After a flurry of attacks on the 1.7km Mûr de Bretagne, Cadel Evans (BMC) prevailed over Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank Sungard).
A brief regrouping ended when Gilbert attacked from 500m out, but without the devastating acceleration that had brought him victory on the opening day and was widely expected to do so again. With 300m left, Contador countered, Evans responded and led out the final dash for the line. Contador came again, but too late to deny the Australian his first road stage win at the Tour and his team their first Tour success this year.
"I didn't know who had won. I couldn't see myself," Evans admitted moments after the finish. "The final was very tense on small roads and I had to change bikes with 15km to go. Marcus Burghardt is my hero of the day as he took me back up to where I needed to be. This was a real team effort. George [Hincapie] and the other guys won this stage for me. I can't believe that I managed to beat Philippe Gilbert having led him out into a headwind."
Cadel Evans slots into 2nd place in the GC overall, just 1 second behind the yellow jersey retained by Thor Hushovd.
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