Contador lost most of his lead but still holds a 23-second advantage over Evans. Barring a crash or other mishap, the 24-year-old Spaniard likely will bring home the yellow jersey tomorrow after the 20th and final stage — a 90.7-mile ride from Marcoussis to Paris' Champs-Elysees. Leipheimer is 31 seconds behind in third place.

Contador entered today's time trial with a 1 minute, 50 second lead over Evans. The big question was whether he could hold off the Australian.

Leipheimer, an American rider with the Discovery Channel team, won the stage in a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes, 44 seconds in the 35-mile race against the clock from Cognac to Angouleme.

"I have always dreamed of winning a stage of the Tour de France, either a mountain stage or a time trial," Leipheimer told Versus after the stage. "I think my emotion took over (at the end), and I went faster and faster."

Contador would be the Tour's youngest winner since Jan Ullrich in 1997. A victory for Evans would be a big lift for sports-mad Australia, where rugby and cricket hold sway.

The tense ride injected racing drama to cycling's premier event after three riders were kicked out in the space of 30 hours _ two for doping, and one for lying to his team.

The race has been reeling from Wednesday's withdrawal of Rasmussen, as well as other drug-related episodes.