Carlos Sastre finishes the monster stage in front [AFP]

Sastre took the yellow jersey by speeding ahead of the main title contenders in the final ascent of the 210.5-kilometre ride from Embrun to L'Alpe d'Huez.

Sastre, a five-time top-10 finisher at the Tour who also won a mountain stage in 2003, beat most of the other title threats by more than two minutes.

The stage was the last of three in the Alps. Riders will face a time trial Saturday that's likely to determine the winner.

Time trial tantamount

Two mostly flat stages in the meantime aren't likely to influence the leading bunch.

Cadel Evans of Australia remains a favourite to win the Tour, barring a crash or other mishap, because he is the best time-trial cyclist among the contenders.

Overall, Sastre leads Schleck of Luxembourg by 1 minute, 24 seconds, and Bernhard Kohl of Germany by 1:33. Evans is fourth, 1:34 behind.

Another strong time-trial rider, Denis Menchov of Russia, is fifth, 2:39 back.

Team CSC was dominant up the first two climbs, leading the group around the race leader that split ahead of the main pack.

By the base of L'Alpe d'Huez, Schleck had five teammates escorting him.

It was then that Sastre burst ahead, and he continued to extend his lead up the famed final climb.

"I am very proud and very happy, we all did a remarkable job,'' CSC owner Bjarne Riis said.

"We did the best possible ... I don't know if we'll win, but we have won (today).''

Now it is likely to come down to whether Sastre has enough of a lead on Evans to hold him off in the time trial.

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