[Ben Lauer]

Stage 9: Gérardmer to Mulhouse - 171 km

- There was an early crash that caused some riders to be dropped off the back of the peloton.
- Mickael Rasmussen (DEN, RAB) broke away from the peloton to catch another escapee, Jens Voigt.
- Rasmussen was chased and caught a few times by other small groups, but he was never pulled back to the peloton. Voigt was very present in the chase groups and tried to stay with his early captor.
- Rasmussen was out in front of this stage from inside the first 5 km.
- He finished 3:04 ahead of his closest rider.
- The biggest change in the day are the to overall leaders. Lance was overtaken by Jens Voigt and Christephe Moreau.

The top 10 in stage nine of the 2005 Tour de France is:
1. Mickael Rasmussen (DEN) RAB - 171km in 4h08’20" (41.315km/h)
2. Christophe Moreau (FRA) C.A at 3’04"
3. Jens Voigt (GER) CSC at 3’04"
4. Stuart O’Grady (AUS) COF at 6’04"
5. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) FDJ at same time
6. Antony Geslin (FRA) BTL at same time
7. Sebastian Lang (GER) GST at same time
8. Laurent Brochard (FRA) BTL at same time
9. Jerome Pineau (FRA) BTL at same time
10. Gerrit Glomser (AUT) LAM at same time

The yellow jersey has returned to the CSC team after the ninth stage of the 2005 Tour. The new top 10 is:
1. Jens Voigt (GER) CSC 1,493.5km in 32h18’23" (46.22km/h)
2. Christophe Moreau (FRA) C.A at 1’50"
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) DSC at 2’18"
4. Mickael Rasmussen (DEN) RAB at 2’43"
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) TMO at 3’20"
6. Bobby Julich (USA) CSC at 3’25"
7. Ivan Basso (ITA) CSC at 3’44"
8. Jan Ullrich (GER) TMO at 3’54"
9. Carlos Sastre (ESP) CSC 3’54"
10. George Hincapie (USA) DSC 4’05"

More to come tomorrow...