Colombian cyclist Mauricio Soler, riding in his first Tour de France, soared past the favorites to win the final stage in the Alps on Tuesday.
Overall leader Michael Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey after Stage 9, while the rest of the top 10 reshuffled itself and pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) struggled, continuing his descent in the overall standings.
Discovery's Levi Leipheimer remained the highest ranked US cyclist in the bike race, climbing into 9th place. His teammate, the fantastic Spanish climber Alberto Contrador, worked his way into 5th place overall, winning the Best Young Rider's white jersey.
Never heard of Soler? Neither have I. The Colombian is riding in his first Tour de France for the Barloworld pro cycling team, a wild card draw for this year's Tour. He turned pro in 2005, and Tuesday's win was only his 4th victory as a pro (the first behind a stage of the Vuelta de Colombia). He finished in 4th place on the first day in the Alps, then 8 minutes back in 33rd on Sunday.
“It was an incredible win, something I never expected to achieve.”
Soler must have had a stage win in mind all day on the 98-mile stage from Val-d’Isère to Briançon, though. He followed Discovery's Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel) in 3rd place over the first climb — Col de l'Iseran. He paced himself over the second — Col du Telegraphe. On the third climb — Col du Galibier — Soler bridged and drove right through the breakaway, reaching the summit about 2 minutes ahead of everyone else.
On the way to the finish in Briançon, Disco teammates Contrador and Popovych teamed up to chase down Soler and put distance on the yellow jersey group. It seemed like a good plan, but didn't succeed in either goal.
Rasmussen's group was attacked by Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) and others on the climb up Galibrier. The yellow jersey group caught the attackers on the descent, as it did with Popovych and Contrador as well.
At the finish, Soler finished 38 seconds ahead of Valverde, Evans and Contrador.
Vinokourov, the top pick to win this Tour, was the 20th rider across the finish line, 3:23 behind the winner. The cyclist brought onto team Astana as his lieutenant, Andreas Kloden, abandoned Vino on the Galibrier and may have risen to the position of team leader.
Top 10 overall:
1. Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) — 2:35
3. Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) — 2:39
4. Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) — 2:41
5. Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) — 3:08
6. Christophe Moreau (Ag2r Prévoyance) — 3:18
7. Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) — 3:39
8. Andreas Klöden (Astana) — 3:50
9. Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) — 3:53
10. Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) — 5:06
It was amazing to see how many times Rasmussen and his small group of leaders were attacked on Tuesday. Each time they survived by just plugging along, letting the explosive climbers wear themselves out. Soler was the only one to survive a breakaway.
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