Updated at 6:47 a.m., Friday, July 27, 2007
Cycling: Casar wins 18th stage of Tour de France
Associated Press
ANGOULEME, France — Sandy Casar crashed after hitting a spectator's dog but won the 18th stage of the Tour de France before home fans today. Alberto Contador of Spain kept the overall lead as the doping-stained race neared its weekend finish in Paris.Casar scraped his hip in the crash and went on to win a Tour stage for the first time. He prevailed in a sprint among four cyclists who broke away from the main pack during the 131-mile ride from Cahors to Angouleme.
The 29-year-old Frenchman pumped his right fist as he crossed the line in 5 hours, 13 minutes, 31 seconds. He was folowed by Axel Merckx of Belgium and Laurent Lefevre of France.
"Finally! It's been awhile that I've been waiting for this," Casar said. "I almost dropped out after the fall — I didn't see it coming."
Tom Boonen of Belgium cemented his hold on the green jersey given to the race's best sprinter by leading the pack across the finish line, 8:34 after Casar.
With the race heading into Saturday's crucial stage — a 35-mile individual time trial from Cognac to Angouleme — Contador narrowly extended his lead over Cadel Evans by three seconds. The second-placed Australian trails Contador by 1:50 with two stages left. U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer is third, 2:49 back.
