Tour Will Be Sprint to Finish

After a leisurely ride Friday, one of the most dramatic Tour de France editions in years reaches a crucial stage today -- the individual time trial.

The question is, can American Floyd Landis overcome a 30-second deficit and wrest the yellow jersey away from race leader Oscar Pereiro of Spain?

The two men have traded the yellow jersey back and forth since Saturday.

Now, the time trial probably will determine who will wear the maillot jaune when it counts -- Sunday in Paris.

“I feel pretty good about my chances,” Landis said after Friday’s mostly flat stage, in which the leading contenders rode together, trying to recharge after three agonizing days in the Alps.

“I’m optimistic.”

Today’s race against the clock is a 35.4-mile ride that snakes from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines. It shouldn’t take riders, who will leave one by one in reverse order of the standings, much more than an hour to complete.

The last three riders to go will be Landis, second-place Spaniard Carlos Sastre, and Pereiro.

The course is about the same length as the Stage 7 time trial, though a little more hilly. Landis finished second in that stage, 1:10 faster than Sastre and 1:40 ahead of Pereiro.

But extrapolations mean little in this year’s Tour, which has featured seven riders in yellow -- one short of the record.

Wild, unpredictable finishes are replacing Lance Armstrong’s era of domination.

Whereas Armstrong meticulously chipped away at his rivals, 30-year-old Landis has shown a flair for drama -- nearly cracking one day, then coming back with a once-in-a-lifetime ride to get back into contention.

He became a fan favorite Thursday, winning the final Alpine stage to slash his 8-minute 8-second deficit to Pereiro to 30 seconds, putting him back in contention.

Making it even more incredible is that Landis is riding with an arthritic hip, an injury from a 2003 crash that he hopes to correct with surgery this fall.

“The other day, when I saw Floyd [struggle] ... I can say in my heart that I wasn’t happy,” said Pereiro, a former Phonak teammate who calls Landis a friend. “Now I am.

“But it’s clear that it’s going to be harder for me to win the Tour,” Pereiro added, acknowledging that Landis is typically stronger in time trials.

“I’m going to push the limit.”

Friday, he and the other top riders took it easy as Italy’s Matteo Tosatto won the 18th stage, outsprinting two other breakaway riders at the end of the 122.4-mile ride from Morzine to Macon.

The Quickstep rider clocked 4 hours 16 minutes 15 seconds. Pereiro, Landis and Sastre cruised in eight minutes later.

Pereiro, of the Illes Balears squad, holds a 12-second lead over Team CSC rider and fellow Spaniard Sastre.

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AT A GLANCE

* Friday: The 18th stage took the riders from Morzine to Macon, 122.4 miles in baking sunshine on a mainly flat route.

* Winner: Italian Matteo Tosatto of Quick Step in 4 hours 16 minutes 15 seconds. Italian Cristian Moreni of Cofidis placed second in the same time, with German Ronny Scholz of Gerolsteiner in third, two seconds back.

* Yellow jersey: Oscar Pereiro, a Spanish rider on Caisse D’Epargne-Illes Balears, retained the race leader’s yellow jersey.

* Quote of the day: “I know Floyd is better than me in the time trial” -- Pereiro, seemingly bracing for the challenge of American Floyd Landis today.

*--* STAGE 18 RESULTS OVERALL LEADERS 1. Matteo Tosatto, 4:16:15 Oscar Pereiro, 84:33:04 Italy Spain 2. Cristian Moreni, same time Carlos Sastre, :12 behind Italy Spain 3. Ronny Scholz, :02 behind Floyd Landis, :30 behind Germany United States 4. Manuel :47 behind Andreas Kloden, 2:29 behind Quinziato, Italy Germany 5. Sebastien 1:03 behind Cadel Evans, 3:08 behind Hinault, France Australia

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Source: Associated Press