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Cycling-Tour still wide open after two days in the Alps

By Julien Pretot

TIGNES, France, July 16 - The days when
seven-times winner Lance Armstrong was sewing up the Tour de
France in the prologue or the first mountain stage are over.

Picking this year's winner is anyone's guess after eight
stages, including two in the Alps.

Dane Michael Rasmussen produced one of his trademark solo
performances to win Sunday's stage and take the overall
leader's yellow jersey.

However, the Rabobank rider is not among the top contenders
for overall victory as his time trial abilities are limited and
have not been tested since he finished the prologue in 166th
place in London.

Two stages against the clock are still on the programme.
The first one will be over 54 km in Albi before three gruelling
stages in the Pyrenees, the second over 55.5 km from Cognac to
Angouleme the day before the race ends in Paris.

In Sunday's final climb to Tignes, the favourites missed an
opportunity to finish off the top Astana riders after Andreas
Kloeden and Alexander Vinokourov sustained injuries during the
fifth stage.

Team leader Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, with 15 stitches in
each knee, was in agony on the ascent to the French ski resort
but was pulled over the last three km by Kloeden to limit the
damage.

HIP PAINS

The German has been suffering from a fissure in his coccyx
and hip pains.

French champion Christophe Moreau was the only one to shake
the peloton with eight successive attacks but the AG2R rider
was not helped by the other pretenders, including Australian
Cadel Evans and Luxemburg's Frank Schleck.

Only Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was seen taking his turn
in front of the attacking group.

As a result, fourth-placed Valverde only has a 2:32
advantage over Vinokourov, who is 22nd overall.

"I don't understand why nobody except Valverde worked in
the attacking group. With Kloeden and Vinokourov left behind,
we had common interests as we were not in a position to win the
stage," said Moreau.

Vinokourov and Kloeden, who were ruled out of contention by
Astana manager Marc Biver after their crashes, are now back in
the race.

"It's not over yet," Vinokourov said. "The Tour is not
lost. If I had lost five minutes today (Sunday), it would have
been over."

Tuesday's ninth stage from Val d'Isere to Briancon, with
two out-of-category climbs on the menu, should provide more
information on the favourites' condition.

But only if they dare to test each other.

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