ALPE D'HUEZ, France, - After two near-misses in 2007 and 2008, Cadel Evans' recipe to become Australia's first Tour de France champion appears to be startlingly simple.

"Start as fast as possible, finish as fast as possible and hope it's fast enough," Evans said on Friday when asked his feelings on the penultimate stage time trial that will decide the 98th edition of the race on Saturday.

To reduce Evans' efforts, this year and all the other years he has battled for cycling's holy grail, to such a simple formula would fail to do justice to the determination shown by him and his BMC team on the race's 98th edition.

Yet the truth is, a 42 km race against the clock in Grenoble will be decisive.

After what many believe has been the hardest race in years, Evans will go into Saturday's penultimate stage with a 57 sec deficit to new race leader Andy Schleck.

Leopard-Trek team leader Schleck took possession of the yellow jersey on Friday when he finished in a group containing most of the favorites just over 30 sec behind reigning champion Alberto Contador.

With his older brother Frank in second overall at 53, it looks like the cycling siblings from tiny but hilly Luxembourg have the race at their mercy.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 07/24/2011 page7)