Feillu Climbs to Stage Win; Nocentini Takes Yellow

Agritubel rider Brice Feillu out-climbed the field to win Stage Seven of the 2009 Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong spars with Team Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck just after Cadel Evans launches an attack. Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Agritubel rider Brice Feillu, competing in his first Tour de France, out-climbed the field to win Stage Seven of the 2009 Tour de France. Feillu, who joined the first successful breakaway and stuck with them for 215 km, survived the first attacks and the launched his own, leaving the other breakaway riders behind.

AG2R’s Rinaldo Nocentini, also riding in his first Tour, finished six seconds ahead of Alberto Contador and eight seconds ahead of Lance Armstrong, capturing the yellow jersey.

While they didn’t win the stage or the GC lead, Team Astana dominated the race, setting the pace throughout the stage, breaking Fabian Cancellara and capturing three of the top five spots in General Classification.

First Mountain Stage 

The Tour de France moved into the Pyrenees for its first mountain stage, 224 km from Barcelone to Andorre Arcalis.

Stage Seven was the longest stage in the 2009 Tour, and quite possibly the hardest, with a Category One climb followed by a Hors Categorie climb to the finish line, which, at 2240 meters, is third highest in Tour history.

Most experts expected Stage Seven to be the stage where the race for the yellow jersey really began.

Lance Armstrong has traditionally made a huge effort on the first mountain stage, to gain a psychological edge on the rest of the field. Tied for the lead and out of the jersey by two-tenths of a second, Armstrong could beat Fabian Cancellara by a wheel-length and take the prize.