Defending Tour de France champion Cadel Evans of Australia effectively surrendered his crown after bowing to the heat and four major climbs on the 16th stage of the race in the Pyrenees on Wednesday.
Evans finished the 197 kilometre stage nearly 12 minutes behind the day's winner, Thomas Voeckler of France.
He's now seventh overall and 8 minutes 6 seconds behind leader Bradley Wiggins of Britain with four days to go.
The final podium looks almost settled with Wiggins 2 minutes 5 seconds ahead of his team mate Chris Froome. Vincenzo Nibali of Italy is third, two minutes 23 seconds behind.
