Australian Simon Gerrans of the Credit Agricole team won the 15th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, a 183km ride between Embrun and Prato Nevoso in Italy as Luxemburg's Frank Schleck of CSC took the yellow jersey. After a grueling final climb Schleck dethroned previous race leader, Aussie Cadel Evans, who had held a 1sec lead over his rival going in to the stage in the Italian Alps. To make matters worse for Evans, Austria's Bernhard Kohl attacked in the final 3km to go second overall 7sec adrift of Schleck but 1sec ahead of the Aussie. The top six in the overall standings are now bunched within less than 50sec as the race for glory in Paris hots up. Escapees Egoi Martinez of Spain and US rider Danny Pate took second and third on the day as the 28-year-old Gerrans, in winning his first Tour stage, gave Credit Agricole its second stage win of the edition following in the foosteps of Norwegian Thor Hushovd. Gerrans just had enough in the tank to win out over the final 200 meters as another Spanish challenger, Jose Luis Arrieta, slid back in the final 11km ascent into Prato Nevoso at 1440 meters altitude. A wet, blustery day meanwhile saw several falls with Spain's 2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro suffering shoulder injuries following a spectacular fall. Pereiro was in 15th position, 6min 1sec behind Evans when he crashed out of the race. The Spaniard was declared winner of the 2006 Tour de France after American Floyd Landis was stripped of the title for taking testosterone. Cavendish pulls out Briton Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France before the 15th stage, his Team Columbia said on Sunday. Cavendish, who won four stages in this year's race, will now focus on next month's Olympic Games, where he will take part in the track cycling events. A pure sprinter, the Manxman has difficulty in the mountains and would have struggled to cope with three grueling stages in the Alps. Barloworld quit cycling One of three doping affairs on this year's Tour de France has prompted Barloworld to pull out of sponsoring its British-registered team. Barloworld rider Moises Duenas tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythrpoietin) on stage four. Duenas was the second rider to leave the race, following in the footsteps of compatriot Manuel Beltran, who rides for Liquigas. Double stage winner Riccardo Ricco of Italy also tested positive for EPO, prompting his team, Saunier Duval to place a question mark over their future involvement in the sport. – Agencies A statement said that Barloworld “will honor contractual obligations”.
