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Casar wins Stage 18; Contador in yellow
In a battle among two Frenchmen and a pair of soon-to-be retirees, Française des Jeux’s Sandy Casar was fastest of the four, taking victory in stage 18 of the 2007 Tour de France.

Casar, who crashed into an unleashed dog early in the day, launched a cunning attack late in the 211km ride from Cahors to Angoulême, then held off the chasing trio of Axel Merckx (T-Mobile), Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom) and Michael Boogerd (Rabobank). It was the 29-year-old Frenchman’s first career Tour stage victory, and the second for the host country at this year’s race.

Merckx, who with Boogerd is in his final season of racing, was second, followed by France’s Lefevre and then the Rabobank rider.

“At last!” said Casar, who has three runner-up finishes in Tour stages, including stage 10 this year when countryman Cedric Vasseur narrowly beat him to the line. “It’s been a long time in coming.

“I waited as long as I could [in the last 5km Friday], then just went for bust. A finish after a slight incline is what suits me best.”

Boogerd had been hoping to grab a stage win to help soothe the pain of seeing his former team captain, then-race leader Michael Rasmussen, evicted from the Tour, but it was not to be.

“My legs felt really good today. I think maybe I was the strongest up the hill, but I’m not the strongest in the sprints,” said Boogerd, who refused to talk about his former teammate. “I’m really tired [of answering questions about Ramussen].”

Green-jersey leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) led a well-rested field across the line 8:34 later. That widened the Belgian’s lead in the points standings to 234-210 over South African Robbie Hunter (Barloworld). German Eric Zabel (Milram) is third with 206 points.

Behind the sprinters, first-time yellow-jersey holder Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) was on the wrong end of a break in the bunch. That cost the 24-year-old Spaniard three seconds in the overall standings. Contador now leads Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) by 1:50, with American Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), who also missed the split, third overall

FOR THE FULL VELONEWS REPORT CLICK HERE

STAGE 18 FINISHING SPRINT

Stage 18 Results
1 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 5.13.31 (40.38 km/h)
2 Axel Merckx (Bel) T-Mobile Team 0.01
3 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
4 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
5 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 8.34
6 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
7 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram
8 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux
9 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile Team
10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
Full Results and Live Text Coverage by Cyclingnews

General Classification after Stage 18
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 1.50
3 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.49
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 6.02
5 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.29
6 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 10.18
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 11.36
8 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 12.50
9 Mauricio Soler (Col) Barloworld 13.31
10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 13.42

Full Report by VeloNews
The final 1 km by Versus
Sandy Casar crashes into dog by Versus
Stage 18 Recap by Versus
Bergsma Press Conference by Versus
Moreni Arrested by French police by Versus
Graham Watson’s Stage 18 Photos
Bradley Wiggins Press Conference: A brutally honest opinion on the state of cycling and the Tour, including some very tough words for some of his fellow riders. by ITV