Sylvain Chavanel wins Stage 7 of Tour de France

Reporting from Les Rousses, France — Lance Armstrong said it was hot. Andy Schleck said it was hot.

It was hot in the Alps on Saturday, 95 degrees or so, hot enough to make the pavement melt in some places. Armstrong said he had wished for rain during Stage 7 of the Tour de France, and it did rain and thunder and lightning and hail — an hour after the cyclists made it onto their buses.

And for one more day the Tour de France general classification contenders, the guys who want to wear the yellow jersey in Paris on July 25, pedaled hard, watched one another closely and held back attacks.

It was left to Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel to win his second stage of the Tour and take over the leader’s spot. As expected, all the overall contenders — Armstrong, Schleck, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans — neither gained nor lost time against one another.

Chavanel finished the 103-mile trip from Tournus to Station des Rousses, a ski stop in the seasons when it’s not hot enough to melt the road, in 4 hours, 22.52 minutes. If there was a disappointed member of the contenders’ group, it might have been BMC Racing’s Cadel Evans, the Australian who finished second at the Tour in 2007.

Evans moved to second overall, 1:25 behind Chavanel, but Schleck said, “I expected Cadel to get the [yellow] jersey.”

Schleck is in fourth place overall, 1:55 behind Chavanel; Contador of Astana is sixth, 2:26 behind; and seven-time champion Lance Armstrong is 14th, 3:16 behind Chavanel. The Spaniard Contador is still considered the biggest favorite.

Several riders predict that Astana and Contador will mount some sort of attack in Sunday’s much more difficult stage from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz. There are five rated climbs and the day will offer a chance for overall hopefuls to test both themselves and the others.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll see Contador attacking,” Schleck said. “Honestly, today wasn’t going to decide anything, but to be honest I didn’t expect it to be this hot. It was really, really hot. That was something I didn’t expect.”

Armstrong said the key place for attacking Sunday might come in the second-to-last climb to the finish in Morzine-Avoriaz, at the Col de la Ramaz.

“It’s very difficult,” Armstrong said. “There are patches that are eight, nine, 10% [inclines]. It’s super, super-hard, and if temperatures are like this, we’ll see people stuck in the road.”

Armstrong remembers the 2003 Tour, which was marked by temperatures in the high 90s and melting pavement that caused serious accidents.

It was in such severe conditions when Spanish contender and 2002 runner-up Joseba Beloki’s wheel stuck in the melting road on an Alps descent and Beloki crashed in front of Armstrong.

The Texan barely avoided Beloki by veering into a field and riding across the terrain and back onto the road. Beloki never recovered his cycling skills after his injuries.

Chavanel made a recovery of his own, mental more than physical. He won his first stage last Monday and took the yellow jersey, then fell at least twice on the cobblestones of Stage 3 and gave up the jersey to Fabian Cancellara.

As Chavanel crossed the finish line Saturday, he pumped his fists while the crowd raised fists as well. “This is the best day in my career,” Chavanel said. “Today I wanted to prove I can win a stage in this Tour without any questions. I saw an opportunity and the legs felt great. I am very content.”

The Frenchman from the Quick Step team might relinquish yellow for good on Sunday if the attacks that Schleck and Armstrong predict finally happen.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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