Chavanel reclaims yellow jersey
Sylvain Chavanel reclaimed the race leader's yellow jersey with victory on stage seven of the Tour de France.
France's Chavanel (QuickStep) won his second stage of the 97th Tour on the 165.5-kilometre route from Tournus to Station des Rousses.
Fabian Cancellara's capitulation in the mid-mountains handed the maillot jaune away and Chavanel was the man to benefit after attacking at the foot of the day's final climb, the 14km-long second category Lamoura.
Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto) was second, 57 seconds behind, with Rabobank's Juan Manuel Garate third, 30 seconds further adrift.
With the finish coming at the end of a plateau, none of the general classification contenders deemed an attack worthwhile, meaning Tour favourite and two-time winner Alberto Contador (Astana), seven-time winner Lance Armstrong (Team RadioShack), Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) were among those content to take a watchful approach at the front of the peloton.
Sunday's 189km eighth stage from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz is sure to be where the race for the yellow jersey explodes for the first time.
