2010 Tour de France stage eight results.

Evans in yellow as crash ends Armstrong's hopes

There were two defining images of the eighth stage of the Tour de France. One saw a battered, bruised and decidedly ragged Lance Armstrong, shepherded by his RadioShack teammate Jani Brajkovic, struggling across the line at Morzine-Avoriaz, almost 12 minutes down.

The other saw Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) come of age with a stunning stage win. And it was this second image that should prove more significant in the coming days, since it suggested a shift in the balance of power, from the defending champion and favourite, Alberto Contador (Astana), towards last year's runner-up.

While the story of last year's Tour was of Schleck being unable to respond to Contador's repeated accelerations in the mountains, here it was the other way around.

An elite, 13-man group had just passed under the one-kilometre-to-go kite when the Luxembourg rider made his one, decisive move. Contador, whose Astana teammate Daniel Navarro had led almost the entire way up the 13.6km mountain, reacted quickly to his rival's attack, sprinting after his rear wheel, but he couldn't close the gap.

Indeed, the race was on, prompting Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) to pounce after Schleck. Approaching the line, with the Olympic champion having joined Schleck in front, it was Sanchez who led it out and looked as though he had it, but Schleck came around him, glancing across at his rival as he drew level, and then inching ahead to claim his first ever stage win in his third Tour.

"It was my first real victory of the season," said Schleck to TV interviewers after the race. "I took a lot of confidence out of my performance today. It puts me in a very good position right now, but I have to thank my team for being always around me, protecting me."

"I've got to get my head around the position that I'm in now," said Schleck, with a rest day ahead of him tomorrow. "There are still a lot of very hard days, but I am pretty relaxed for the moment. I've done my thing, and I hope I can do a great race and I hope I don't have a bad day."

Ten seconds behind, the group was led in by another of the day's aggressors, Robert Gesink (Rabobank), with Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) fourth and Contador fifth. Sixth, though, was the day's other big winner, Cadel Evans (BMC), who survived an early fall to claim the yellow jersey.

Evans now leads the general classification ahead of Schleck by 20 seconds, with Contador up to third, 1:01 behind the Australian.

Many will expect the overall winner to come from this trio, meaning, inevitably, that one of the day's big stories was the end of Armstrong's challenge - indeed, the definitive end of the Armstrong era.

In the first real mountain stage of this year's race the seven-time winner, riding his final Tour, suffered three crashes, the second of them coming at a crucial stage, just before the climb of the Col de la Ramaz.

"I had a bad day," Armstrong told French TV within seconds of crossing the line. "I came around one roundabout and my pedal touched [the curb], then my front tyre rolled off.

"It's hard to recover from something like that," he said. "They started the Ramaz pretty hard and I was already suffering. Then it went from bad to worse. It was a bad day. Now I'm going to hang in there and enjoy my last Tour."

Schleck offered his sympathy to Armstrong. "Lance had a pretty bad crash - he crashed in front of me, and he could do nothing.

"I almost went down with him," Schleck said. "He came back but he was pretty beaten up. On the [Ramaz], he lost contact with our group. I expected him to be up there in the front.

"To be really honest, I'm a little sorry for him because he really wanted to be good in this last Tour. I think his morale is a little down now."

The new yellow jersey, Evans, also had a scare, crashing after 6km and receiving attention from the race doctor. But he admitted that he wasn't surprised to inherit the yellow jersey from Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step).

"Chavanel has had a fantastic Tour, but he isn't a climbing specialist," said Evans. "I've got [the yellow jersey] because of the good work we did in preparation for the stage [three] to Arenberg. I think this is the reward for our work."

Going into the first rest day, the Australian said he wasn't sure what his BMC team's approach would be to defending the jersey. "The Pyrenees are very difficult, Astana is very strong and Andy's very strong, so I don't know yet how we'll look to defend, or what we'll do with the yellow jersey."

It was an active start to the stage, with numerous riders trying to go clear, but after around 35km seven men finally got the gap. The seven were Mario Aerts (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Koos Moernhout (Rabobank), Benoit Vagrenard (FdJ), Christophe Riblon (AG2R), Imanol Erviti (Caisse d'Epargne), Sebastien Minard (Cofidis) and Amael Moinard (Cofidis).

As this group built a solid lead the overall favourites kept their powder dry until the Ramaz. And as they hit the lower slopes - with Armstrong having just regained contact after his crash - Team Sky hit the front, Juan Antonio Flecha leading, Thomas Lofkvist following, with the British team's leader, Bradley Wiggins, sitting third.

Riders began to fall off the back, including King of the Mountains Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step), Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) and George Hincapie (BMC). Then, five kilometres from the summit, Chavanel began to lose contact, as Sky was joined at the front by Saxo Bank.

Then came the surprise: Armstrong sliding off the back, with his teammate Chris Horner for company. The news was transmitted at lightening speed to the front, and two Astana riders took it up, injecting more momentum into a main group that numbered around 35 riders.

The gap quickly opened, and with a kilometre to the summit the Astana-led group was 2:12 behind the break, with Armstrong, Horner and Brajkovic 40 seconds in arrears, and Chavanel a further two minutes back.

