(CNN) -- Alberto Contador finished second on the 12th stage of the Tour de France to trim 10 seconds off the lead of yellow jersey leader Andy Schleck of Luxembourg.
The 210-km stage was won by Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez, who outsprinted his illustrious compatriot and defending champion to claim a victory in his first appearance in cycling's most famous race.
But Contador was the other big winner on the day as he rode away from Schleck on the steep three kilometer climb towards Mende which concluded the day's proceedings.
He now trails the Saxo Bank rider by 31 seconds in the overall classification.
Third place went to Contador's Kazakh teammate Alexandre Vinokourouv, a survivor of a breakaway group that went away after 60 kilometers.
