Voigt leaves Levi for dead

It was the CSC rider’s second stage victory in the Tour, and could prove one of the most important in his career. The resultant time bonus pushes his advantage over Leipheimer to 24 seconds in the general classification with just two stages remaining.

Voigt was made to work all the way, though, at the end of a gruelling day's racing. The surprise duo of veteran sprinter Erik Zabel (right) and German time-trial champion Sebastian Lang joined an early breakaway, before setting off on their own and building a lead that grew to over eight minutes as they passed the beyond-category Hahntenjoch.

Their early exploits soon took their toll though, as an Astana driven peloton chased them down. Alexandre Vinokourov pushed the pace for his team-mate Andrey Kashechkin as the lead duo was finally caught on the slopes of the first-category ascent to the Arlberg pass with seven kilometres to go.

Vinokourov (left) himself then was dropped from the back as the lead group shrank and the gradient rose. Georg Totschnig then took over at the front for Leipheimer before the American stepped up the pace with three kilometres to go, leaving Lampre's Marzio Bruseghin and Saunier Duval's Leonardo Piepoli unable to follow.

Jens Voigt gritted his teeth, but gradually began to lose ground on his rival, as polka-dot jersey Kashechkin came past. It seemed Leipheimer was set to take over the yellow jersey, but there are few more courageous riders on the Tour than the 34 year-old Berliner.

He fought back at the top of the climb, taking advantage of the flat section before the finish line to catch the two leaders. Once there, he launched an early sprint, and Leipheimer was unable to remain in his wheel.

Voigt crossed the finish line, fist clenched and mouth gasping for air, two seconds ahead of Leipheimer, with Kashechkin and Lampre's Yevgeni Petrov eight and ten seconds back respectively.

“Leipheimer was my most dangerous rival. It's difficult to say whether I can win the Tour now. Tomorrow could be enough. It's a flat course. Once I saw the 1km sign just before the finish I was hoping fort he stage victory. Somehow I then managed to win it” Voigt said at the finish.

Leipheimer (left) will reflect on whether an earlier attack would have left his rival too far behind to make up the ground on the flat section atop the Arlberg pass. As it is, he gave a realistic summation of the race situation: “Voigt is now favourite for overall victory.”