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And second, and third, you don't succeed, then try and try again. Sylvain Chavanel's career-held motto has finally paid off with that elusive maiden win on the Tour.

Putting two fingers up at the likes of Bernard Hinault who have attacked Chavanel for, well, never having won, the 29-year-old Frenchman at last carved his name into Tour posterity by out-sprinting compatriot Jeremy Roy at Montlucon.

It was a third stage win for France in this year's race, and Cofidis' second scalp after that of Sammy Dumoulin way back in stage three.

But most tellingly it was Chavanel's fourth breakaway attempt since the start in Brest, the three previous ones all biting the dust. That's 415km in total he had ridden in front of the bunch...

You can laugh at him all you like, but one thing Chav has is persistence - and on Friday, the last feasible occasion for him to mark a win, he threw in his lot and pulled it off in sublime fashion.

"I was angry at missing the first breakaway, but I was ready to instigate a counter-attack when it was reeled in," the Willem Defoe look-alike said, before bigging himself up rather: "I brought about the attack. I broke clear alone and at one point was riding at 65 km/h and I just kept on going.

His gain is another man's pain, of course: Roy's second-place was Francaise des Jeux's fourth runners-up berth this year - Chavanel's brother Sebastian being amongst the near-crowned.

There was a time - up until today in fact - when the Tour was synonymous with Chavanel-fused failure. The image of Chav senior trying his hand, usually alone, only to be caught and spat out by the peloton, became an abiding memory of the summer.

But this year, the rider's more vigorous training programme saw him pick up six wins over the spring classics season, and inspired Hinault make the harsh-but-probably-true statement: "At long last Chavanel is discovering how much easier it is if you train hard and put your back into it." Oh, how Saddles would have liked to have been within earshot of the two men when they shook hands on the podium

On finally breaking his Tour duck, Chavanel concluded: "This victory proves that if you don't give up, you can one day achieve something. I was frustrated because I had been trying so hard and every time I had failed. This year, I have overcome a barrier. It's the best gift I could offer Cofidis."

Second best gift, surely? After all, before the stage started Chavanel announced that he was leaving the French outfit to join QuickStep on a two-year contract, where he will assume the mantle of "domestique de luxe" for the Boon King, which, even for a newly crowned Tour stage winner, is pushing it a little.

The hour of truth

Sarturday's 53km ITT will be the most important hour in the lives of Cadel Evans and Carlos Sastre, one of whom will enter Paris in yellow as 2008 Tour champion.

The race-against-the-clock starts in Cerilly, a town so central it could be the bullseye of France. Renowned for its Charolais cattle, the plat du jour today has to be a nice, rare fillet steak, perhaps with a pepper sauce and some rustic potato wedges.

There will be corks-a-popping for one rider at the finish at Saint Amand Montrond, which is apt seeing that the nearby vineyards produce a local champagne called Berrichonne. Flowing past the finish is also the river Cher, whose human equivalent sang the morose pop classic 'If I Could Turn Back Time' - a feeling which will no doubt be shared by Sast- sorry, by one unfortunate rider very soon.

A few questions to ponder: Will Evans bottle it? Will Sastre raise his game in yellow? Will the potentially hazardous cross winds come into play? Will Bernhard Kohl do a Rasmussen (fall of his bike three times that is, not elope to Mexico)? Will Stefan Schumacher win again or will Fabian Cancellara be rewarded for his sterling work for CSC? Will David Millar show up? Is he still in the race? Will Wim Vansevenant ride purposefully slowly so as to assure a third successive title as Lanterne Rouge? He currently lies second-to-last and needs Bernhard Eisel to better him by 42secs.

Tour shorts

Poor old Damiano Cunego - touted by many as a potential winner, dismissed outright by Lance Armstrong, the Italian threw in the towel yesterday after rearranging his chin on the wall of a motorway in that high-speed crash on Thursday. Despite still dining out on his 2004 Giro triumph, Cunego nevertheless has the support of his Lampre directeur sportif, Maurizio Piovani, who said: "I will remain at his side even if many have lost faith in him - he is a great rider." Piovani then coughed rather loudly.

Bare a thought for former yellow jersey Romain Feillu and Fabian Wegmann and Juan Antonio Flecha - the trio inexplicably finished stage 19 out of the time limit and who will not take to the ramp at Cerilly. Saddles doesn't know what is more embarrassing: being ejected from the Tour with just two days to go or finishing a whole 25mins shy of Chavanel.

Robbie McEwen, who was so invisible in the mountains Saddles didn't even see him pull a trademark wheelie on Alpe d'Huez, has started to play the mind-games on Sastre ahead of Saturday's deciding ITT.

Talking before Chavanel's stage win, Evans's team-mate said: " The general consensus is that Sastre doesn't have enough time. Maybe they didn't attack today to give Carlos a mental boost - 'no you don't need to attack, you have enough time, you'll be right'. But I think deep down they will be a bit worried. And if I was them I would be too." Not more worried about the rise of Cav, Robbie?

Katusha, the new Russian-financed super team sponsored by the Roman Abramovich of cycling, Oleg Tinkov, have announced the signing of frizzy-haired Italian Pilippo Pozzato from Liquigas. The 26-year old will join Quick Step sprinter Gert Steegmans and says that his new team "has made me a leader".

Saddles wonders how he will feel if the rumours are true of the pending arrivals of Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre and Fabian Cancellara...

Lanterne Rouge

Where is Schumi getting all his strength from? That's four stages on the trot in which he has attacked. . . Can we expect another time trial win on Saturday?

Felix Lowe / Eurosport