Astana’s Alberto Contador and Silence-Lotto’s Cadel Evans, the one-two finishes in last year’s Tour de France, went head-to-head last week in the Vuelta al País Vasco — aka Tour of Basque Country — in the Basque region of Spain.

But alas, because of the ASO’s un-vitation of Astana to the Tour de France, Contador won’t be there to defend his title.

Not to worry. Contador is putting on a show early in the season, as Astana makes statement after statement about its Tour worthiness.

A few weeks ago, he won the five-stage Vuelta a Castilla y León, and last week, he claimed the leader’s jersey on the opening day of the Vuelta al País Vasco and defended it through the week. Contador punctuated the triumph by winning the 20 km time trial Saturday in the final stage, indicating his overall improvement in the discipline. Evans, a well-renowned time trialist, was 20 seconds in arrears of Contador.

Evans finished 30 seconds behind Contador in the overall classification.

Too bad these cats won’t go head-to-head in the TdF. It could have been one of the classic matchups in Tour history.

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