2010 Tour de France stage seven results.

Frenchman recaptures yellow

Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) won his second stage of this year's Tour de France at Station des Rousses on Saturday, and completed another double, taking over the yellow jersey, just as he also did in Spa at the end of stage 2.

Unlike in Spa, however, the history books will show no asterisk against Chavanel's name after this victory - which, again, he achieved alone.

If his win in Spa carried a hollow ring, with the race neutralised behind him following the crash-marred descent of the Stockeu, at the summit of Station des Rousses, there was only acclaim and admiration after a gutsy and perfectly-timed and executed counterattack.

From Chavanel himself, there was an exuberant, fist-pumping, medallion-kissing celebration along the finishing straight, while, behind him, there were skirmishes and a minor sort out of the overall contenders, but no significant winners or losers.

"We are on a roll on this incredible 2010 Tour," said Chavenel to Letour.com. "We started with the whole team, and it has gone perfectly. What we did in the stage to Spa was extremely rare. But to do it twice - oh, it's wonderful. Now we will try to win a third!"

Indeed, a stage described as a "medium mountain" stage conformed exactly to expectations. The six classified climbs included two long category two-rated ascents towards the end - the Col de la Croix de la Serra and the Côte de Lamoura - and these saw the favourites gather at the front.

"I think next year I will no longer compete for the month of May, considering the form I've currently got at the Tour. I had legs of fire, and I knew I was on climbs that suited me very well - a gradient of four per cent, hills more than a mountain," said Chavenel to Letour.com.

But while the Croix de la Serra acted as the launchpad to Chavanel's victory, and effectively ended Fabian Cancellara's (Saxo Bank) spell in yellow, it told us very little about the climbing form of Alberto Contador (Astana), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) or Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), with last year's top four all present, correct and looking comfortable.

"I was à bloc [flat out]. It was hot, really hot. It was too much for me, I couldn't do it," said Cancellara to AFP. "I've had some nice days in the yellow jersey, and tomorrow I'll go back to my normal one. Things will be quieter, calmer, less stress."

The 14km climb of the Côte de Lamoura, to the finish at Station des Rousses, appeared tough at the bottom, with a series of hairpins, but it proved to be no more revealing.

Contador had two Astana teammates set the pace, and, with the main group now whittled down to around 35 riders, it was enough to drop the day's darkhorse for the yellow jersey, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). With Thomas eventually conceding more than three minutes to that group, the white jersey for best young rider passed on to Schleck.

"I am very happy to have the white jersey, I hope that in the coming days, I can get one of another color," said Schleck to AFP. "Fabian (Cancellara) was not on a good day. Now it's my turn to play. I feel fine."

At the finish, as French TV hailed the stage winner's panache, Chavanel embraced his countryman and Quick Step teammate Jérôme Pineau, who completed an outstanding day for the Belgian squad by featuring in the day's main break and significantly increasing his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

Pineau had said, before the start, that he intended to try and score maximum points on the road from Tournus to Station des Rousses, and he almost succeeded, being first to the top of five out of the six climbs. It was Chavanel, of course, who scored double points at the stage finish, and he now sits second in the King of the Mountains competition, eight points behind Pineau.

"I had to score points to consolidate my polka dot jersey. I've been criticized at times for attacking too much, but it's been paying off at the Tour," said Pineau to AFP. "Rather than trying to make the right break, I attacked and found myself with Samuel (Dumoulin). It worked out well. On the last climb I gave it everything. When I heard that Sylvain was all alone, I picked it up to help, if even for 20 metres."

The man in polka dots first signalled his intent early, attacking in the first kilometre and being joined soon after by Christian Knees (Milram), Danilo Hondo (Lampre), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis).

By the summit of the first climb, the Côte de l'Aubépin, after 51km, they had a lead of eight minutes, 30 seconds - with Pineau first across the line, of course, ahead of Knees and Perez.

It was the Côte du barrage de Vouglans, the fourth hill of the day - and the first Cat. 2 climb of this year's Tour - that began to inflict the damage. Cancellara began to yo-yo - as, surprisingly, did Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) - as the main group split in two, and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) bridged across to a counterattack that included Thomas Voeckler and Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne).

Up ahead, Pineau took off with Hondo, and they reached the top of the climb together. Knees followed, then Voeckler, Gautier, Cunego, Lloyd and Perget, with the peloton just over a minute behind.

Chavanel, meanwhile, sensed that the group containing Cunego - with the Italian widely fancied for the day's stage - was the one to join, and he set off in pursuit, bridging the gap in no time at all.

