Samuel Sanchez beat all of the other GC contenders, in the first big mountain stage, as Frank Schleck moved closer to the yellow jersey.
Sanchez began to pull away from some of the big names, with Jelle Vanendert, with around 13km to go. It was a Spaniard who had the legs, in the final couple of hundred metres and managed to pull seven seconds out on the Omega-Pharma Lotto rider. Hot on their heels was Frank Schleck, who moved himself in to second and 1 minute 49 second behind the yellow jersey of Thomas Voeckler.
