SAINT-JEAN-DE-MAURIENNE, France, July 13 (UPI) -- Sandy Casar's final sprint won Tuesday's Tour de France stage, but Andy Schleck's strong finish allowed him to grab the overall lead.
Casar was among riders who led the stage for most of the 122.7-mile route in the French, Alps but he needed a last kick to finish first ahead of Luis-Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego.
Casar, Sanchez and Cunego were all timed in 5 hours, 38 minutes, 10 seconds for the ninth stage of the tour. Schleck and Alberto Contador were among four riders who moved up strongly in the final mile and ended up just 2 seconds behind Casar.
Schleck, who won Sunday's stage, moved into the overall lead and is 41 seconds ahead of Contador with Samuel Sanchez in third 2:45 off the pace.
Cadel Evans, who took over the lead Sunday, was 42nd in Tuesday's stage and fell to 18th overall. Lance Armstrong wound up 18th Tuesday and is in 31st place, up from 39th.
The tour's 10th stage covers about 107 miles Wednesday from Chambery south to Gap in eastern France. The riders have a Category 1 climb -- rising about 2,000 feet in elevation over about 4 1/2 miles about one-third of the way into the race. There is a Category 3 and a Category 2 climb, the latter taking the racers over the Col du Noyer pass.
