Minnows grab spotlight

On a day which saw Spain's Iban Mayo lose over 17 minutes to the general classification contenders, Dessel ensured that the Tour got even better for the host nation and French team AG2R-Prévoyance with an inspired show of gusto and brilliance. With Sylvain Calzati's magnificent solo win on Sunday's Stage 8 still fresh in the mind, Dessel produced the goods to soar to the top of both the overall and polka dot jersey standings.

Asked whether his seizure of the yellow jersey was planned, a delighted Dessel told Eurosport: "Not at all. I was far from imagining that I would get the yellow jersey. This morning, I had orders to get in the break - mostly to take the heat off (team leader) Christophe Moreau. It was a nervy start. I was going well but it was also a question of seizing one's moment of destiny.

The victorious pair finished over seven minutes ahead of the peloton which contained all of the race contenders and pretenders apart from the hapless Mayo, who put his decent pre-Tour form aside to disintegrate into what has become a habitual race slump in the mountains. It was a second career stage win on the Tour for Mercado, who rides for the poorest team on the peloton, Continental Pro wildcards Agritubel.

Mercado, whose fist win came under the colours of QuickStep in 2004, and who will now wear the polka dot jersey by default on Thursday, said: "It was pretty complicated. We went off quite quickly and it was up and down all day. We tried really hard to get away from the peloton and eventually we managed to get a decent group together. Today was important - a huge step towards the polka dot jersey, and the stage was great for the team."

The pair were part of a fourteen-man breakaway which formed before the first test of the day, the third-category Col d'Osquich. The break materialised after an attack by Frenchman Sylvain Chavenel (Cofidis) following a nervy and fractious start by the peloton in the Pyrenean foothills.

As the riders hit the hors catégorie Col de Soudet with a lead of nine minutes over the T-Mobile-pronged peloton, Dessel and Mercado made their move. Christophe Rinero (Saunier-Duval), Cristian Moreni (Cofidis) and Euskaltel pair Inaki Isasi and Inigo Landaluze pegged the duo back on the decent, but the third and final climb, the Col de Marie Blanque, produced a decisive repeat attack.

Guaranteed of wearing yellow at the end of the day, Dessel did not let up and even remonstrated with Mercado after the Spaniard pestered him with a barrage of questions as the two leaders approached Pau.

Dessel explained: "He told me: 'You've got both the yellow and the polka dot jersey and so you should give me the stage.'. But he had already won a stage on the Tour before, and I hadn't, so I wanted to give it a go."

Mercado proved too strong though, pipping the 31-year-old Frenchman on the line to share some of the spoils of the day. The slim-lined peloton was led home by Lampre's Davide Bennati 7'23" later once Landaluze, Moreni, Rinero, Isasi and QuickStep's Cedric Vasseur - the last remnants of the initial break - staggered over the finish.

Among the day's big losers was Euskaltel's Mayo who was dropped on Col de Soudet and came home in a group featuring green jersey Robbie McEwen, over 24 minutes behind Mercado and Dessel. Dauphiné Libéré winner Levi Leipheimer of Gerolsteiner also struggled on the demanding climb, but managed to recover on the final 40km descent to Pau, finishing safely within the main peloton alongside the likes of Floyd Landis (Phonak), Cadel Evans (Davitamon) and the main contenders from T-Mobile and Discovery.

Overnight yellow jersey Serhiy Honchar suffered on early climbs but he too managed to rejoin the peloton, which was speadheaded for the entire duration of the day by the pink men of T-Mobile. The Ukrainian lost his yellow jersey and team manager Olaf Ludwig admitted: "We wanted to defend the yellow jersey if possible but in the end we weren't involved in the 14-man group and it was too difficult. It was not ideal conditions today, but we rode well."

The favourite for the race, Landis, remains the best placed of the Tour contenders, sitting in fifth position, 4'45" behind Dessel.

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