Frenchman Cyril Dessel, the leader of the Ag2r-La Mondiale that wore the leader's yellow jersey for one day in 2006, has won his first Tour de France stage on July 22.

Dessel was part of a group of four that finished first at the bottom of the dizzying descent from the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond highest-category climb, outracing fellow Frenchman Sandy Casar and Spaniard David Arroyo on the tight corners on the streets of Jausiers at the end of the 157km stage 16.

The main contenders finished in a tight group one minute and 28 seconds behind, with Frank Schleck from team CSC Saxo Bank keeping his yellow jersey of the leader in the general classification.

"“We did a good job today. At the top of the last climb there were just a few riders left and everybody was struggling. When I say everybody, I mean all of us," Schleck said, as quoted by the Tour's official website letour.com.

Bernhard Kohl and Cadel Evans, who are seven and eight seconds behind, respectively, in the overall standings, finished with the same time as Schleck. Alejandro Valverde, Damiano Cunego and Carlos Sastre finished in the same group, but Denis Menshov and Kim Kirchen were 35 behind and slipped in the general classification. Christian Vandevelde, who was fourth, lost more time on the descent and is now more than three minutes behind Schleck.

Andy Schleck, the younger brother of the race leader, was in the same group and took the lead in the young riders' standings.

The stage was marked by two climbs, both in the highest-category bracket, with Gerolsteiner's Stefan Schumacher, who wore yellow for two days earlier in the 2008 Tour de France, attacking the peloton to take the points on the Col de la Lombarde.

At the bottom of the second climb, a group of 30 riders had an advantage of almost 12 minutes over the peloton, with South African John-Lee Augustyn taking the points at the top of Cime de la Bonette-Restefond. His chance of winning the stage, however, was gone when he crashed early on the climb and he finished more than five minutes behind Dessel.

The stage brought little change in the sprinters' standings, with Oscar Freire keeping the green jersey, while Kohl will once again start in the polka-dot of the leader in the king of the mountains classification when the Tour sets out of Embrun on July 23.

Stage 17 will mark the last one in high mountains, but it will be the hardest one yet, featuring three highest-category climbs over 210.5km. The emblematic Col du Galibier, one of the Alpine passes most visited by the Tour, and the Col de la Croix de Fer will be followed by another classic -the finish in L'Alpe d'Huez.

It is the last chance, excluding the time trial on July 25, for the main contenders to win significant time over their rivals, but also the familiar sight evoking pleasant memories for race leader Schleck, who won there his only Tour de France stage when the race visited the ski resort the last time in 2006.

“I absolutely have to attack tomorrow and try and break the others," Schleck said, as quoted by the Tour's official website letour.com.