Frenchman Thomas Voeckler pulled on the Tour de France yellow jersey after a dramatic ninth stage won by Spain’s Luis Leon Sanchez and marred by nearly a dozen crashes Sunday. Voeckler, of Europcar, had been part of an early breakaway that made it to the finish line of the 208 km ride from Issoire unchallenged after a mass pile-up in the peloton caused mayhem and delayed the chase.
Two of Voeckler’s breakaway companions, Johnny Hoogerland and Juan Antonio Flecha, were then taken out of the equation for the win after they were hit by a television car 35 km from home. It left Rabobank rider Sanchez, Voeckler and his compatriot Sandy Casar contending the win, with Sanchez launching an unassailable sprint 250 metres from the uphill finish to leave Voeckler in second. “Last year Casar beat me in a two-up sprint (at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne) but that time it was my fault because I hadn’t checked out the finish,” said Sanchez after taking his first win of the season for Rabobank.