Mixed day for Spain as Sanchez wins stage

LUZ ARDIDEN, France, July 14 (Reuters) - Spain experienced
mixed emotions on the first Tour de France stage in the Pyrenees
on Thursday as Samuel Sanchez won in Luz-Ardiden but Alberto
Contador showed unexpected signs of weakness.     

Olympic champion Sanchez made his move on the last of three
climbs, finishing ahead of his breakaway companion Jelle
Vanendert of Belgium.     

But the real battle between the favourites for Tour victory
was raging behind and only really started in the last four
kilometres of the 211-km ride from Cugnaux when Luxembourg's
Frank Schleck attacked.     

The oldest of the two Schleck brothers, fifth overall in
2008 and 2009, struck once, twice and his third surge finally
paid off, allowing him to finish third on the    line, 10
seconds behind the leading two.     

But, above all, his final strike exposed Contador's current
limits.     

Hampered by the knee injury which has troubled him for the
past week, the three-times Tour champion reacted to Schleck's
first two moves but stayed put on the third.     

In the final kilometre, Contador was again dropped by the
other leading players, Italy's Ivan Basso, Australia's Cadel
Evans and Andy Schleck.     

While he only conceded 23 seconds to Franck Schleck and 13
to the other three, the Spaniard probably lost more confidence
than time in the first major test in this year's race and he now
lies some two minutes behind his most serious rivals. 

"I was not able to deliver as much as I would have loved to,
but I'm still satisfied by this result," Contador told
reporters.     

"It was a special day because I was still recovering from
those crashes. But I will be getting better and better day by
day," he added. 


BASTILLE AND BASQUE DAY     

The Spaniard lies seventh in the overall standings, exactly
four minutes behind Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, who bravely
retained the lead.     

"The yellow jersey gives you motivation to go beyond
suffering," said Voeckler, who gave the French public something
to celebrate on Bastille Day.     

However, most of the roadsides were clad with the orange
colours of Sanchez's Euskaltel team, whose fans had crossed the
border in their thousands to cheer their favourite outfit.     

"I wanted to win this stage after losing five minutes in a
crash on the first day. I did not want to return home
empty-handed.     

"Now I'm going to try not to lose time and make it back
gradually up the overall classification," said Sanchez, who
finished fourth in Paris a year ago.     

The leader of the Basque team, who won their first Tour
stage 10 years ago, also in Luz-Ardiden, might become a solid
ally for Contador in the upcoming     mountain stages and
especially in Saturday's scary ride towards Plateau de Beille. 

"I always said we could be allies if circumstances were
favourable. I'm still ready to help him if necessary," said
Sanchez, even if the two Spaniards do not ride    for the same
team.   

Contador will probably need support as his main rivals, and
especially the Schlecks, joined forces against him and will
continue to do so.     

"It was a perfect day for us. It was the first test and not
the last. But if we  continue like this, we can go on to win the
Tour," said Andy Schleck.     

The three climbs of the day, Hourquette d'Ancizan, Tourmalet
and Luz-Ardiden, were damaging for some of the other main
contenders like Dutchman Robert Gesink and Germany's Andreas
Kloeden who lost vital ground.