Cadel Evans was only a short 95 km ride away from becoming the first Australian winner of the Tour de France after he outclassed the Schleck brothers in the penultimate stage time trial Saturday. Runner-up in 2007 and 2008, Evans left nothing to chance this time round and the 34-year-old is on the verge of becoming the oldest champion since World War II of the most famous cycling race. The former mountain bike World Cup winner had checked out Saturday's 42.5-km course on four previous occasions and his foresight paid off. Whereas Luxembourg's Frank and Andy Schleck only caught their first glimpse of the tricky, hilly route on Saturday morning, Evans capitalized on his knowledge to snatch the yellow jersey off Andy's back. The Schlecks, who were first and second overall after the Alps, were never in contention in Grenoble and will have to settle for the honor placings when the race reaches Paris after the 95-km final stage, which is traditionally nothing more than a lap of honor on the Champs-Elysees. After finishing two minutes, 31 seconds behind Evans in the time trial, Andy Schleck was condemned to the runner-up spot for a third successive year, 1:34 behind Evans. Frank, his older brother, will finish on the Tour podium for the first time after two fifth places, 2:30 off the pace. The Tour itinerary, which featured several punishing mountain stages and only one individual time trial, appeared to favour climbing specialists such as the Luxembourg pair but their skills against the clock were far too limited on the day that mattered.
