yellow jersey contenders in the closing kms.

That could well be game over for the controversial Saxo Bank rider, but for Evans it is still very much game on, with Friday's closing day in the Alps to come and Saturday's penultimate 20th stage time trial.

Andy Schleck arrived on top of Galibier, which first featured in the Tour in 1911, with a 2:07 advantage on his brother Frank, with Evans 2:15 back.

Explaining why he had gone for broke the stage winner said: "I don't want to finish fourth in Paris, and I said to myself 'I'm going to risk everything, it'll work or it'll fail'.

"That's the way I am, I'm not afraid of losing. And if my legs were hurting out in front I knew the others would be hurting to catch me up."

He added: "I've won the stage, I'm into second overall, perhaps tomorrow it'll be the yellow jersey. I wanted to take the jersey but Thomas (Voeckler) surprised everyone, it's great for cycling."

Friday's 19th stage is a 109.5km ride from Modane to Alpe d'Huez and features another climb up Galibier.  

Results from the 18th stage of the Tour de France, a 200.5km ride from Pinerolo to Col du Galibier on Thursday:

1. Andy Schleck (LUX/LEO) 6h07min 56sec
2. Frank Schleck (LUX/LEO) at 2:07.
3. Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 2:15.
4. Ivan Basso (ITA/LIQ) 2:18.
5. Thomas Voeckler (FRA/EUC) 2:21.
6. Pierre Rolland (FRA/EUC) 2:27.
7. Damiano Cunego (ITA/LAM) 2:33.
8. Rein Taaramae (EST/COF) 3:22.
9. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 3:25.
10. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN/GRM) 3:31.
11. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 3:35.
12. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 3:38.
13. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP/RSH) 3:44.
14. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 3:50.
15. Alberto Contador (ESP/SAX) 3:50.
16. Jean Christophe Peraud (FRA/ALM) 3:55.
17. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 4:07.
18. Samuel Sanchez (ESP/EUS) 4:42.
19. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 4:58.
20. Jrome Coppel (FRA/SAU) 5:07.
21. Robert Gesink (NED/RAB) 5:35.
22. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 5:35.
23. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 6:53.
24. Arnold Jeannesson (FRA/FDJ) 7:01.
25. Rob Ruijgh (NED/VAC) 7:25.
26. Geraint Thomas (GBR/SKY) 7:31.
27. Rigoberto Uran (COL/SKY) 7:31.
28. Egor Silin (RUS/KAT) 7:44.
29. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 9:17.
30. David Arroyo (ESP/MOV) 9:17.
31. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 10:33.
32. Xavier Zandio (ESP/SKY) 11:17.
33. Sylvester Szmyd (POL/LIQ) 12:21.
34. Daniel Navarro (ESP/SAX) 13:37.
35. Maxime Monfort (BEL/LEO) 14:06.
36. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 14:20.
37. Chris Anker Srensen (DEN/SAX) 14:45.
38. Gorka Izagirre (ESP/EUS) 15:53.
39. Johnny Hoogerland (NED/VAC) 17:23.
40. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 17:32.
41. Dries Devenyns (BEL/QST) 18:18.
42. Peter Velits (SVK/HTC) 18:25.
43. Thomas DE GEN (BEL/VAC) 19:12.
44. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/AST) 20:08.
45. Imanol Erviti (ESP/MOV) 20:29.
46. Steve Morabito (SWI/BMC) 20:29.
47. Maartens Tjallingii (NED/RAB) 20:43.
48. Anthony Charteau (FRA/EUC) 20:43.
49. David Loosli (SUI/LAM) 21:27.
50. Joost Posthuma (NED/LEO) 21:51.
51. Matteo Bono (ITA/LAM) 22:29.
52. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 26:21.
53. Markel Irizar (ESP/RSH) 27:39.
54. Amal Moinard (FRA/BMC) 28:18.
55. Brent Bookwalter (USA/BMC) 28:33.
56. Jesus Hernandez (ESP/SAX) 28:38.
57. Ruben Perez Moreno (ESP/EUS) 31:02.
58. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 31:10.
59. Jos Joaquin Rojas (ESP/MOV) 31:17.
60. Carlos Barredo (ESP/RAB) 31:17.
61. Stuart O'Grady (AUS/LEO) 31:17.
62. Maxime Bouet (FRA/ALM) 31:17.
63. Levi Leipheimer (USA/RSH) 31:17.
64. Jens Voigt (GER/LEO) 31:17.
65. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 31:17.
66. Andrej Zeits (KAZ/AST) 31:17.
67. Yannick Talabardon (FRA/SAU) 31:17.
68. Lieuwe Westra (NED/VAC) 31:17.
69. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 31:17.
70. Fabrice Jeandesboz (FRA/SAU) 31:17.
71. Michael Schr (SUI/BMC) 31:17.
72. George Hincapie (USA/BMC) 31:17.
73. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/AST) 31:17.
74. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/BMC) 31:17.
75. Yury Trofimov (RUS/KAT) 31:17.
76. David Moncouti (FRA/COF) 31:17.
77. Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU/GRM) 31:17.
78. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 31:17.
79. Sergio Paulinho (POR/RSH) 31:17.
80. Richie Porte (AUS/SAX) 33:44.
81. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 35:40.
82. Mickael Delage (FRA/FDJ) 35:40.
83. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/HTC) 35:40.
84. Linus Gerdemann (GER/LEO) 35:40.
85. Sandy Casar (FRA/FDJ) 35:40.
86. Christian Knees (GER/SKY) 35:40.
87. Daniel Oss (ITA/LIQ) 35:40.
88. Sebastian Lang (GER/OLO) 35:40.
89. Rui Costa (POR/MOV) 35:40.
90. Jrgen Roelandts (BEL/OLO) 35:40.
91. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA/QST) 35:40.
92. Sbastien Turgot (FRA/EUC) 35:40.
93. Andr Greipel (GER/OLO) 35:40.
94. Manuel Quinziato (ITA/BMC) 35:40.
95. Audrey Amador (CRC/MOV) 35:40.
96. Mark Cavendish (GBR/HTC) 35:40.
97. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/LEO) 35:40.
98. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/EUC) 35:40.
99. Andriy Grivko (UKR/AST) 35:40.
100. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 35:40.
101. Simon Gerrans (AUS/SKY) 35:40.
102. Sbastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 35:40.
103. Cyril Gautier (FRA/EUC) 35:40.
104. Marco Marcato (ITA/VAC) 35:40.
105. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 35:40.
106. Ivan Gutierrez (ESP/MOV) 35:40.
107. Tony Martin (GER/HTC) 35:40.
108. Jeremie Galland (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
109. Matthew Goss (AUS/HTC) 35:40.
110. Jimmy Engoulvent (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
111. Mark Renshaw (AUS/HTC) 35:40.
112. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/HTC) 35:40.
113. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 35:40.
114. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA/LAM) 35:40.
115. Denys Kostyuk (UKR/LAM) 35:40.
116. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 35:40.
117. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 35:40.
118. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 35:40.
119. Alessandro Vanotti (ITA/LIQ) 35:40.
120. Adriano Malori (ITA/LAM) 35:40.
121. Alan Perez Lezaun (ESP/EUS) 35:40.
122. Paolo Longo Borghini (ITA/LIQ) 35:40.
123. Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP/SKY) 35:40.
124. Thor Hushovd (NOR/GRM) 35:40.
125. Benjamin Noval (ESP/SAX) 35:40.
126. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/RAB) 35:40.
127. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 35:40.
128. Addy Engels (NED/QST) 35:40.
129. Anthony Delaplace (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
130. Jrme Pineau (FRA/QST) 35:40.
131. Kristjan Koren (SLO/LIQ) 35:40.
132. Bauke Mollema (NED/RAB) 35:40.
133. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 35:40.
134. Tomas Vaitkus (LTU/AST) 35:40.
135. Fabio Sabatini (ITA/LIQ) 35:40.
136. Bjorn Leukemans (BEL/VAC) 35:40.
137. Jeremy Roy (FRA/FDJ) 35:40.
138. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 35:40.
139. Lars Ytting Bak (DEN/HTC) 35:40.
140. Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (DEN/LEO) 35:40.
141. Nicki Srensen (DEN/SAX) 35:40.
142. Julien El Fars (FRA/COF) 35:40.
143. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR/SKY) 35:40.
144. Francisco Ventoso (ESP/MOV) 35:40.
145. Tristan Valentin (FRA/COF) 35:40.
146. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 35:40.
147. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 35:40.
148. Arnaud Coyot (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
149. Gerald Ciolek (GER/QST) 35:40.
150. Ben Swift (ENG/SKY) 35:40.
151. Brian Vandborg (DEN/SAX) 35:40.
152. Fabio-Leonardo Duque (COL/COF) 35:40.
153. Sbastien Minard (FRA/ALM) 35:40.
154. Anthony Roux (FRA/FDJ) 35:40.
155. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 35:40.
156. Danny Pate (USA/HTC) 35:40.
157. Vincent Jrme (FRA/EUC) 35:40.
158. Michael Buffaz (FRA/COF) 35:40.
159. Maciej Bodnar (POL/LIQ) 35:40.
160. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/SAX) 35:40.
161. Jonathan Hivert (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
162. Yohann Gene (FRA/EUC) 35:40.
163. Dmitry Muravyev (KAZ/RSH) 35:40.
164. Niki Terpstra (NED/QST) 35:40.
165. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BMC) 35:40.
166. Borut Bozic (SLO/VAC) 35:40.
167. Laurent Mangel (FRA/SAU) 35:40.
168. Marcel Sieberg (GER/OLO) 35:40.
. Leonardo Bertagnolli (ITA/LAM) Retired

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