DIGNES-LES-BAINS, France — Tour de France riders approached the Alps focused more on racing and less on the fallout of three scandals over drug use.
Three-time world champion Oscar Freire of Spain closed in on the sprint title by winning Saturday’s 14th stage, while Australia’s Cadel Evans kept the yellow jersey for a fifth straight day.
Evans, who was runner-up last year, knows his clutch on the race leader’s yellow jersey is about to be challenged — notably by Team CSC, which has two strong climbers who are within 1 1/2 minutes of him.
“Tomorrow, the challenges to my yellow jersey will begin,” said Evans, adding that his Silence Lotto team has tried to save the energy of riders who could escort him up the alpine climbs. “I have to play a smart race.”
Freire, a three-time world champion, won a mass sprint at the end of the 120.9-mile trek from Nimes to Digne-les-Bains and closed in on clinching the green jersey given to the Tour’s best sprinter.
The 32-year-old Rabobank rider collected his fourth career Tour stage victory with a time of 4 hours, 13 minutes, 8 seconds. Freire’s hold on the green jersey had come under pressure from Mark Cavendish, who won the last two stages in sprints. But the British rider fell behind in the final climb up the low-grade L’Orme pass, and he missed the final dash.
Bjarne Riis, the CSC team manager, said his team is going to “show some fireworks” in the Alps. His contenders include Frank Schleck of Luxembourg, who trails Evans by one second, and Spain’s Carlos Sastre, who is in sixth place and 1:28 back.
“Obviously, the strategy is to try and isolate Evans,” said Riis, the 1996 Tour winner who stayed home from the race last year just weeks after his admission that he had used EPO on way to his victory. “If we want to win this Tour de France we have to attack on these three hard stages in the Alps.”
Other riders to watch are Bernhard Kohl of Germany, a strong climber who is 46 seconds behind Evans in fourth, and Russia’s Denis Menchov, who is 57 seconds back in fifth.
Tour de France at a glance
A brief look at Saturday’s 14th stage of the Tour de France:
Stage: A 120.9-mile, mildly hilly ride from Nimes to Digne-les-Bains in hot temperatures.
Winner: Oscar Freire of Spain won a sprint finish. Leonardo Duque of Colombia was second, and veteran sprinter Erik Zabel of Germany was third. All clocked 4 hours, 13 minutes, 8 seconds.
Yellow jersey: Cadel Evans of Australia kept the yellow jersey and remains one second ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg and 38 seconds ahead of Christian Vande Velde of the United States.
Quote of the day: “I have to play a smart race. I have to use my head.”— Evans, looking ahead to the Alps
Next stage: Today’s 15th stage takes riders into the high Alps with the first of three grueling stages, a 113.7-mile trek from Embrun to the Italian ski resort of Prato Nevoso.
