Vinokourov defies '13'

REVEL, France – Returning to the Tour de France after a doping ban, Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the 13th stage Saturday while Andy Schleck of Luxembourg kept the yellow jersey.

Vinokourov led a bold solo breakaway at the end and was followed in a mass sprint headed by Mark Cavendish of Britain and Alessandro Petacchi of Italy. They and the main pack finished 13 seconds behind Vinokourov.

Schleck retained the overall lead by keeping pace with his closest challenger – two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador, who trails the leader by 31 seconds in second place.

Vinokourov looked backward at the trailing pack and thrust his arms skyward at the end of the 196-kilometer course from Rodez to Revel over five low-level climbs. He finished in 4 hours, 26 minutes, 26 seconds and hugged Astana teammate Contador.

Vinokourov got out of the pack within the last 10 kilometers (6 miles), overtaking an earlier breakaway rider, Italy’s Alessandro Ballan, and then held off the pack on a late descent. Vinokourov said he hadn’t planned on attacking after Astana managers recommended a “calm” ride on the day - but that he saw an opportunity and took it.

“It was a beautiful victory, a beautiful reward,” Vinokourov said after the fourth Tour stage victory in his career. “I heard fans shouting ‘Vino’ at the start ... that gave me a lot of motivation.”

Contador tweeted: “I am happier than if I had won.”

Vinokourov, a 36-year-old veteran who won the Tour of Spain in 2006, was kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France for blood doping in one of the biggest scandals of the doping-marred race that year. The stage victory on Saturday would have been his sixth, but his two stage wins in the 2007 Tour were nullified after his disqualification.

Vinokourov, who faced a grilling from reporters about doping after he won the Liege Bastogne Liege in Belgium in April, said being able to ride in the Tour this year was “already a big victory for me.” (AP)