Dessel wins Stage 16, Schleck stretches lead

Frank Schleck of Luxembourg kept the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey and gained ground on two potential rivals in Tuesday’s 16th stage, won by French rider Cyril Dessel.

Frank Schleck of Luxembourg kept the Tour de France leader’s yellow jersey and gained ground on two potential rivals in Tuesday’s 16th stage, won by French rider Cyril Dessel.

Dessel took his first Tour stage victory by leading a breakaway group of four riders to a downhill finish after the 157-kilometer trek from Cuneo, Italy to Jausiers.

“It makes me incredibly happy,” said Dessel, who is no threat to Schleck at more than 32 minutes back. “The tactic was to try to join a breakaway.”

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Schleck finished 1 minute, 28 seconds after Dessel, but didn’t lose any time to his main title rivals. Bernhard Kohl of Austria is second overall, seven seconds behind, and Cadel Evans of Australia is third, :08 back. Carlos Sastre, a CSC team mate of Schleck, is fourth, :49 behind.

“It was hard today, I wasn’t able to attack,” Schleck said. “I think everybody was pushing the limit … but the Tour de France isn’t lost in a day, as we’ve heard said before.”

Schleck and Evans made time on another pre-race favorite, Denis Menchov of Russia. He slipped to fifth place, 1:13 back, after coming into the stage 0:38 behind, in fourth place. American rider Christian Vande Velde lost even more ground in the title hunt, falling to sixth place, 3:15 behind, after starting the ride 0:39 back of Schleck in fifth. Stage winner Cyril Dessel