Hautacam, July 14: Before the start of the Tour de France, Cadel Evans forecast that he would seize the race leadership in Monday's stage to Hautacam.
The Australian did, but it was a close call.
A bad crash on Sunday and a strong assault by the CSC team of Luxembourg's Frank Schleck in the two gruelling climbs of the 10th stage in the Pyrenees were not enough to stop Evans seizing the first yellow jersey for Australia since Robbie McEwen in 2004.
With the number one on his back and the support of hundreds of Australian fans on the roadside, he salvaged a meagre second's lead over Schleck on the last climb.
"Yesterday was my Tour low, today is my Tour high," said Evans at the end of the first stage finish at high altitude on this Tour.
There were serious doubts about the Melbourne rider's chances in the morning as he took the start with swelling and bruises all over the left part of his body.
"But as you go, your body re-adapts and you feel a bit better, especially as the team doctor yesterday pressed me from nails to neck," he said.
"To be frank, it hurt more on the descents when parts of my body were bouncing. Every little bit of speed hurt," he said.
A day's rest in Pau on Tuesday will be ideal for the Australian, second behind Spain's Alberto Contador last year, to lick his wounds and make plans for the second half of the Tour.
"It will be very difficult to keep the jersey as we don't have the strongest team in the race. But I'm more than satisfied with the job they did today and one thing the team is good at is riding at the front," he said.
With leading rivals at the start like Spain's Alejandro Valverde and Italy's Damiano Cunego now virtually out of contention, it will not be too difficult to pick the riders to watch from now on.
"If you look at the overall standings, obviously, Frank Schleck seems to be the first threat," said Evans.
But the Australian, who spent most of the day alongside Denis Menchov on the climbs, singled the Russian out as his most dangerous opponent on the way to Paris.
"To me, over three weeks, Menchov is a stronger, more solid performer," he said.
Bureau Report
