Contador keeps yellow jersey at Tour

MONT VENTOUX, FRANCE (AP) - Alberto Contador all but sealed the Tour de France title Saturday, keeping the yellow jersey after a punishing mountain ride in the next to last stage.

Lance Armstrong, the seven-time champion who came out of 3 1/2 years of retirement, held third place overall after the dreaded climb up Mont Ventoux. He finished in a small group that included Contador, his Astana teammate, and second-place Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.

The only thing keeping Contador from his second victory in cycling's showcase race is a ceremonial ride into Paris on Sunday.

Juan Manuel Garate of Spain won the 20th stage, a 104-mile course from Montelimar that culminated with a very steep 13-mile ascent.

Garate entered the stage more than 1 1/2 hours behind Contador and held off fellow breakaway rider Tony Martin of Germany by three seconds.

Schleck was third, 38 seconds back, in the same time as Contador. Armstrong was fifth, 41 seconds behind Garate, and Frank Schleck was sixth, 43 seconds back.

Contador, the 2007 Tour champion, leads Andy Schleck overall by 4:11, with Armstrong 5:24 behind. Bradley Wiggins is fourth, 6:01 back, and Frank Schleck is fifth, 6:04 behind the Spaniard.

The finale in Paris is a flat stage that traditionally doesn't feature any breakaway attempts.