Mercado takes Stage 10; Cyril Dessel the new yellow jersey

Nothing says “wide-open Tour” better than lightly regarded Cyril Dessel of AG2R, who leads the world's biggest bike race halfway through. Wildcard Agritubel's team leader, Juan Miguel Mercado, sat in for the last part of the stage, and just barely nipped Dessel after a very long breakaway.

T-Mobile spent almost the whole day at the front of the chase, but their yellow jersey, Sergei Honchar, fell off the pace at both the day's big climbs. He finished in the main group, as did Landis, Hincapie, Moreau, Evans, and, after struggling on the Marie Blanque, Leipheimer, Fothen and Simoni. One surprise was Iban Mayo; he came in with the grupetto 24:24 back.

Top 10:
1) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, 4:49:10
2) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, same time
3) Inigo Landaluze, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at :56
4) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, at 2:24
5) Christophe Rinero, Saunier Duval, France, at 2:25
6) Inaki Isasi, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 5:03
7) Cedric Vasseur, QuickStep, France, at 5:35
8) Daniele Bennati, Lampre, Italy, at 7:23
9) Erik Zabel, Milram, Germany, same time
10) Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas, Italy, same time
Full stage results

Overall:
1) Cyril Dessel, AG2R, France, 43:07:05
2) Juan Miguel Mercado, Agritubel, Spain, at 2:34
3) Sergei Honchar, T-Mobile, Ukraine, at 3:45
4) Cristian Moreni, Cofidis, Italy, at 3:51
5) Floyd Landis, Phonak, USA, at 4:45
6) Michael Rogers, T-Mobile, Australia, at 4:53
7) Inigo Landaluze, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Spain, at 5:22
8) Patrik Sinkewitz, T-Mobile, Germany, at 5:30
9) Andreas Klöden, T-Mobile, Germany, at 5:35
10) Vladimir Karpets, Caisse d'Epargne, Russia, at 5:37
Full general classification