Stage 9 of the Tour de France saw a major shake up on GC again as the yellow jersey cracked and the two main contenders for the overall showed they are head and shoulders above the rest.

Following the rest day the peloton headed further into the Alps with a fearsome stage taking in several tough 1st category climbs before finally heading up the hors category Col de la Madeleine, a 2000 metre high beast that goes up for 25km.

The days breakaway was a large group of 11 riders which at one point had six minutes on the chasing peloton.  Many groups tried to get away but were reeled in but the action really kicked off on the Madeleine as Saxo bank went to the front and upped the pace significantly.  The classic riders and sprinters went straight out the back door followed quickly by stage race winners Jani Brajkovic (Dauphine) and Michael Rogers (Tour of California) as the riders burned their way up the climb.  At the front Alexandre Vinokourov took off in pursuit of the breakaway which was beginning to disintegrate with Casar, Charteau, LL Sanchez, Moreau and Cunego the five riders remaining. Moreau would also be dropped by the mid point of the climb.

Back tot he peloton and the relentless pace of Saxo was upped by Astana’s Benjamin Navarro follwed closely by Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez, Armstrong and Leipheimer with Schleck and Contador.  The yellow jersey cracked spectacullarly as Evans slid of the back loosing more and more time as the climb went on eventually summiting seven and a half minutes behind the breakaway.

Armstrong and then Leipheimer were shed as Navarro grimacing drove the group.  As he peeled off Schleck attacked hard but was matched by Sanchez and Contador but a second attack was only answered by Contador.  The two played cat and mouse up the climb as Contador seemed not to want to attack as they began to reel in the breakaway riders including Schleck’s teammate Jens Voight who went to work until his legs almost seemed to seize up, a phenomenal effort.  Over the top of the Madeleine and there were several groups formed chasing the breakaway.

First was Schleck and Contador, then Sanchez on his own, Leipheimer, Menchov and Gesink in a small gorup followed by Armstrong, Basso, Vinokourov and Van den Broucke (although he punctured on the descent loosing contact).

The descent was a nervy event for Schleck who never seemed comfortable.  Contador could perhaps have pulled away but didn’t.  The two pushed hard over the 30km from the summit to the finish eventually catching the breakaway group with just 500 metres to go.  Wily Sandy Casar led the sprint around the final corner, managing to hold of the chasers to claim the stage.  Schleck rolled in the new leader of the Tour by 41 seconds from Contador.

1. Sandy Casar, FDJ, in 5h 38′ 10″
2. Luis-leon Sanchez, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:00
3. Damiano Cunego, Lampre - Farnese, at 00:00
4. Christophe Moreau, Caisse D’Epargne, at 00:02
5. Anthony Charteau, BBox Bouygues Telecom, at 00:02
6. Alberto Contador, Astana, at 00:02
7. Andy Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 00:02
8. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel - Euskadi, at 00:52
9. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Katusha Team, at 02:07
10. Levi Leipheimer, Team RadioShack, at 02:07
11. Robert Gesink, Rabobank, at 02:07
12. Jens Voigt, Team Saxo Bank, at 02:07
13. Denis Menchov, Rabobank, at 02:10
14. Kevin De Weert, Quick Step, at 02:50
15. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Doimo, at 02:50
16. Ruben Plaza Molina, Caisse D’Epargne, at 02:50
17. Broeck Jurgen Van Den, Omega Pharma - Lotto, at 02:50
18. Lance Armstrong, Team RadioShack, at 02:50
19. Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas-Doimo, at 03:48
20. Alexandre Vinokourov, Astana, at 03:48

It later transpired that Evans was riding with a broken elbow and while his GC hopes are all but over he vowed to ride on.  Bradley Wiggins was another big loser and it now looks like he is out of the hunt too, slipping to 16th on GC just ahead of Irishman Nicolas Roche and Evans.

So who is left to fight it out?  Contador and Schleck seem in a league of their own with strong teams but can they last till the Pyrenees and Paris?  Samuel Sanchez had a very strong ride as did Menchov who has snuck in under the radar.  Then there is Leipheimer who could benefit from having Radioshack devoted to him from now on?  Suffice to say that this Tour, one of the most exciting in years could have some twists left in it yet.

1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 43:35:41
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:41
3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:02:45
4 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 0:02:58
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:03:31
6 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:03:59
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:04:22
8 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:04:41
9 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:08
10 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:05:09
11 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:05:11
12 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:05:42
13 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:06:31
14 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia 0:07:04
15 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team 0:07:13
16 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:07:18
17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:44
18 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:07:47
19 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:08:03
20 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack 0:09:05
21 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 0:09:48
22 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 0:10:20
23 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step 0:10:26
24 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:10:46
25 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:11:06
26 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:45
27 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:12:48
28 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:13:26
29 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:30
30 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions 0:15:15
31 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack 0:15:54