Lars Bak and Team CSC retained the yellow leader's jersey in stage seven of Tour de l'Avenir from Guéret to Mauriac, which was won by German rider Alexander Gottfried.
"It was a tough stage, but the team did brilliantly," said CSC's DS Scott Sunderland. "A large break went, but we never let them get too far. On the final climb an attack was launched by some of the main rivals for Lars' jersey, but Andy Schleck stepped up and delivered a first rate performance, and in the end Lars himself neutralized the attack.
"Tomorrow is another tough stage, but if we manage to retain the jersey it looks pretty good from then on. One drawback is that we'll have to do without Christian Müller; he unfortunately had to abandon due to stomach problems."
