Kurt-Asle Arvesen of Norway (centre) grimaces in the last metres to win the 11th stage of the Tour de France between Lannemezan and Foix, southern France, yesterday. At left is Alessandro Ballan of Italy, who finished third, and at right is Martin Elmiger of Switzerland, who finished second. - AP

FOIX, France (AP):

KURT-ASLE Arvesen of Norway won yesterday's 11th stage of the Tour de France, a ride largely overshadowed by the second doping bust to mar the race this year.

Australia's Cadel Evans retained the race leader's yellow jersey by finishing 14 minutes, 51 seconds back in the main pack that included his top rivals for the overall title in the three-week race.

Arvesen, of Team CSC, led a sprint among three riders in a 12-man breakaway group at the end of the 167.5-kilometre (104.1-mile) stage from Lannemezan to Foix that features a category one climb up the Col de Portel.

National champion

The 33-year-old Norwegian national champion edged out Swiss rider Martin Elmiger and Italy's Alessandro Ballan in a photo finish, for Arvesen's first Tour stage victory.

"Today I rolled the dice and everything worked well," said Arvesen, who said the exhilaration he felt topped that during each of his two stage wins in the Tour of Italy. "Winning a stage of the Tour while I'm wearing my national jersey - it can't get much better than that," he said.

Evans, the Silence Lotto team leader and a pre-race favourite, held on to his narrow one-second lead over Frank Schleck of Luxembourg. American rider Christian Vande Velde is third, 38 seconds behind.

Didn't chase

The Australian didn't chase the 14-man breakaway group because it didn't contain anyone likely to challenge for the title. The highest-placed rider in the bunch was Russia's Alexandre Botcharov, who erased his deficit to Evans to 6:07, from 20:47.

Evans said he was nursing residual pain from a nasty crash in Sunday's ninth stage, and was hoping it will have disappeared altogether by the time the race hits the Alps this week.

Before the stage began yesterday, French police detained Spanish cyclist Moises Duenas Nevado after he tested positive for the banned blood-booster E following the fourth stage on July 8 at Cholet.

Duenas Nevado, who rides for the Barloworld team and had been 19th overall in the Tour, was suspended by his team and removed from the race.

Asked what effect he thought the second doping case would have on the race and fans' impression of it, Evans said: "I'm very, very sorry for the image of cycling.

"Other than that, of course, I have an opinion. But on such a sensitive issue, I don't have any comments," he said.

Evans will wear yellow again today for the 168.5-km (104.7-mile) 12th stage through rolling hills and plains from Lavelanet to Narbonne on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea.