Ford: The (un)usual suspects still fighting for yellow at Tour

AP Photo/Bernard Papon, POOL Christian Vande Velde, right, battled with Frank and Andy Schleck throughout Wednesday's Stage 17. In the end, even France's two highest mountain ranges weren't quite enough to separate six would-be first-time champions who have all looked alternately robust and flawed over the past two and a half weeks. The race will boil down to Saturday's individual time trial, where the time gaps promise to be tight. That's fitting. So far, at least, the good competitive news that has emerged from this Tour has eclipsed bad doping news by a modest margin. Australia's Cadel Evans, fourth on the overall chart, nonetheless looks to be in the best position to wear the yellow jersey into Paris because of his superior strength in the race against the clock. Evans is 1:34 behind new leader Carlos Sastre, who seized... [read full story]