TOUR DE FRANCE 2007: RASMUSSEN WINS STAGE EIGHT AND TAKES YELLOW JERSEY

Micahel Rasmussen Tour de France 2007 st 8

published 15 July 2007

Click here to watch a highlights video of stage eight

Click here to see a gallery of photos from stage eight

Rasmussen jumped away from the peloton on the first big climb and then powered past a big early break. He was first over the two big category one climbs and also took maximum points by winning the stage in Tignes. He won by almost three minutes and took the yellow jersey from Saturday's winner Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) by 43 seconds.

Alexandre Vinokourov and Andreas Kloden (Astana) were the big losers of the day. Vino was clearly unable to respond to Moreau?s attack and puffed and blowed up the climb sitting on Kloden?s wheel. The German gradually closed the gap by setting a solid tempo but in the final kilometres of the climb, Vino was in serious trouble and Kloden lost time by waiting for him and pacing him to the finish. The Astana duo finished 4-29 behind Rasmussen but more importantly lost a precious 1-16 to Valverde, Schleck, Evans and Moreau.

In the overall standing Vino is now 22nd overall, 5-23 behind Rasmussen, 2-32 behind Valverde and almost as much behind Evans, Moreau, Contador, Schleck and Denis Menchov (Rabobank). Kloden is better placed at 3-46 behind Rasmussen but for some reason sacrificed his chances to help Vino. They now have Monday?s rest day to recover and lick their wounds but could face similar attacks on Tuesday?s stage to Briancon that includes the Col du Galibier. The pair are clearly riding on the defensive and their rivals now know it.

The stage was marked with several nasty crashes, with Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) forced to retire 30km from the finish after hurting his right shoulder. Fellow Aussie Stuart O'Grady (CSC) also crashed out, while Britain's Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) quit at the mid-stage feed zone after being dropped early in the day.

Sprinters Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) and Danilo Napolitano (Lampre-Fondital) both finished outside the stage's time limit and are now out of the Tour. In total, eight riders droppped out on today's stage - the highest so far.

3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 3.12

4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.51

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