Gerdemann claims stage and yellow

LE GRAND-BORNAND, France -- Germany's Linus Gerdemann of the T-Mobile team won the seventh stage of the Tour de France and claimed the race leader's yellow jersey after a dramatic first day in the Alps on Saturday.

Gerdemann proved the strongest in a 15-man breakaway group that fragmented on the decisive final climb of the Col de la Colombiere.

The 24-year-old also takes the white jersey for best-placed under-25 rider.

"I was totally on the limit, but was motivated so much," said an emotional Gerdemann after his epic victory, pledging to help his T-Mobile team leader Michael Rogers for the rest of the three-week Tour.

He came in three minutes 38 seconds clear of a whittled down peloton with most of the main contenders for overall classification including race favorite Alexander Vinokourov and his Astana teammate Andreas Kloeden, who were both riding with injuries after crashes.

Kloeden, sixth in the overall standings 3:39 behind compatriot Gerdemann, is the best placed of the race favorites.

"It was a bit better than yesterday," Vinokourov told reporters. "I still suffered a lot. It was important to get past the first pass. It's almost a victory for me.

Spaniard Inigo Landaluze of the Euskaltel team was second on the stage, 40 seconds behind Gerdemann, and moves to second overall, one minute and 24 seconds adrift.

Another Spaniard, David De La Fuente, took third place for the Saunier-Duval team one minute 39 seconds off the pace.

Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara of the CSC team had held the yellow jersey ahead of the 197.5km run from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand Bornand, but was not expected to maintain the lead once the race hit the mountains.

While Saturday's first day of three in total in the Alps provided plenty of drama, none of the main contenders for overall victory appeared keen to show their intentions, allowing Gerdemann and his breakaway colleagues the opportunity for a stage win.

Gerdemann made his move seven kilometers from the summit of the 16-kilometer final climb, leaving Credit Agricole's Dimitriy Fofonov in his wake.

Landaluze gave vain chase but never had a realistic hope of closing the gap on the downhill run into the finish.

It was Gerdemann's first victory as a professional.

Denmark's Michael Rasmussen of the Rabobank team gave early indications of his climbing ability by riding away from the leading contenders on the final climb to grab valuable points in the King of the Mountains race, but Sunday's eighth stage is expected to give a clearer indication of the strength of the respective team leaders. E-mail to a friend