Contador knocks Armstrong into 3rd

"It was a fine day," he said. "I think overall we're fine. Yesterday I said I expected him to assert himself in the race."

The stage was a far cry from Armstrong's heyday, when he racked up seven straight Tour wins from 1999 to 2005. Back then, he stamped his dominance from the first encounter with the mountains.

"I didn't expect a demonstration like, you know, some of the other years on the first climb days," the 37-year-old Texan said. He said the headwinds prodded many riders to seek shelter in the bunch.

"We'll have plenty of days at the end of this Tour where there's only a couple of guys together," he said.

Contador finished the stage ninth, 3:26 after Feillu. Armstrong was 15th, 3:47 behind — the same time as Evans, Schleck and Sastre. Those three are all back about 2<0x00BD> to 3 minutes in the title chase.

Armstrong has shown solid but not outstanding form at this Tour, the centerpiece of his comeback after 3<0x00BD> years of retirement. His smart riding has outshone his physical prowess.

"Overall, I feel pretty good," he said. "Things didn't quite go according to plan that we set up earlier, but it didn't matter."

For Contador, who could have the makings of one of the great cyclists, there's no doubt about his physical ability at age 26. His conundrum will be managing the pressure, and the questions about whether he or Armstrong is better suited to be team leader.

"I'm really tired of the question about leadership at Astana," Contador said. "Let's just watch the Tour and see what unfolds and hopefully it will be clear by the end of the race."

The big showdown figures to come on the next to last day, when riders are set to scale the celebrated Mont Ventoux — a climb that Armstrong says is the Tour's toughest.

Two more days of racing in the Pyrenees await before Monday's rest day. Saturday's stage is a 110-mile route featuring three tough climbs and finishing in Saint-Girons, France.

Contador likes his chances.

"I know the road to Arcalis," he said. "This is my terrain as well. When I'm in the mountains it's like I'm at home."

Twitter de France

Tweets from cyclists following Stage 7 of the Tour de France

@levileipheimer I had the unfortunate incident of tangling in a crash at the bottom of the last climb, very fast bike change ... having to make up ground on a speeding peloton at crunch time is not advised, I was wounded more from that than crash

@lancearmstrong Long and pretty tough. Final climb was very windy so negated the attacks a bit until the end. AC attacked in the final k's and ... gained some time on the front group. He was going well.