Weather: Very sunny and warm, highs into the 90s, moderate headwinds

Stage winner: Cédric Vasseur (QuickStep-Innergetic) outsmarted five riders that were the remnants of the day’s winning 11-man breakaway with a surprise sprint on the right side of the road with 200m to go. His second career Tour victory comes a decade after he won with a 145km solo break into La Chatre to snag the yellow jersey in the 1997 Tour. The win is the third for QuickStep in this year’s Tour.

Race leader: Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) retained the yellow jersey after finishing 30th safely tucked inside the bunch at 10:36 behind the winning breakaway. Jens Voigt (CSC) moved into 31st at 13:59 back after regaining time as part of the winning break.

Green jersey: No major shakeups as the break scooped up points at the day’s two hot sprints. Tom Boonen (QuickStep) widened his lead to Erik Zabel (Milram) to 160-144 after he sprinted to 13th in the bunch sprint to gain 13 points. Zabel came through 16th to earn 10 points.

King of the Mountains: Rasmussen kept his grip on the King of the Mountain jersey as the breakaway ate up KoM points at the day’s four rated climbs. Second-place rider Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) is wearing the jersey as long as Rasmussen is in yellow. Rasmussen leads Soler 98-79.

Best Young Rider: Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) retained the white jersey as none of the breakaway riders were in the under-25 ranking. Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) remained second at 3:37 back.

Best team: Team CSC surged back into the top team ranking thanks to Jens Voigt. CSC now leads 5:02 ahead of Caisse d’Epargne with Discovery Channel in third at 5:08.

Most aggressive rider: Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) won the day’s prize, with the eight-man panel lauding him for his “inspiration to attack at just the right moment and to use a tactic that deserved victory. The final sprint was played like a lottery – honor to the loser!”

Lanterne Rouge: Gert Steegmans (QuickStep-Innergetic) finished last in the stage while Wim Vansevenant (Predictor-Lotto) slotted into last in GC at 1h46:57 back.

Top American: Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) finished 37th with the main while Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) remained in ninth at 3:53 back.

The peloton: No abandons. The peloton is now 171 riders.

Medical report:Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) crash in first kilometer, pain in hip and coccyxCancellara (CSC) insect biteVoeckler (Bouygues Telecom) insect biteGutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne) crash at 37km, cuts and scrapes on both hands, right elbowCalzati (Ag2r) pain in both knees and Achilles tendonAnton (Euskaltel) crash at 69km without complicationsVerbrugghe (Cofidis) pain in right kneeVinokourov (Astana) persistent pain in both knees

Jury decisions:Moreau (Ag2r) fined 100 CHF for not signing in

Forecast: Continued warm and sunny, with highs in the 90s, 25-30kph southerly winds