Cycling: Contador turns up the heat

All it took was one searing late attack on the race's first mountain-top finish in Andorra, and Spain's Alberto Contador finally demonstrated why he is the favourite in this year's Tour de France.

Although still not wearing the yellow jersey - that shifted, in one of the Tour's quirkier developments, to the unlikely shoulders of Rinaldo Nocentini - Contador is now just six seconds behind and poised to pounce, possibly as early as overnight as the Tour enjoyed its second day in the Pyrenees.

Contador's move brought no reaction from his Astana team-mate Lance Armstrong, who slid from second to third overall, 8s back from Nocentini.

Speculation was rife that after such strong form in the largely flat first week, Armstrong might try to rein in Contador in the Pyrenees, and he said afterwards the Spaniard's move "had not formed part of the day's original plan".

But the seven-times Tour winner either would not or could not respond to the Spaniard's charge off the front, and he lost 23s to Contador by the summit of Ordino-Arcalis.

Contador made his move with just 3km left on a stage that started at sea level in Barcelona, and then rose through Catalunia's wild interior to the 2300m-high Andorran peak.

It was too late for Contador to go for the stage win, which went to the most tenacious rider of a day-long break of nine, Frenchman Brice Feillu. Yet the ease with which the 2007 winner bounded away from the other favourites strongly suggests the Spaniard is, as Armstrong says, "the best climber in the world".

"He's realised he had to take the race by the scruff of the neck if he wants to win it,"said Astana manager Johan Bruyneel.

"It was not a coup," Contador said. "I had nothing special in mind. But I'm on my terrain and I really enjoyed riding in the mountain so close to home. It does not make me the team leader. Only the race will decide on the leader."

Part of the same breakaway as stage-winner Feillu, Nocentini recognised his chances of staying in yellow over the next two days in the Pyrenees were limited.

"I'm the first person to be surprised to be here talking to you journalists," the Italian, in his first Tour, said.

If Nocentini provided one of the biggest surprises, Britain's Bradley Wiggins' excellent 12th place on the stage has confirmed that after three Olympic gold medals on the track, the Londoner is now fast progressing as a climber.

Always close to the front of the Armstrong group, the Garmin-Slipstream rider remains in fifth place overall, 46s down on Nocentini - by far his strongest ever performance in the Tour.

"I've been saying all along that physically I had it in me to do something here," Wiggins said. "I proved in the prologue I'd got my climbing legs and apart form that one day [stage three] when we were all caught with our pants down, I've ridden a perfect race."

- INDEPENDENT