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Sastre: New leader

Carlos Sastre climbed to the top of Alpe D'Huez to win stage 17 of the Tour de France and take over in the yellow jersey.

The Spaniard burst away at the bottom of the final climb on the 210.5-km mountain ride from Embrun that was set up to be the pivotal day of the tour.

His compatriot Samuel Sanchez of the Euskaltel team finished second with another CSC rider, Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, coming home third.

Previous leader Frank Schleck came home in fifth place two minutes and 13 seconds back to surrender the Maillot Jaune to his team-mate.

Good Evans

Pre-race favourite Cadel Evans was a further two seconds adrift to leave himself in fourth overall, one minute and 34 seconds behind the new leader.

However, the Australian will be confident of closing the gap before the riders reach Paris due to his superior abilities in the final time trial, which takes place between Cérilly and Saint-Amand-Montrondon on Saturday.

Austrian Bernard Kohl sits between Frank Schleck and Evans in the standings, though like fifth-placed Dennis Menchov, his hopes of glory have faded considerably.

The impressive CSC team had been at the front of the peleton in pursuit of an early four-man breakaway that had held a lead of over seven minutes at the foot of the Croix de Fer.

Attack

Using Stuart O'Grady and then Fabian Cancellara to keep the pace high, the Danish squad were able to set up Sastre's attack on the legendary 'unclassified' 13.3 km climb of Alpe d'Huez.

With the Schleck brothers content to control the group behind, the 33-year-old was quickly able to open up a healthy lead as he raced against the clock.

After crossing the line he was forced to wait for Evans, who with no help from around him had been forced to go out in front to try and limit the damage.

His late efforts have left him on course for glory, although before the crucial time trial the competitors must first complete two more stages, the first of which is a 196.5km ride from Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Etienne on Thursday.

Stage result:
1. Carlos Sastre (Spain/Team CSC) 6 hrs 7 mins 58 secs
2. Samuel Sanchez (Spain/Euskaltel) +2 mins 3 secs
3. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg/Team CSC) same time
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spain/Caisse d'Epargne) +2:13"
5. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg/Team CSC) same time
6. Vladimir Efimkin (Russia AG2R) +2:15"
7. Cadel Evans (Australia/Silence - Lotto) "
8. Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) "
9. Christian Vande Velde (US/Garmin-Chipotle) "
10. Bernhard Kohl (Austria/Gerolsteiner) all the same time

Overall standings:
1. Carlos Sastre (Spain/Team CSC) 74 hrs 39 mins 3 secs
2. Frank Schleck (Luxembourg/Team CSC) +1 min 24 secs
3. Bernhard Kohl (Austria/Gerolsteiner) +1:33"
4. Cadel Evans (Australia/Silence - Lotto) +1:34"
5. Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) +2:39"
6. Christian Vande Velde (US/Garmin-Chipotle ) +4:41"