Only three riders stuck with Lance Armstrong as he reclaimed the Tour de France leader's yellow jersey with a dominant showing in the Alps -- none of them were his main rivals.
Alejandro Valverde who won the 177.5km trek up to the ski resort of Courchevel in a sprint to the line.
Armstrong sees Valverde as the "future of cycling" -- which considering the American is retiring at the end of this year's race means he does not consider him an immediate threat to his bid for a seventh straight Tour win.
PHOTO: AP
Those he does already could be out of the running.
Vinokourov is 6 minutes, 32 seconds adrift of Armstrong, Ullrich is 4:02 down and Kloeden 4:16 behind. Italian Ivan Basso, third on last year's Tour, limited the damage to 2:40.
"I don't think they're finished. I suspect they had a bad day today," Armstrong said. "I'm the last person to write them off. They may have lost some time, but we will continue to watch them and respect them."
PHOTO: AP
How they will catch Armstrong up is another matter. The American is showing no signs of surrendering the yellow jersey before the race finishes on July 24.
"We are in a good position with regard to some of the main rivals," Armstrong said. "So we'll have to protect that and that might mean protecting the jersey and hopefully retiring in it."
Armstrong and Valverde covered the climb in 4 hours, 50 minutes, 35 seconds. After Armstrong forged ahead about 450m from the finish, he looked favorite to win. But Valverde countered, catching and passing the American almost at the line.
PHOTO: EPA
"I gave everything I had," Armstrong said. "I attacked and couldn't go any harder. I wanted the stage win because I haven't won a race yet this year. I'm trying."
Because of a protest at the start by farmers angry over wolf attacks on their sheep and cows, organizers shortened the race by 15km, beginning it after the town of Froges, near the city of Grenoble.
Mickael Rasmussen crossed the finish line third and Spain's Francisco Mancebo was fourth, both 9 seconds back. Along with Valverde, they were the only riders who managed to stay with Armstrong on the final ascent.
PHOTO: EPA
Overall, Armstrong leads Rasmussen by 38 seconds. While he does not regard himself as a challenger to Armstrong, the Dane has shown himself enough of a threat on climbs -- he won the ninth stage with a gutsy solo ride over six ascents -- to warrant the American's attention.
"He's a damn good climber and we have to watch him now," Armstrong said.
Ullrich, the 1997 winner and a five-time runner-up, dropped behind about halfway up the climb.
Perhaps feeling the effects of a crash of his own in the ninth stage, Ullrich struggled to the finish line in 13th place, 2:14 back.
The biggest surprise was the collapse of Vinokourov, another Ullrich T-Mobile teammate from Kazakhstan who had been expected to seriously challenge Armstrong but who trailed Tuesday by 5:18 in 24th place.
At the Dauphine Libere race last month, "Vino" had beaten Armstrong by 37 seconds up the Mont Ventoux ascent -- making Tuesday's collapse even more remarkable.
Armstrong goes into the hardest Alpine stage, a 173km trek Wednesday over three famed ascents, with the added benefit of knowing his Discovery Channel teammates are back on their game.
Italian cyclist Dario Frigo was arrested yesterday in Courchevel after doping products were found in his wife's car at the toll station at Albertville, police said.
Customs officials and local police arrested Frigo's wife Tuesday with about 10 doses of the banned endurance-boosting hormone EPO.
An Albertville prosecutor was due to question the couple Wednesday afternoon.
Frigo, of the Fassa Bortolo team, was 52nd in the Tour de France standings after Tuesday's 10th stage.
Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc confirmed that Frigo's wife was arrested near Chambery with what he called pharmaceutical products. He said tour officials don't know what the products are.
Frigo was arrested Wednesday morning at the team hotel and is now in detention, he said.
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