Tour de France
July 19, 2009
Contador easily sped away from the pack, which included seven-time tour champion Lance Armstrong, with 5.5km remaining on the climb to the finish line in the Swiss resort of Verbier.
The 37-year-old Armstrong, who finished ninth, 1 minute 35 seconds behind his 11-year-junior Astana teammate, said the result meant he had little chance of winning an eighth tour title.
"(Contador) showed he's the best rider in the race," Armstrong told France 2 television after the stage, and said he would now work to help his teammate win the tour.
Armstrong now lies second in the overall standings, 1 minute 37 seconds behind Contador, with the surprising Briton Bradley Wiggins in third, 1 minute 46 seconds adrift. German Andreas Kloeden, also of Astana, is fourth at 2 minutes 17 seconds.
"I'm happy to be second," Armstrong said. "I definitely suffered. I was already a little at my limit at the bottom (of the climb). I was hurting."
Contador's time for the 207.5km course from the French city of Pontarlier was 5 hours 3 minutes 58 seconds, an impressive average speed of 40.96 kph for a course that featured six climbs.
Luxembourg's Andy Schleck finished second, 43 seconds behind the winner, while Italian Vincenzo Nibali came in third, 1 minute 3 seconds behind.
"I'm very happy," Contador said. "It was a hard climb. My legs hurt, they hurt a lot."
The Tour de France ends July 26 in Paris.
dfm/dpa/AFP
Editor: Andreas Illmer