Ras rules, Jens yellow

"I don't know what to say, I couldn't ask for any more," an ecstatic Rasmussen told Eurosport after his unforgettable solo exploit.

Bar taking the yellow off Lance Armstrong's shoulders himself, there was not much more that the 31-year-old Dane could have done.

Having launched an attack after just four kilometres on the slopes of the opening third category climb, the Rabobank rider, who took the polka-dot jersey on Saturday, proceeded to pass over the summit of each of the six climbs - including the first category ascent of the legendary Ballon d'Alsace - in pole position.

After dropping his breakaway companion - Liquigas' Dario Cioni - on the Col de Bussang, Rasmussen rode the final 75 km of the 171 km stage alone to record a triumphant victory in Mulhouse, 3'04" ahead of Credit Agricole's Christophe Moreau and CSC's new race leader Jens Voigt, and 6'04" clear of the peloton.

"I felt good from the beginning," a modest Rasmussen said. "At first I just wanted to go out and defend my mountains jersey so I attacked early to gain points, but apparently I had the legs so kept on going to the end."

The win completes a superlative weekend double for Dutch team Rabobank after youngster Peter Weening edged out T-Mobile's Andreas Klöden in Saturday's stage eight.

"If it carries on like this I think we'll be alcoholics by the end of the Tour," joked Rasmussen, who has now opened up a large lead over Moreau in the King of the Mountains competition.

The former mountain-bike world champion moves up to fourth in the overall standings behind Lance Armstrong, who loses his yellow jersey to Voigt.

Finishing third in the stage, just behind his friend, former team-mate and breakaway companion Moreau and three minutes ahead of the peloton, the German tops the Frenchman in the overall standings by 1'50". Armstrong lies in third at 2'18".

"I'm more than happy, it's a dream come true," beamed Voigt at the finish. "But I deserve it because I gave everything," he stressed.

The principal reason for this success was Christophe Moreau. The Credit Agricole climber broke clear from the peloton with Voigt and four other riders on the second climb of the day, the Col des Feignes, with 150 km remaining.

But once Ballon d'Alsace came along, Moreau introduced a tempo that only Voigt could follow. Working well together the pair soon passed Cioni, who had been dropped by Rasmussen on the previous climb, the Col de Bussang, after riding alongside the Dane since the fourth kilometre.

Cioni, and the four other riders from the initial break - Alexandre Moos (Phonak), Angel Vicioso (Liberty), Zabier Zandio (Illes Balears) and Inigo Landaluze (Euskaltel) - were all swept up by the peloton during the 40 km downhill ride to the finish in Mulhouse.

Even a puncture to Voigt with 20 km remaining was not enough to turn events after a sporting, not to mention sensible, Moreau waited before the two continued on their way to defy the Discovery-powered peloton.

After Saturday's self-destruction Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team worked well together around their leader, belying premature fears that they were a spent force.

Armstrong was never short of seven men, and despite losing his yellow jersey, the six-time Tour winner experienced a calm and relatively easy day in the dricing seat as none of his main rivals tried to attack.

Johan Bruyneel told Eurosport that he was pleased with his team's performance.

"We had a much stronger work around Lance Armstrong and we controlled it well," said the Discovery directeur sportif. "We did not mind that Lance lost the yellow. The most important was to regroup and consolidate ahead of the rest day."

George Hincapie reiterated Discovery's confidence:

"We're still the great team we are and all the criticism by the press made us angry," he told Eurosport. "The climb was tough but we were in control the whole time. When it's crunch time as a team we can go faster than everybody. Hopefully we can keep it up in the Alps and Pyrenees."

After proving such a spicy proposition on Saturday, attacking an isolated Armstrong with every opportunity on the final climb, a quiet T-Mobile perhaps suffered from an early crash to leader Jan Ullrich, who span off onto the grass during the first descent of the day.

The German emerged unscathered from his clumsy fall but the necessary regrouping and worry meant that yet again T-Mobile failed to put a man in the day's main breakaway.

Less lucky was Liberty Seguros' Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano and Saunier Duval's Jose Antonio Gomez Marchante who were both forced to retire after heavy falls.

Former yellow jersey David Zabriskie (CSC) also decided to call it a day after struggling on the early climbs.

It was a difficult day for the sprinters too, with Tom Boonen (QuickStep) and Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) finishing over 17 minutes back and Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd suffering quite considerably.

The net winner of the day in the race for the green jersey was Stuart O'Grady, whose fourth place in the stage was enough to loft the Cofidis rider in to third place in the points standings above Aussie compatriot McEwen.