 A group of twenty-two riders (from seventeen teams) formed the day's breakaway, and were around three minutes clear by the time they reached the foot of the climb to Alpe d'Huez. The gap rose to around four minutes by the summit of the climb – led over the top by Vacansoleil – DCM's Thomas De Gendt – which allowed Kevin Seeldraeyers (Astana) to become the virtual leader of the general classification. The breakaway began to splinter on the Col d'Ornon, as the advantage over the main field continued to rise, to over five minutes. Alexey Lutsenko led over the climb for Astana, ahead of the mountains classification leader Thomas Damuseau of Argos – Shimano and Seeldraeyers. Omega Pharma – Quick-Step's Sylvain Chavanel and Cannondale rider Alessandro De Marchi moved clear ahead of the Col du Noyer, and managed to pull around a minute-and-a-half clear of the rest of the breakaway by the foot of the climb.
