Landis charges back, Pereiro still leads

Floyd Landis produced an incredible comeback a day after saying he had lost the Tour de France, to claim the last mountain stage of the race from Saint-Jean de Maurienne to Morzine.

The Phonak rider, who cracked on Wednesday's Alpine stage, crossed the line five minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC).

Oscar Pereiro finished seventh 7:08 off the pace and retained the yellow jersey with a lead of 12 seconds over Sastre.

Landis, having climbed four daunting passes in five hours 23 minutes and 36 seconds at an average speed of 37.18 kph, cut his deficit from 8:08 to 30 seconds.

After a transitional 18th stage from Morzine to Macon, a 57-km time trial will decide the winner of the Tour on the eve of Sunday's last parade on the Champs-Elysees.

Landis is regarded as the best time trial specialist of the overall top three and defeated Sastre and Pereiro by 1:10 and 1:40 respectively in the first stage against the clock.