Cyril Dessel of AG2R became the second Frenchman to win a stage at this years Tour de France. Dessel was part of a large breakaway which shattered on the final climb of stage 16, allowing Dessel to out ride Sandy Casar (FdJ) and David Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne) down the final technical descent to take the victory.

Frank Schleck remains in the Maillot Jaune, while his younger brother Andy takes over the Maillot Blanc.

Stage 16 Results
1 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale – 4.31.27
2 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
3 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
4 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence – Lotto – 0.03
5 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia – 0.24
6 Nicolas Portal (Fra) Caisse d’Epargne
7 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner – 1.03
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC – Saxo Bank – 1.28
10 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner

General classification after stage 16
1 Fränk Schleck (Lux) CSC-Saxo Bank – 68.30.16
2 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner – 0.07
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto – 0.08
4 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC – Saxo Bank – 0.49
5 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank – 1.13
6 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 – 3.15
7 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – 3.23
8 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne – 4.11
9 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi – 4.38
10 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) AG2R La Mondiale – 5.23

Full results here..

Jersey Standings:
Frank Schleck
Oscar Freire
Bernhard Kohl
Andy Schleck

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Links to news sites…

“Maiden Tour stage a huge remedy for Dessel

JAUSIERS, France (AFP) — Frenchman Cyril Dessel of AG2R finally drew a line under his nightmare 2007 season with a prestigious maiden win on the Tour de France 16th stage on Tuesday.

Dessel came to the wider cycling world’s attention when he wore the race’s yellow jersey for a day in 2006 – when he finally had to hand it over to disgraced American Floyd Landis.” Read more from AFP…

“Second French win sees small GC shake-up
Vande Velde and Menchov lose ground in yellow jersey battle
By Bjorn Haake and Laura Weislo with reporting from Gregor Brown and Hedwig Kröner in Jausiers.

AG2R La Mondiale’s Cyril Dessel became the second Frenchman to win a stage of this year’s Tour on the 157 kilometre route from Cuneo to Jausiers. On a day which passed over two massive climbs including the 2,802m Bonnett-Restefond peak, Dessel was part of a large breakaway which shattered on the final climb and came to the line as a group of four on the long and technical descent. He out-sprinted Sandy Casar (FdJ) and David Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne) to take revenge for his narrow miss at a victory in 2006. Maillot jaune Fränk Schleck retained the jersey heading into tomorrow’s stage to Alpe d’Huez.” Read more from CyclingNews.com…

Photos by CorVos