Source: CCTV.com

07-18-2007 09:24

Colombian rider Mauricio Soler has won stage nine after breaking away on the punishing final climb. Michael Rasmussen of Denmark has increased his overall lead in the general classification, even though he finished in sixth place.

Stage nine would take the field up three punishing climbs in what would be the last day in the French Alps.

Yaroslav Popovych went alone after chasing down Jose Luis Arrieta's early break.

But there was drama back down the field as a spectator's dog walked across the path of several riders and unseated T-Mobile's Marcus Burghardt.

Alexandre Vinokourov continued to feel the effects of his crash on stage five and dropped back to receive a pill.

All of this drama was witnessed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who spent the day as a special guest.

Mikel Astarloza led the way over the second climb of the day but the Spaniard would soon be caught by a pursuit group that included Popovych.

The newly formed five-man group led up the Col du Galibier, but Mauricio Soler seemingly came out of nowhere and upped the pace on the way to the peak of the out of category climb.

Soler led the way over the top of the summit with a healthy advantage and the Barloworld rider had the day's honours in his grasp.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen increased his overall lead to two minutes and 35 seconds.

Editor:Liu Fang