<h2>Armstrong and Contador <br>keep their positions</h2>

Teammates and race favorites Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong kept their positions -- first and third -- after the climb up fabled Mont Ventoux (pictured above) at the end of today's Stage 20 of the Tour de France, despite expected and repeated attacks from Schleck brothers Andy and Frank.

The four were among a select few of the race's leaders who managed to separate themselves from the peloton (the rest of the pack) and conquer Ventoux without losing much ground. Andy Schleck (in white, left, crossing finish line) attacked repeatedly, hoping to both distance himself from Contador (in yellow jersey, left) to possibly pick up huge chunks of time and pass the race leader -- but also to wear down Astana teammates Contador and Armstrong (behind Contador, left) in hopes Andy's brother could push ahead and possibly vault over Armstrong for third place.

But Contador and Armstrong answered every attack. They did manage to add some time between fourth-place rider Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain, but not enough to enable Frank Schleck to leap over Wiggins and grab fourth place in the overall standings.

None of the major race leaders won the stage -- that distinction went to Juan Manuel Garate
of Spain (right), who finished three seconds ahead of Tony Martin of Germany. Garate and Martin, neither of whom's overall time was anywhere close to threatening the leaders, were the lone survivors of a much larger breakaway group that had led the stage most of the way. Except for the two survivors, the breakaway riders, one by one, withered and fell back on the 6,273-foot Ventoux.

After the race, Contador still led Andy Schleck by 4 minutes, 11 seconds in the overall competition. Armstrong remained in third place, 5:41 behind his teammate. Barring any unforeseen disasters, those three should stand together on the victor's podium in Paris tomorrow. Wiggins is in fourth place, Frank Schleck in fifth -- but only four seconds behind Wiggins -- and Andreas Kloden of Germany, another Astana team member, was sixth. Astana has a commanding lead in the team competition.

The 2009 Tour de France concludes Sunday with a largely ceremonial stage that will end with the fabled multi-loop ride in Paris that will include the Champs Elysees. The only drama will be a sprint to the finish line for some rider to wrest a coveted stage win.