climb in stage 20 and the individual time trial in stage 21, Arroyo held on for second overall between Basso and Nibali. The squad finished third in the Trofeo Fast Team standings and 17th in the Trofeo Super Team. Tour de France Sánchez led the team's squad at the Tour de France, along with newly crowned Spanish road race champion Gutiérrez. Absent from the race were the newly suspended Valverde and Soler, who had planned to start but withdrew due to a knee injury sustained in the Critérium du Dauphiné. Rojas was in line to contest the sprint finish to stage 1, but he was caught behind in the massive crash that took place in the peloton just meters from the finish line, taking seventh on the day, two second behind the five riders who were able to steer clear of the crash and finish together. Stage 4 also ended with a sprint. Rojas was able to contest this one, but finished only seventh. He also finished in the top ten in stages 5 and 6, the latter of which involved Perget earning the day's combativity award. Perget again showed combativity in stage 7, finishing fifth in a three-man group that crossed the line 7 seconds ahead of the main peloton. Plaza was ninth in this stage. After the first rest day, Caisse d'Epargne placed two riders in the top four of stage 9. Sánchez and Moreau were part of the day's breakaway, and stayed away (though they were joined by overall favorites Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, who did not contest the finish). These results put the squad in first place in the teams classification, by a margin of 31 seconds over and 35 seconds over . Sánchez lost out on the stage win when Sandy Casar took an aggressive final turn to the finish line, which was situated just after a hairpin left turn. Sánchez did, however, gain the day's combativity award and move up to 8th overall. Astana rode in support of Contador's bid for a third Tour title and Team RadioShack had no overall contender (due to Lance Armstrong falling well out of contention after stage 8). Thus, the American team contested the team award with Caisse d'Epargne for the remainder of the race, making sure to mark one another in breakaways. The very next day, the teams supplied the two riders who contested the stage