Cadel Evans denied Alberto Contador to win stage four of the Tour de France in a bunched finish this afternoon.
After yesterday’s tight finish which was won by Tyler Farrar, Contador and Evans once again provided cycling fans a thrilling end to the 107-mile journey from Lorient to Mur-de-Bretagne.
Contador, who won the Tour in 2007, 2009 and 2010, launched an attack in the final ascent, the first serious climb of the race, but Evans just held on, despite the need of a photo-finish.
Contador raised his fist to celebrate as he crossed the line, but despite his defeat he shaved off seven seconds from Andy Schleck and five from Briton Bradley Wiggins after he crashed on Monday and dropped to 75th place.
Contador is now 1min 42 secs behind Hushovd, who retains the yellow jersey on account of finishing sixth in today’s stage. Evans lags a second behind Hushovd in the General Classification, with Schleck four seconds back in third.
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Earlier in the day, Jurgen Van de Walle reduced the field to 197 after the Belgian became ther first rider to pull out of the race.
Van de Walle quit due to lingering groin pain.