Alberto Contador of Spain rides hard during the Tour de France— Photo by AFP.

BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE Spanish rider Mikel Astarloza won the 16th stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday, with Alberto Contador keeping the overall lead and Lance Armstrong still second.

Contador and Armstrong finished in the main pack behind Astarloza and other breakaway riders in the 159-kilometer (98.8-mile) ride through the Alps from the Swiss town of Martigny to Bourg-Saint-Maurice.

Astarloza, a 29-year-old rider for the Euskadi Euskaltel team, thrust his fists in the air and kissed his fingers as he crossed the line — six seconds before French riders Sandy Casar and Pierrick Fedrigo.

With about two kilometers (1.2 miles) to go, the Spaniard escaped three other breakaway riders with him and held on through the finish.

'I was lucky to leave alone and finish alone,' Astarloza said after his first Tour stage win. 'I'm a complete rider, but I'm not good at the sprint — so I have to attack from far away.

'I am super happy,' he said.

Seven-time champion Armstrong retained his No. two spot overall after recovering to catch up with Contador after several attackers burst ahead in the second of two long Alpine climbs, which featured a downhill finish.

Contador, the 2007 champion, leads Armstrong by one minute, 37 seconds. Bradley Wiggins of Britain is third, 146 back.

Despite the two tough climbs, racers had a long, 31-kilometer (19-mile) downhill to the finish — making it difficult to hold on to a time gap that might have been gained on the final climb. Downhills make it hard for breakaway riders to outpace the fast-moving pack.

Riders scaled the highest peak at the Tour this year, the snowcapped Grand-Saint-Bernard pass on the Swiss-Italian border — at 2,473 meters (8,113 feet). Its sister, the Petit-Saint-Bernard pass on the Italian-French border, was the days other big climb, and each was at least 22 kilometers (13.5 miles) long.

In the final climb, with about 36.4 kilometers (22.6 miles) left in the stage, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg attacked. He was quickly joined by the Spanish race leader and a few other riders — but not Armstrong.

The Texan, after dropping back by a maximum of about 35 seconds, then mustered a dazzling acceleration to regain that small group of favorites, which included Schleck, Contador and Wiggins.

The final descent was perilous Jens Voigt of Germany crashed either from a bicycle malfunction or hitting a bump in the road — it was not immediately clear — and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Wednesday's stage features what some riders fear is the toughest Alpine trek this year — a 169.5-kilometer (105.3-mile) ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand featuring five tough climbs, and another downhill finish.

The Tour ends Sunday in Paris. — AP