Gerdemann takes Tour stage and yellow jersey

German Linus Gerdemann, of the T-Mobile team, took the Tour de France yellow jersey yesterday with victory on the seventh stage.

The 24-year-old, who was part of a 15-man breakaway, attacked on the ascent of the category-one Col de la Colombiere towards the end of the stage, a 197.5-km trek from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand.

Riding his first Tour de France, Gerdemann finished 40 seconds ahead of Spaniard Inigo Landaluze, of the Euskaltel team. Another Spaniard, Saunier-Duval's David De La Fuente, came home third, 1:39 off the pace.

On Bastille Day, the first Frenchman was Laurent Lefevre in fifth for Bouygues Telecom.

As expected, Swiss world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara surrendered the overall lead after finishing behind the peloton.

Astana riders Alexander Vino-kourov and Andreas Kloeden, who sustained injuries in separate crashes last week, finished in the main pack.

Kloeden, sixth in the overall standings 3:39 behind compatriot Gerdemann, is the best placed of the top contenders for overall victory.

"It was a bit better than yesterday," Vinokourov said. "I still suffered a lot. It was important to get past the first pass."

Today's eighth stage will start from Le Grand-Bornand to a summit finish in Tignes after a 165-km ride and three category-one climbs.