LE MONETIER-LES-BAINS, France — Andy Schleck has finally gotten the edge against Alberto Contador.

After two second-place Tour de France finishes behind the Spanish champion, Schleck all but quashed Contador's hopes for a three-peat with a bold, long-distance breakaway win in Stage 18 in the Alps on Thursday.

The 26-year-old rider from Luxembourg handled the main pack midway along the second of three huge climbs, with 30 miles left in the 125-mile ride from Pinerolo, Italy, to Galibier Serre-Chevalier in France.

By the finish atop the ski station — the highest-altitude finish in the Tour's 108-year history — Schleck had beaten the favorites by more than two minutes, come 15 seconds within Frenchman Thomas Voeckler's grasp on the yellow jersey, and left Cadel Evans of Australia clinging to his title bid.

But the biggest casualty was Contador, who with an aching right knee from a crash earlier in the three-week race, straggled up to the finish — his hopes of a fourth title in tatters.

"Victory is impossible now," said Contador, who had dropped back to the race doctor for an anti-inflammatory just as Schleck prepared his move. "I had a bad day. My legs didn't respond and I just hit a wall."

The two riders, once friends who vacationed together, had animosity during last year's Tour when some say Contador breached etiquette by speeding ahead when Schleck had a chain malfunction — a move that turned out to make the difference in the outcome.

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