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Rasmussen wins stage 16 of Tour as Landis loses lead

Jul 19, 2006, 16:10 GMT

La Toussuire, France - In a stunning display of solo climbing, Mickael Rasmussen of Denmark won Wednesday's 16th stage of the 2006 Tour de France, as American Floyd Landis lost the overall lead and probably his chance of winning this year's race. The 30-year-old Landis cracked on the 18-kilometre climb to the finish line at La Toussuire and finished more than eight minutes behind his main rivals. The new race leader is the surprising Oscar Pereiro Sio of Spain, who finished third Wednesday, 1 minute 54 seconds behind, and recaptured the yellow jersey he lost to Landis on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Rasmussen, who rides for the Dutch Rabobank team, was part of a group of three riders that broke away from the main pack early in the stage. Rasmussen, a former world mountain bike champion, shed his companions of the road on the grueling climb up to Croix de Fer pass, an ascent rated beyond category in difficulty, and managed to stay in front in an impressive solo run for the remaining 60 kilometres. The winner covered the 182-kilometre course from Le Bourg-D'Oisans to La Toussuire, which included 95 kilometres of climbing, in 5 hours 36 minutes 4 seconds, an average speed of 32.49 kph. The Tour de France ends Sunday in Paris. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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