Landis set for <i>Tour</i> win as Honchar takes stage

American Floyd Landis is poised to succeed Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France's roll of honour after beating his closest rivals in yesterday's decisive time trial won by Ukraine's Serhiy Honchar.

Phonak rider Landis finished third, 1:11 behind the 2000 time trial world champion, who clocked a best time of one hour seven minutes 45 seconds for the 57-km penultimate stage from Le Creusot to Montceau-Les-Mines.

Landis took the overall leader's yellow jersey off Oscar Pereiro's shoulders as he beat the Spaniard by 1:29 having trailed him by 30 seconds at the start of the day. Spaniard Pereiro finished fourth on the stage, 2:40 adrift of Honchar and dropped to second overall.

Fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre finished 20th and lost his place on the podium as German Andreas Kloeden leapfrogged him for third overall after finishing second on the stage, 41 seconds behind T-Mobile team-mate Honchar.

Pereiro had started the day with a 12-second advantage over Sastre while Kloeden had been fourth, 2:29 back.

"I could not be happier. Me and my team gave all we had," said Landis. "It's one of the best days of my life."

"We did not really have doubts. But we had to remain cautious after all that happened in this Tour," added Phonak team manager John Lelangue.

Landis, a former team-mate of Armstrong who retired last year following his record seventh consecutive Tour win, made up eight minutes when he won Thursday's 17th stage in the Alps in one of the greatest rides in Tour history.

The American had lost everything on the ascent to La Toussuire on Wednesday but dug deep to close the gap on Pereiro in a solo effort reminiscent of 1971 when Spaniard Luis Ocana beat Belgian great Eddy Merckx by 8:42 in the Pyrenees.

Honchar, who had already won the Tour's first time trial two weeks ago, used incredibly big gears on a hilly route lined by hundreds of spectators, setting a scorching pace.

Landis, who suffered handlebar problems in Rennes two weeks ago and lost some five seconds after being forced to change bike on the starting ramp in the prologue, got off to a flying start.

At the first intermediate check, the American was one second ahead of Honchar and was leading Sastre by 1:05.

Pereiro was also riding a good time trial, however, and Landis had not erased his 30-second deficit after 16.5 kms. The Spaniard could not keep the pace going though and by the 34-km mark he had virtually surrendered his yellow jersey as he was 1:23 adrift of his former team-mate.

Sastre was suffering while Kloeden was keeping a high pace to put himself in line for a second podium finish on the Tour in three years after finishing runner-up to Armstrong in 2004.

The white jersey for the best young rider is set to go to Italy's Damiano Cunego, who started the day five seconds ahead of Marcus Fothen, but beat the German by 31 seconds.

The green jersey for the best sprinter is a near certainty for Australian Robbie McEwen, who will lose it only if he pulls out today.

A withdrawal would also be the only reason for Dane Michael Rasmussen to lose the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.

Today's 20th and last stage will lead the peloton over 154.5 kms from Antony to the Champs Elysees in Paris.