Sastre conquers Alpe d'Huez, Evans in run

A four-man break had escaped early on and held a lead of 7min 20sec on the bunch at the foot of the Croix de Fer.

By the time Cancellara had pulled off to allow Ukrainian teammate Volodymir Gustov to take a relay around 7.5km from the summit, that deficit had almost been halved.

Only Milram rider Peter Velits managed to resist the onslaught of the yellow jersey group, which came over the summit of the Croix de Fer 1:10 behind the ambitious young Slovakian.

Seconds after crossing the summit, Frenchman Jerome Pineau surged out of the group in a bid to close the gap and eventually caught the former under-23 world champion with around 30 km to race.

As they raced to the foot of the Alpe d'Huez in a bid to build as much of a lead ahead of the famous 21 hairpin bends, CSC - bolstered by the return of Cancellara - once more took control of the chasing peloton.

The Danish outfit were six-strong as they raced to close the gap to the frontrunners, who at the foot of the tough 13.3km climb had barely a minute's lead on the bunch.