Tour De France: Carlos Sastre of the CSC team has claimed the yellow jersey from team-mate Frank Schleck after conquering the toughest climb of them all to win the 210.5-km 17th stage from Embrun to l'Alpe d'Huez.
Sastre, 33, dropped the maillot jaune group 13km from the summit of the infamously steep Alpine climb, and none of the main contenders for victory were prepared to follow him.
Fellow CSC rider Andy Schleck and Samuel Sanchez came in two minutes and three seconds behind Sastre, who took the second Tour de France stage victory of his career.
In the 25 previous summit finishes at Alpe d'Huez, the man wearing yellow on the podium has gone on to win the Tour 19 times.
Team CSC may now have to rethink their strategy, with Sastre 1min 24sec ahead of Frank Schleck in the general classification and the potentially decisive time-trial from Saint Amand to Cerilly to come on Saturday.
Cadel Evans, a formidable time-triallist, is still within reach, 1:34 behind Sastre overall.
Frank Schleck was unable to put clear distance between himself and Evans, despite the best efforts of his younger brother Andy and unexpected help from Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde.
Valverde repeatedly tried to pull Schleck away from Evans, but the Luxemburger was unable to produce the crucial kick that could have given him breathing space for the stage against the clock.
Saunier Duval end cycling sponsorship
Saunier Duval have announced they are pulling out of cycling sponsorship with immediate effect.
Their decision comes after the Saunier Duval-Scott team withdrew from the Tour de France following a positive test for EPO by their star rider, Riccardo Ricco.
Ricco, 24, who won two mountain stages of the Tour, had his contract ended by the Spanish-run team for returning a positive A sample for the Cholet time-trial.
Another Italian and stage winner, Leonardo Piepoli, 36, was also sacked for "a violation of the team's ethics code".
Thierry Leroy, president of the German heating technology firm said he felt "deceived and angry" in the wake of the doping revelations.