On the approach to the final climb Chavanel made another key decision, this time that Cunego's group wasn't going fast enough. And so he launched himself again - and so, at precisely the same time, did Pineau, dropping Hondo, and setting up a Quick Step pursuit race.

It didn't take Chavanel long to catch a spent-looking Pineau. "He tried to lead me," said Chavanel later to Cyclingnews, "but he was really tired, and it wasn't possible for him."

The climb to the finish, Chavanel admitted, was "exactly the type of climb I like." And it showed as he stormed up a gradient that averages five percent, pushing a huge gear.

"I began to think of the yellow jersey on the last climb, and I told myself that after having lost it, it was quite a coup to take it back again," said Chavenel to Letour.com.

Behind him, Pineau predictably dropped like a stone - he came in almost four minutes behind Chavanel - but Chavanel had a surprise pursuer in the form of Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto), who chased him all the way up the climb and came in just 57 seconds down.

As Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) - the winner of last year's penultimate stage to the summit of Mont Ventoux - came in for third, and Voeckler held on for fourth, the main group of 35 came in 1:47 down.

As well as last year's top four, the other favourites were all there - Cadel Evans (BMC), the Liquigas pair of Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger and Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack). In fact, the only loser among those who might be considered top 10 candidates was Armstrong and Leipheimer's teammate, Andreas Kloden, who conceded four minutes to Chavanel.

"It was very hot, it was a very hard day," said Schleck to AFP. "I was surprised by the difficulty of the stage. I am a little disappointed with myself. On the last climb, Contador and his team pushed the pace a bit too high in my opinion, because of the sudden the others would not ride with them then."

Chavanel plans to defend his jersey in Sunday's stage 8, 189km from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz. "Tomorrow I will do everything to defend it, but I know that the battle will mainly concern Contador, Schleck and Evans," said Chavenel to Letour.com. "In the midst of it, I'll always give everything, but if I lose, it does not matter. Right now I'm on my little cloud, I'm floating and I don't know how else to describe it. But I see that I have great support on the road and everywhere. It warms my heart."
Full Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 4:22:52
2 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Footon-Servetto 0:00:57
3 Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank 0:01:27
4 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0:01:40
5 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
6 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
7 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0:01:47
8 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions
9 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
10 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto
11 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
12 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
13 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
15 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
16 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack
17 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
18 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
19 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
20 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
21 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo
22 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
23 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
24 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
25 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
26 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step
27 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
28 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia
29 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
30 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
31 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team
32 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
33 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana
34 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions
35 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack
36 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack
37 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank
38 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
39 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
40 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
41 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
42 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha
43 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:03:07
44 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step 0:03:55
45 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne 0:04:00
46 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
47 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
48 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
49 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
50 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack
51 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank
52 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
53 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
54 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
55 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia
56 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:05:02
57 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana
58 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:05:18
59 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:04
60 Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
61 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
62 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
63 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
64 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
65 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack 0:10:02
66 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack
67 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
68 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo
69 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
70 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram
71 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team
72 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
73 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram
74 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Omega Pharma-Lotto
75 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step
76 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
77 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne 0:11:02
78 Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:12:59
79 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank
80 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne
81 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
82 Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
83 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
84 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 0:14:12
85 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank
86 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
87 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
88 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
89 Iban Mayoz Echeverria (Spa) Footon-Servetto
90 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto
91 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
92 Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo
93 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Astana
94 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
95 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini
96 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step
97 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 0:18:57
98 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
99 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack
100 Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack
101 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
102 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions
103 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Transitions 0:19:14
104 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team
105 Fabio Felline (Ita) Footon-Servetto
106 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
107 Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha
108 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
109 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team
110 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
111 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
112 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana
113 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank
114 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team
115 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
116 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana
117 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
118 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
119 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
120 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
121 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
122 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
123 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step
124 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team
125 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
126 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
127 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
128 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
129 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
130 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
131 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux
132 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha
133 Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux
134 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto
135 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto
136 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
137 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
138 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
139 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
140 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank 0:22:17
141 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
142 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team
143 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
144 Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo
145 Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo
146 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
147 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
148 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
149 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
150 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
151 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
152 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
153 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux
154 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française des Jeux
155 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions
156 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Transitions
157 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Footon-Servetto
158 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Transitions
159 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia
160 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
161 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia
162 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
163 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
164 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
165 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
166 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
167 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
168 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
169 Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
170 Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux
171 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team
172 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
173 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
174 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
175 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha
176 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
177 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
178 Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
179 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
180 Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
181 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions
182 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
183 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
184 Roger Kluge (Ger) Team Milram
185 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team
186 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
DNS Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
HD Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Team Katusha