Stage 7 victory puts Chavanel back in yellow at Tour de France

France's Sylvain Chavanel regained the yellow jersey at the Tour de France on Saturday while former leader Fabian Cancellara cracked as the peloton entered the foothills of the Alps.

Chavanel won the 102-mile stage from Tournus to Station des Rousses and took the lead, jumping from 5th place overall to 1:25 ahead of the nearest challenger, Australia's Cadel Evans.

Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador and the other major contenders for this year's championship finished in a select group 1-minute 47 seconds behind Chavanel. Although Armstrong dropped from 2:30 to 3:16 behind the first place rider, he remained 50 seconds behind his rival, Contador.

The peloton faces its first major mountain stage on Sunday with 5 climbs, including two Category 1's, the Col de la Ramaz and the mountaintop finish at Morzine-Avoriaz.

Jersey history

Chavanel originally took the yellow jersey in Stage 2 in an all-day breakaway that he attacked for a solo win. He lost the overall lead the following day when he suffered 3 tire punctures on the cobblestones of Stage 3.

Instead of leading the race all day in a solo breakaway, which is the Quick Step rider's usual M.O., Chavanel waited until the peloton had split apart into several groups on the next to last climb and attacked with about 11 miles to go.

Breakaway

He left the long breakaway to his teammate Jerome Pineau, who solidified his lead in the mountain jersey competition by taking points over the first five summits of the day. Chavanel caught up with and passed Pineau on the final climb.

Meanwhile, RadioShack teammates Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer stayed in the group with Contador and the other favorites. Some of Contador's Astana teammates went to the front and tried to pressure the weaker riders, many of whom dropped off the pace.

Cancellara excels on the flat lands, but suffers on the slopes. He finished 14 minutes behind the Chavanel.

Top 10 Overall

1. Sylvain Chavanel, Quick Step

2. Cadel Evans, BMC – 1:25

3. Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin Transitions – 1:32

4. Andy Schleck, Saxo Bank – 1:55

5. Alexandre Vinokourov – 2:17

6. Alberto Contador – 2:26

7. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Omega – 2:28

8. Nicolas Roche, AG2R – 2:28

9. John Van Summeren, Garmin – 2:33

10. Denis Menchov, Rabobank – 2:35

— Others —

11. Bradley Wiggins, Sky – 2:35

14. Lance Armstrong, Radio Shack – 3:16

Jersey competitions

Yellow jersey — Sylvain Chavanel

Green jersey — Thor Hushovd

Mountain jersey — Jerome Pineau

Youth jersey — Andy Schleck