Tour at a glance
July 12, 2009 at 4:28AM
STAGE EIGHT
Stage: A 109.7-mile trek featuring three big climbs from Andorra La Vella, Andorra, to Saint-Girons, France.
Winner: Spain's Luis Leon Sanchez, in a sprint ahead of three other breakaway riders. Sanchez won the Paris-Nice stage race in March. He crossed the line just ahead of France's Sandy Casar and Mikel Astarloza of Spain.
Yellow jersey: Rinaldo Nocentini of the AG2R-La Mondiale team, who earned the jersey for the second consecutive day by finishing in a pack with Lance Armstrong and Astana teammate Alberto Contador. Nocentini is the first Italian to wear the yellow jersey on the Tour since Alberto Elli in 2000.
Where's Lance? Armstrong remains third, two seconds behind second-place Contador. Contador is six seconds behind the leader.
Quote of the day: "That would delight me if he were to win the Tour. He's really a friend of mine. ... I'm not going to get into the polemic in their team about who can win between him and Armstrong" -- Luis Leon Sanchez, about fellow Spaniard Alberto Contador.
Today: The ninth stage is the third and last in the Pyrenees before Monday's rest day in Limoges. It will take the riders from Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes on a 100-mile ride featuring two big climbs, the Col d'Aspin and the Col du Tourmalet.
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