Contador leads; Armstrong aims to defend 3rd place at Tour with Mont Ventoux shakeout looming

Riders set off for Mont Ventoux in Tour climax

MONTELIMAR, France — Tour de France riders are off on the last crucial stage, heading for a finish on the dreaded Mont Ventoux as winds swept wildly across its peak.

Alberto Contador has a firm grip on the yellow jersey. The main question is whether seven-time champion Lance Armstrong can hold on to third place.

Saturday’s 103.8-mile Stage 20 from Montelimar to Mont Ventoux finishes with a steep, 13.1-mile ascent.

Contador is vying for his second Tour victory. He leads second-place Andy Schleck of Luxembourg by 4 minutes, 11 seconds, while Armstrong is 5:21 back.

Sunday’s ride to the Champs-Elysees will mark the finish of the three-week Tour and is usually a ceremonial stage.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

AUBENAS, France (AP) — Lance Armstrong almost certainly won’t be beating Alberto Contador for the yellow jersey.

He still has a chance to finally best another old rival, though, in Saturday’s penultimate stage of the Tour de France: the daunting Mont Ventoux.

The 37-year old Armstrong has met his match on the three-week race this year in Astana teammate Contador.

The Spaniard turned in impressive performances in the mountains as well as Thursday’s time trial in Annecy. He leads Andy Schleck of Luxembourg by 4 minutes and 11 seconds, putting him in position for a second Tour win after his 2007 success. Armstrong is third.

“Tomorrow’s stage is going to be very hard,” Contador said. “I would really like to have an easy stage tomorrow, with no climb. But this mountain pass is a demanding one, with very high gradients.”

Traditionally, the Tour finishes with a time trial on the penultimate day, before a largely ceremonial ride into Paris on the last day. But this year, Ventoux, a huge moonscape of rock in Provence with no vegetation, is the 20th of 21 stages.

The punishing climb, on which British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967, is unlikely to decide the outcome — yet it is expected to be crucial in Armstrong’s race for third place.

Bradley Wiggins of Britain, a three-time Olympic pursuit champion who has turned into a fully qualified climber, is only 15 seconds behind Armstrong and Germany’s Andreas Kloeden is fifth, 17 seconds behind his Astana teammate.

Andy Schleck’s older brother Frank is sixth 38 seconds back of the seven-time champion.

“Big day 2morrow… The ‘Giant of Provence’ Mt. Ventoux. Know it well, we’re old friends but haven’t always gotten along,” Armstrong said on his Twitter feed.

In his heyday, Armstrong had two occasions to triumph on the 13-mile ascent at an average gradient of 7.6 percent.

In 2000, when he won the Tour for a second time, he allowed Marco Pantani of Italy to pass him at the finish line and later regretted having given away the victory. Two years later, Armstrong’s team reacted too late and failed to catch Frenchman Richard Virenque, settling for third place.

“It reinforces that I made mistakes the previous two times,” Armstrong recently told the Associated Press. “I should have raced differently in 2000 and we should have raced differently in 2002. The Ventoux deserves the strongest riders, the mountain asks for that.”

Contador, whose relationship with Armstrong has been confrontational, said he is ready to help his rival to try and keep his third place.

“Tomorrow my goal will be to make sure I bring the yellow jersey to Paris,” Contador said. “Then, if possible, I am OK to help a teammate, in particular Lance Armstrong so he can stay on the podium.”

Following 3½ years of retirement, Armstrong will achieve an amazing feat if he stays on the podium. But it’s not enough for the cancer survivor, who is expected to ride the 2010 Tour with his new Radio Shack team.

Armstrong has already said he will be in a better shape with another season under his belt and hopes he can beat Contador next year with a team fully dedicated to his ambitions. Contador is likely to leave Astana at the end of the season and has been linked to a move to Spanish outfit Caisse d’Epargne.

Armstrong said he hopes to lure some of his Astana teammates onto the American squad, after finishing 12th in Friday’s stage won by Mark Cavendish.

Cavendish earned his fifth stage victory on this year’s Tour, edging Thor Hushovd of Norway and Gerald Ciolek of Germany in a sprint finish. Armstrong crossed the finish line at Aubenas with the same time, trimming four seconds off his deficit to Contador, who stayed cautiously in the peloton.

While Hushovd is likely to win the green jersey awarded to the Tour’s best sprinter this year, Cavendish became the first racer to win five Tour stages in a single year since Armstrong in 2004.

“This is a high point in my career,” Cavendish said.