Fedrigo wins, Nocentini in yellow

TARBES – Italy’s Rinaldo Nocentini retained the Tour de France yellow jersey yesterday as Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo won the race’s ninth stage held over 160.5km from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo, who rides for the Bbox-Bouygues team, handed the hosts their third stage win from this year’s race after outsprinting breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti at the finish line.It is Fedrigo’s second stage win on the world’s biggest bike race having claimed his maiden win in 2006.The main peloton containing all the race favourites came over the finish line 34secs later having failed to close the gap to the leading pair on the 70.1km descent leading from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet to Tarbes.On the third and final day in the Pyrenees and ahead of the race’s first rest day on Monday, Nocentini maintained his 06sec lead on Spain’s 2007 champion Alberto Contador.Lance Armstrong, Contador’s teammate at Astana, is still in third place overall at 08.Armstrong believes six days of hard climbing on the Tour de France will reveal whether he, or teammate Alberto Contador, will emerge as Astana’s real yellow jersey contender.Heading into the ninth stage of the race Sunday seven-time champion Armstrong was only two seconds behind 2007 winner Contador in the race’s overall classification.With another two teammates, Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden, in the top ten Astana will be the team to beat when the race heads gradually towards the Vosges and Alps mountains next week.While Armstrong was in second overall only 0.22secs away from pulling on the yellow jersey after last Tuesday’s fourth stage time trial, Contador has kept his own teammate’s plans on a tight rein.As Frenchman Brice Feillu raced to victory at Arcalis ski station on Friday, Contador provided drama by attacking Armstrong’s group to finish 19secs ahead of the American.It put the Spaniard into second place overall, and back in the spotlight.But on Sunday Armstrong declared that a ‘very difficult’ six days ahead would show who deserved to be given the team’s full support.’We’ll have more moments, we’ll see who’s really the strongest,’ said Armstrong after explaining why he had not countered Contador’s attack. – Nampa-AFP