If Armstrong hoped to rejoin the group on the descent, then he hadn't bargained on a third spill - but that's what happened as he collided with Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) as they went through Les Gets, after a small climb that acted as a stepping stone to the final ascent, to the Avoriaz ski station.

Astana, meanwhile, kept up the pressure at the front. Alexandre Vinokourov put in a big shift on the lower slopes, then dropped back as Navarro took over.

Still in front were three survivors of the early break, but Moerenhout, Moinard and Aerts had about as much chance of fighting out the stage as Armstrong did of rejoining the Contador group.

All eyes were on Contador, of course. The Spaniard sat comfortably behind his teammates - so much for Astana not being strong enough in the mountains - and resembled a coiled spring. The question seemed to be when, rather than if, he would attack.

But Contador was surprisingly quiet, and we didn't see his familiar, dancing style until after the final survivor of the break, Moinard, had been reeled in 5.5km from the summit, and after Wiggins had been dropped, two kilometres later.

Even then, the Spaniard's accelerations were reactive rather than aggressive. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) was the first of the favourites to have a go, with Contador's response instant. A soft attack from Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) followed, but it acted only to tee up Gesink.

The tall Dutchman opened a decent gap, but Contador, shadowed all the time by Schleck, brought him back. And as they got their breath, with Gesink still leading, Schleck played Contador at his own game, sprinting clear, and maintaining the effort as the Spaniard tried desperately to get back on terms.

Given the gap that he opened in less than a kilometre, Schleck was asked whether he regretted not attacking earlier. "No, not at all," he said.

"We had a plan, and I had to follow it. I didn't want to change it during the stage. Maybe it was possible to take the yellow jersey today but I want to have it in Paris, so I want to take it step by step.

"I believed this morning this stage was a decisive one," Schleck continued. "I was really nervous this morning. I was 100 percent mentally and physically, and I was surrounded by my team. I'm really motivated now."
Results
# Rider Name (Country) Team Result
1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 4:54:11
2 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
3 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank 0:00:10
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
7 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack
9 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
10 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
11 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
12 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia 0:00:20
13 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:00:39
14 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:01:14
15 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step
16 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack
17 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:01:37
18 Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:01:45
19 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
20 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0:02:05
21 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:02:15
22 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:18
23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
24 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana 0:02:20
25 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto 0:02:23
26 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Footon-Servetto
27 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana
28 Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
29 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:27
30 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank
31 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
32 Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
33 Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:04:05
34 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team 0:04:33
35 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:05:46
36 Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:05:47
37 Arkaitz Duran Daroca (Spa) Footon-Servetto 0:05:50
38 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:06:30
39 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions
40 Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank
41 Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
42 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
43 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team HTC - Columbia
44 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team HTC - Columbia
45 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
46 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
47 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo
48 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux
49 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Omega Pharma-Lotto
50 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:06:59
51 Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 0:07:48
52 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0:08:10
53 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
54 Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo 0:09:12
55 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 0:09:45
56 Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:11:16
57 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank 0:11:27
58 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank
59 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step 0:11:40
60 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step
61 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack 0:11:45
62 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack
63 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne
64 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
65 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
66 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
67 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
68 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Omega Pharma-Lotto
69 Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
70 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
71 Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo 0:11:58
72 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana 0:12:58
73 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack 0:16:48
74 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:17:42
75 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
76 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0:21:32
77 Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha
78 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
79 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha
80 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
81 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team
82 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step
83 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana
84 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha
85 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
86 Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram
87 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana
88 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
89 Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux
90 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Astana
91 Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram
92 Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto
93 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step
94 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
95 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne
96 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Team Katusha
97 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
98 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
99 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
100 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
101 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
102 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
103 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Team Radioshack
104 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
105 Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne
106 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team
107 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram 0:22:04
108 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram 0:24:11
109 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank
110 Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
111 Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
112 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom 0:25:21
113 Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:26:13
114 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin - Transitions 0:27:49
115 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank
116 Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team
117 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram
118 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank
119 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
120 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
121 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
122 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha
123 Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
124 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank
125 Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo
126 Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
127 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Transitions
128 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
129 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
130 Iban Mayoz Echeverria (Spa) Footon-Servetto
131 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo
132 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux
133 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
134 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana
135 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
136 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux
137 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions
138 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram
139 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française des Jeux
140 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
141 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
142 Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
143 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team
144 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
145 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Footon-Servetto
146 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
147 Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step
148 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini
149 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
150 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) Cervelo Test Team
151 Karsten Kroon (Ned) BMC Racing Team
152 Anthony Roux (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:28:00
153 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:30:15
154 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
155 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions 0:31:43
156 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions
157 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 0:32:34
158 Dimitri Champion (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
159 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia
160 Mirco Lorenzetto (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
161 Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack
162 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step
163 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack
164 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini
165 Simon Spilak (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini
166 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team HTC - Columbia
167 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Professional Cycling Team
168 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
169 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Transitions
170 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
171 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team
172 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
173 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team HTC - Columbia
174 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia
175 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
176 Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team
177 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Footon-Servetto
178 Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
179 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team
180 Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team
181 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
182 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha
183 Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
184 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
185 Fabio Felline (Ita) Footon-Servetto
186 Roger Kluge (Ger) Team Milram 0:32:52