Germany's Gerdemann Ascends to the Tour Lead

LE GRAND-BORNAND, France, July 14 -- Linus Gerdemann of Germany won Saturday's seventh stage of the Tour de France to take the overall leader's yellow jersey as the race entered the Alps.

Gerdemann won by speeding out from a group of breakaway riders during the 122.7-mile ride from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand, featuring a winding ascent up La Colombiere Pass, the first Category 1 climb this year.

Gerdemann, a professional since 2001, clocked 4 hours 53 minutes 13 seconds. Iñigo Landaluze of Spain was second, 40 seconds back. David de la Fuente of Spain was third, 1:39 back.

Gerdemann, 24, ended Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara's week-long streak with the yellow jersey. He finished 22:47 back. The main race favorites finished in a 35-rider bunch that was 3:38 back.

"It's unbelievable," said Gerdemann, who is riding in his first Tour. "I don't think I've ever ridden that fast. . . . Today's the biggest day of my career."

Overall, Gerdemann leads Landaluze by 1:24 and de La Fuente by 2:45, and will wear the yellow jersey Sunday for the second of three punishing Alpine rides. The 102.5-mile stage from Le Grand-Bornand to Tignes features six climbs -- one on the uphill finish.

Meantime, Tour officials confirmed Saturday that Erik Zabel, a German rider with the Milram team, no longer will be considered the 1996 winner of the green jersey, awarded to the race's best sprinter.

Zabel said in May that he used the banned performance enhancer EPO for one week as a Telekom rider in the Tour that year, but never again.

His 1996 victory will be scratched from the Tour's record books. Zabel cannot officially be stripped of the prize because it happened too long ago.