He repeatedly doused himself with water in uphill climbs to fight the heat, and massaged his thighs on the way down to get ready for more punishing ascents ahead.

Even Landis’ rivals were awe-struck at his comeback.

“It’s incredible the way he attacked,” Sastre said. “In the last 4 or 5 kilometers, we attacked Landis with five riders — and he was still better.”

Making it even more incredible is that Landis is riding with an arthritic hip, an injury from a 2003 crash that he hopes to correct with surgery this fall.

With only three stages left — two of them mostly flat rides in which breakaway gains are unlikely — the stage injected new suspense to a race poised for one of the tightest finishes in years.

Not since American Greg Lemond edged out Frenchman Laurent Fignon by a record-low 8 seconds in 1989 has less than a minute separated the winner from the runner-up in cycling’s premiere race.

“Three riders, 30 seconds apart,” Leblanc said. “See you on Saturday” — when the second and final time trial could determine the winner.

The first Tour after Armstrong’s reign has been about as wild as they come. The Texan rarely left any doubt about who would win going into the last few days.

With Armstrong retired — and his legendary dominance of rivals a memory — the race really blew wide open on the eve of the July 1 start. That’s when pre-race favorites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso — along with seven other riders — were ousted after their names turned up in a Spanish doping probe.

Seven riders have worn the yellow jersey this year — one short of the record. Pereiro and Landis have each worn it twice.

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Along with the traditional cruise into Paris for the finish on the Champs-Elysées, Friday’s stage, bringing riders westward out of the Alps, isn’t seen as a big challenge.

The last big test is Saturday’s race against the clock, a 35.4-mile ride that snakes from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines.

It’s about the same length as the first time trial in Stage 7, though a little more hilly. In that one, Landis was second, 1:10 faster than Sastre and 1:40 ahead of Pereiro.

“I’m fairly confident in my time-trialing abilities, assuming I didn’t overdo it today,” Landis said. “There’s a chance of that. We’ll have to wait and see.”

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