It's Bastille day! And as a special reward, the riders get to ride the toughest stage of the race so far.
Although today will mainly be about the GC contenders, the sprinters were able to battle an intermediate sprint. Boonen won and with Pozzato 3rd, he cuts his deficit in the Green jersey to just 12 points.
There were attempts to get away but they were all chased back in until at the foot of the first of the day's big climbs. An expectant french crowd were more jubillant than ever on the Port de Larrau, hoping for a trademark French opportunist on Bastille Day. Who better than Thomas Voeckler?
Voeckler led over the top of the climb and would then also top the 2nd KoM of the day
On that 2nd KoM, a lot of riders attacked for just KoM points - including Di Luca, Evans and Vinokourov. All but two of them then dropped back: Gustov and Rujano kept ahead of the pack
We move on to the big 3rd climb of the day, and Alexnadre Vinokourov attacks across to Rujano and Gustov
Fabian Cancellara is dropped from the peleton, ending his strong first 9 days of the race.
But just who is that at the front of this dropped group? It's Cadel Evans!
That is a major surprise and a killer blow to the Aussies GCs hopes.
Voeckler topped the climb to give him enough points to take over the KoM jersey from teammate Perget - but his gap has been dramatically reduced
After Rujano, Gustov and Vinokourov cross the top, Lopez Garcia, Di Luca and Kashechkin attacked for KoM points
Di Luca drops back to the maillot jaune group
But the other 2 keep going, culminating in a lead group of 6 containing Voeckler, Rujano, Gustov, Lopez Garcia, Kashechkin and Vinokourov.
And so we reach the Col de Marie Blanque, the 5th and final climb of the day. It is a steep climb and a lot of attacks are expected from the favourites - but Rujano and Kashechkin will hope to hold them off.
Frank Schleck attacks almost immediately after the climb starts.
Dekker is slow to respond
As Schleck bridges up with Rujano and Kashechkin, Devolder is the strongest rider trying to chase after the Luxembourg national champ
Schleck chooses to just sit in Kashechkin's wheel though - and the rest of the GC riders close back in on him
It is all back together again then, with 3km to the summit
David Moncoutie comes to the front and David Zabriskie is one of the first to crack
Moncoutie is setting a very tough pace - severly testing the rest of the group, although Schleck and Devolder seem quite comfortable right behind Moncoutie
Moncoutie digs deep until he has nothing more to give
Many riders are struggling, both Popovych and Pluchkin have cracked
But what's this? Frank Schleck has a gap! He increased his pace as soon as Moncoutie pulled off to the side and caught Devolder unawares
So Schleck leads over the top. He holds 25 seconds on Mayo, Dekker, Gadret, Pecharroman, Devolder, Kashechkin and Di Luca. (Although Pecharroman is quickly dropped)
Not normally known as a strong descender, the simple non-technical descent helps Frank Schleck as he pushes hard to extend his lead
The gap does go up to over 45 seconds with Iban Mayo left to do most of the chasing. Thomas Dekker should keep the yellow jersey
Round the final turn they go, 3km of almost exactly straight road to the finish as 'Radio Tour' buzzes into life...
CHUTE DE MAILLOT JAUNE!
I dont believe it! This is disastrous for Dekker! And what a surprise it will be for the next group to see the race leader lying on the ground
Infact, it is so much of a surprise for Pluchkin and Popovych that they both fall off their bikes (Doing things in pairs today it seems)
Unaware of the drama unfolding behind, Frank Schleck wins the stage! He now looks set to take the Yellow jersey too.
Iban Mayo deservedly wins the sprint for 2nd, ahead of Danilo di Luca
Karpets takes 7th place, leading in the next group
But Dekker finishes after that group. Riding slowly towards the line, arm held across the body in the trademark position of a broken collarbone. Lets hope thats not the case! In contrast to Dekker, Pluchkin furiously pushes himself hard to recover as much time as possible from the crash. He will be credited with the same time as Dekker.
