Yellow Jersey Changes Again In Stage 9

The highest climb so far in this year's Tour de France, a climb so difficult it cannot even be rated, proved to be too much for Australian Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) who had won the Yellow Jersey in stage 8. Once again the mountains prove they are no respecter of persons -- not even a person wearing yellow. Evans broke on the unrated climb near the finish of stage 9 and wound up losing about 8 minutes to the race's leaders.

There was a breakaway in stage 9 and it looked for a long time like they might be able to stay away. But the race's strongest climbers, Luxembourger Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Spaniard Alberto Contador (Astana), caught them with less than a kilometer to go to the finish line. Schleck and Contador, who are only interested in the overall win, were then content to finish with the same time as those in the breakaway and let those other riders sprint it out for the stage win.

The winner of that sprint to the finish line was Frenchman Sandy Casar (FDJ). Spaniard Luis-Leon Sanchez (Caisse D'Epargne) finished in second place and Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese) finished in third place. But the day belonged to Schleck and Contador (both pictured above), who separated themselves from the rest of the field by over two minutes -- making them the heavy favorites to win this year's Tour. Schleck is now the wearer of the Yellow Jersey as the race leader.

American Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack) had a good day and made up some time on much of the field (moving from 39th to 31st place overall). But Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) remained the best American this year. Although he was not able to finish with Schleck and Contador, he was not far behind and managed to move up into 6th place overall. He is now in a good place to try for a podium finish in Paris.

Stage 10 is another mountain stage, but it is not quite as difficult as the last two stages. It is a 179 kilometer ride from Chambery to Gap. There is a category 1 climb about one-third of the way into the stage. This is followed by a category 3 climb. Then there is a long category 2 climb fairly close to the finish.

Here are the current standings after stage 9:

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Leaders)

1. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Saxo Bank)

2. Alberto Contador, Spain (Astana).....0' 41"

3. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....2' 45"

4. Denis Menchov, Russia (Rabobank).....2' 58"

5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Belgium (Omega-Lotto).....3' 31"

6. Levi Leipheimer, USA (Radio Shack).....3' 59"

7. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank).....4' 22"

8. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....4' 41"

9. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Spain (Katusha).....5' 08"

10. Ivan Bosso, Italy (Liquigas-Doimo).....5' 09"

11. Roman Kreuziger, Czech Rep. (Liquigas-Doimo).....5' 11"

25. Christopher Horner, USA (Radio Shack).....11' 06"

31. Lance Armstrong, USA (Radio Shack).....15' 54"

GREEN JERSEY (Sprinters)

1. Thor Hushovd, Norway (Cervelo).....124 pts

2. Alessandro Petacchi, Italy (Lampre-Farnese).....114 pts

3. Robbie McEwen, Australia (Katusha).....105 pts

4. Jose Joaquin Rojas, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....92 pts

5. Mark Cavendish, Great Britain (HTC-Columbia).....85 pts

6. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Norway (Sky Pro).....82 pts

7. Sebastien Turgot, France (Bouygues Telecom).....79 pts

8. Geraint Thomas, Great Britain (Sky Pro).....74 pts

9. Gerald Ciolek, Germany (Milram).....71 pts

10. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....69 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Climbers)

1. Anthony Charteau, France (Bouygues Telecom).....85 pts

2. Jerome Pineau, France (Quick Step).....85 pts

3. Christophe Moreau, France (Caisse D'Epargne).....62 pts

4. Damiano Cunego, Italy (Lampre-Farnese).....56 pts

5. Andy Schleck, Luxembourg (Saxo Bank).....50 pts

6. Luis-Leon Sanchez, Spain (Caisse D'Epargne).....47 pts

7. Sandy Casar, France (FDJ).....43 pts

8. Samuel Sanchez, Spain (Euskaltel-Euskadi).....40 pts

9. Sylvain Chavanel, France (Quick Step).....36 pts

10. Alberto Contador, Spain (Astana).....32 pts

11. Robert Gesink, Netherlands (Rabobank).....32 pts

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Caisse D'Epargne

2. Radio Shack.......0' 31"

3. Astana.......0' 35"

4. Rabobank.......1' 19"

5. AG2R La Mondiale.......14' 53"

6. Liquigas-Doimo.......16' 23"

7. Omega-Lotto.......18' 04"

8. Sky Pro.......26' 12"

9. Cofidis.......29' 27"

10. Euskaltel-Euskadi.......30' 54"