Cadel Evans' hopes of a top ten finish on his Tour de France debut will come at a price - as the gutsy Australian found out in the tough 15th stage won by George Hincapie on Sunday. Hincapie, who has been at Lance Armstrong's side on every one of his Tour winning campaigns, completed 6hr 06min of racing over six Pyrenean Cols to beat Phonak's Oscar Pereiro to the finish line.
It was Hincapie's first victory of the race, and to do it on the toughest climbing stage of the race left many specialists dumbstruck - including Armstrong. CSC team leader Basso, who is still in second place, at 2:46 behind and over 20 seconds in front of Danish climber Michael Rasmussen has now taken over that mantle.
Basso, whose ability to attack on the tough cols has left Ullrich wanting, appears to simply be waiting for Armstrong to retire and is unlikely to trouble the American's plans for a happy farewell party next Sunday evening.
Basso is considered a future winner of the Tour, but the Italian may have trouble winning the world's biggest race once Armstrong is gone due to the number of possible challengers, including Evans.
Evans might have work to do before then, but the 28-year-old from Katherine in the Northern Territories is showing he is capable of enduring the pain felt most by the riders who dare to actually race their way up the mountains.
Evans, who came close to wining the Giro d'Italia in 2002 but eventually finished 14th, has been producing promising displays throughout his first Tour but the acid test was always going to be Sunday's stage over six tough Cols.
After finding the pace of Armstrong's group too fast to follow as they closed in on the final two climbs, he eventually finished just over three minutes behind the American - an effort which moved him up a place in the general classification to 11th, and closer to his aim of a top ten finish.
It might have been even better if Frenchman Christophe Moreau hadn't come scrambling back into the race in the latter stages after initially showing the signs of a collapse.
The race's second of three days in the Pyrenees - the third is on Tuesday when it resumes after Monday's rest day - was always going to do damage.
And despite Evans' claim that he is well off the pace of Armstrong and Basso, there is promise to suggest that with a bit more support he can aim for a top five finish.
A top 10 ten finish is now within reach after he experienced two, injury-plagued years.
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