Pyrenees Shake Up Tour Standings

As expected, some new faces came forward to leadership positions as the Tour de France finished its 10th stage. This was the first mountain stage of the Tour this year. The breakaways started early and several riders reached the finish line before the Peloton arrived. The stage winner was Juan Mercado [Spain-Agritubel] and second place went to Cyril Dessel [France-AG2R]. Dessel's time was good enough to give him the Yellow Jersey for the present. Third place in the stage was Inigo Landaluze [Spain-Euskadi]. Here are the overall standings in this year's Tour de France:

1. Dessel [France-AG2R]
2. Mercado [Spain-Agritubel]..........2:34
3. Honchar [Ukraine-Tmobile]..........3:45
4. Moreni [Italy-Cofidis]..........3:51
5. Landis [USA-Phonak]..........4:45
6. Rogers [Australia-Tmobile]..........4:53
7. Landaluze [Spain-Euskadi]..........5:22
8. Sinkewitz [Germany-Tmobile]..........5:30
9. Kloden [Germany-Tmobile]..........5:35
10. Karpets [Russia-Balears]..........5:37
11. Evans [Australia-Lotto]..........5:37
12. Zabriskie [USA-CSC]..........5:38

15. Savoldelli [Italy-Discovery]..........5:55
19. Hincapie [USA-Discovery]..........6:15
23. Vandevelde [USA-CSC]..........7:10
24. Popovych [Ukraine-Discovery]..........7:12
26. Rubiera [Spain-Discovery]..........7:32
30. Azevedo [Portugal-Discovery]..........7:54
33. Martinez [Spain-Discovery]..........8:18
58. Leipheimer [USA-Gerolsteiner]..........10:28
62. Gonzalez [Spain-Discovery]..........11:09
74. Padrnos [Czech-Discovery]..........13:04
84. Horner [USA-Lotto]..........16:04

Since the first mountain stage is done, it is time to look at the standings in the race for the Polka-Dot Jersey [given to the best climber of the Tour]:

1. Dessel [France-AG2R]..........54 points
2. Mercado [Spain-Agritubel]..........45 points
3. Landaluze [Spain-Euskadi]..........38 points
4. Rinero [France-Saunier]..........35 points
5. Pineau [France-Lotto]..........28 points

Today's stage also changed the team standings:

1. AG2R
2. T-mobile..........2:55
3. Phonak..........6:04
4. Gerolsteiner..........6:51
5. CSC..........7:13
6. Cofidis..........7:16
7. Euskadi..........7:22
8. Discovery..........7:24

The standings for the sprinter's Green Jersey did not change. Tomorrow is stage 11, and it is a monster, with four catagory 1 climbs and one climb so difficult it is not rated. The stage is a 206 kilometer [127.5 mile] ride from
Tarbes to Val d'Aran. This will be the most difficult stage so far this year, so we can expect the standings to change significantly again.