Tour de France: Stage 8

Mildly disappointing day for Discovery Channel Team and Levi Leipheimer. Leipheimer's chain became tangled in his derailer and he ended up having to switch to his spair bike, losing valuable time and preventing the team from being as aggressive as they would have liked. Currently in 13th place, 3:53 back, Levi isn't out of the race by any means, and is well within striking distance when the riders enter the Pyrenees where the steep mountain climbs and uphill finishes cater more to Leipheimer's and Team Discovery's strengths. Leipheimer will also have to ride well in the time trials. Poor performances in the individual time trial stages cost Leipheimer likely podium appearances the last two years.

"I was just following and trying to stay steady," Leipheimer said afterwards. "It's a long race. I was OK today, but I wasn't super. I think I'll be better in the Pyrenees. Today I had to limit my losses on guys like (Christophe) Moreau and (Iban) Mayo, the guys who are riding better than me right now."

Teammate Alberto Contador finished the stage in 8th, and is currently in 8th overall just over 3 minutes back. Contador gained some ground in the young rider classification and is currently sitting in second among young riders behind yesterday's stage winner Linus Gerdemann riding for the T-Mobile team.

T-Mobile had a much worse stage today as team leader and Tour contender Michael Rogers crashed and was forced to withdraw.

Always good in the mountains, but rarely a contender, Michael Rasmussen won the grueling stage. The Danish rider for team Rabobank took over the overall lead and will wear the maillot jaune in another mountain stage Tuesday after Monday's rest day.