Pereiro doubting Evans challenge

Australian Cadel Evans holds the yellow jersey

2006 Tour de France champion Oscar Pereiro doubts that Australian Cadel Evans can hang on to his overall Tour lead because of a weak back-up team.

Evans, who rides for Silence, leads the Tour going into stage 11 on Wednesday after riders had a rest day on Tuesday.

But Pereiro, who won the 2006 title after American Floyd Landis failed a doping test, said Evans will struggle.

"I see Denis (Menchov) and Carlos (Sastre) as the main favourites," he said. "Evans' team is relatively weak."

Evans, 31, will head into Wednesday's stage from Lannemezan to Foix with an overall lead of one second from CSC's Frank Schleck after capturing the first yellow jersey of his career.

And he has a good chance of retaining the lead with the 167.5 km outing twisting through the foothills of the Pyrenees.

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Yet with mountain stages 15, 16 and 17 from 20 July to come, fellow Spaniards Pereiro and Caisse d'Epargne team-mate Alejandro Valverde have picked Russian Menchov, of Rabobank, and Spaniard Sastre (CSC) to pip the Australian to the yellow jersey in Paris.

"Silence and Rabobank don't have the strongest of teams and they're not great in the mountain stages," said Valverde.

"We can't discount Evans but I think Menchov and Sastre are now the big favourites, especially Menchov."

Schleck and Sastre were part of a strong showing from Danish team CSC on Monday where the Tour showcased its first serious mountain stage.

And team manager Bjarne Riis said his riders have only just begun to show what they are capable of.

"Our Tour so far has been good. We spent the first week following wheels and that was what we wanted," said Riis.

"I believe it was our best tactic to save energy for the mountains. We saw yesterday that it's in the mountains where you are going to see this team."