Frank Schleck outraced Cadel Evans to grab the yellow jersey of the overall leader in the 2008 Tour de France, but it was Australian Simon Gerrans that won stage 15 in Prato Nevoso in the Italian Alps.

Gerrans joined a break-away group of three riders 16km into the 183km stage that set off from Embrun under overcast skies. The group built an advantage of over 12 minutes on the day's first climb, the highest-category Col Agnel.

The wet tarmac proved tricky for the 2006 Tour winner Oscar Pereiro Sio, who crashed out on the descent and had to abandon with a broken shoulder. Another notable withdrawal was Briton Mark Cavendish, winner of four stages in this year's race, who retired from the Tour overnight to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.

The breakaway group, which in addition to Credit Agricole's Gerrans included Egoi Martinez from Euskaltel-Euskadi, Danny Pate from Garmin Chipotle and Jose Luis Arrieta from Ag2r-La Mondiale, continued to work together on the first-category climb to the finish in Prato Nevoso. At the end, Gerrans proved to have the most strength left and raced clear to win his team the second stage in this year's Tour.

Behind the break-aways, the main contenders slowly shed the rest of the peloton and with erstwhile race leader Evans struggling, three riders broke away - Rabobank's Denis Menshov, Bernhard Kohl from Gerolsteiner and Carlos Sastre from team CSC Saxo Bank - and were soon joined by Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d'Epargne.

Kohl was the best-placed of the group and he powered on to recover his 46 seconds gap to Evans, but will have to wait for at least two more days before he gets another chance to wear yellow.

In the last kilometre, Schleck, who was only one second behind Evans at the start of the stage, made a move as well and gained enough ground on the Australian to claim the yellow jersey as his. It was the sixth change of leader in this year's race.

Kohl is now second in the overall standings, seven seconds behind Schleck, while Evans is in third, eight seconds down. Menshov moved up to fourth, 38 seconds behind the leader, while Christian Vandevelde from Garmin Chipotle dropped two spots and is fifth on 39 seconds. Sastre is sixth, 49 seconds behind teammate Schleck.

Kohl's efforts were not in vain, however, and he will wear the polka-dot jersey of the leader in the king of the mountains standings in the next stage. In the sprinters' standings, Oscar Freire from Rabobank will retain the green jersey.

After a day of rest, the Tour will return to the roads on July 21, when the peloton will start in Cuneo and face two highest-category climbs - Col de la Lombarde and Cime de la Bonette-Restefond, before a dizzying descent to the Jausiers, 157km from the start.