Today's ninth and 204 kilometer long and extremely demanding stage from Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne belonged to the 31-year-old Sandy Casar from Mantes-la-Jolie, whose home region is not far from where this race will finish in 12 days' time, and this afternoon in the Savoie department of the Rhône-Alpes region he took a win that will remain with him long after the conclusion of the 97th Tour de France in Paris on July 25.

Having spent much of the day in a high-powered break, Casar climbed the Col de la Colombière, Col de Aravis, Col des Saisies and the Col de la Madeleine ahead of the peloton - by day's end he had outsprinted fellow escapees Luis León Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Farnese Vini) to add another victory to the one he earned on stage 18 of the 2007 Tour de France in Angoulême.

And in a sign of what to expect over the course of the next 12 days, Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) earned himself the overall race lead following his mano-a-mano exploits with Alberto Contador (Astana) that began on the slopes of the Col de la Madeleine. There's no doubt that the touch paper which was ignited today will result in an explosion for the maillot jaune once the race hits the Pyrenees.

Ivan finished in 15th place, 2:50 minutes after today’s winner Ceasar and is now in 10th position with 5:09 minutes to Schleck.

Ivan: "Today Contador and Schleck showed their superiority and for it was for the opponents impossible to hold their wheel. It was a difficult day and for me it was important not to give too many seconds to the other leaders. From my perspective the result of the stage wasn’t too bad. My ambitions didn’t change after today’s stage and I’m more motivared to fight till the end. “