Contador outduels Amstrong

ARCALIS, Andorra (AP) — In the Tour de France duel between teammates Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, the first big mountain stage went to the Spaniard.

Contador, the 2007 winner, unleashed a burst of speed Friday in the last uphill mile into the tiny Pyrenees principality of Andorra — and Armstrong didn’t lay chase.

By the end of the seventh stage, Contador had bumped the seven-time champion from second to third in the overall standings. Perhaps more important, he showed he has the legs for this unrelenting three-week test.

The 140-mile trek from Barcelona, Spain, to the ski resort of Arcalis was the longest stage of this Tour. It was won by Brice Feillu of France and produced a new leader in Rinaldo Nocentini.

Nocentini, who joined Feillu in a nine-man breakaway, became the first Italian in nine years to seize the yellow jersey and ended the six-day hold on the lead by Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara.

Contador is six seconds behind Nocentini, a Tour newcomer at age 31 and a stage winner at the Tour of California this year. Armstrong dropped one spot to third and is eight seconds back.

Armstrong said he had foreseen a possible move by Contador.

“It was a fine day,” he said. “I think overall we’re fine. Yesterday I said I expected him to assert himself in the race.”

Contador finished the stage ninth, 3:26 after Feillu. Armstrong was 15th, 3:47 behind.