Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo held his nerve to out-sprint Salvatore Commesso and seal a thrilling win in the fourteenth stage of the Tour de France here yesterday as Oscar Pereiro retained the yellow jersey.
The 27-year-old, riding for the Bouygues Telecom team, launched a stunning late assault to overtake Commesso only yards from the finish and clinch victory in the 180km stage from Montelimar to here.
American Christian Vandevelde and Christophe Moreau finished third and fourth respectively w ith Robbie McEwan holding on to the green jersey.
Despite not winning any of the four categorised climbs, Spaniard David De la Fuente retained the polka-dot jersey.
Fedrigo said: "In the first week the team got into many breaks but didn't last the distance. In the second week, we were a bit quiet so I wanted to go for it. I remained concentrated right to the end."
In blistering heat in southern France, a tenman pack emerged early in the race as Dutchman Michael Boogerd claimed victory in the first climb - with Commesso winning two of the remaining three - but it was Matthias Kessler, Egoi Martinez, Mario Aerts, Pierrick Fedrigo and Commesso who combined to lead the first serious breakaway.
Spaniard Martinez soon dropped out of the escape group to rejoin the chasing pack with Rik Verbrugghe and David Canada mounting a concerted pursuit to break clear of the peloton to form the six-strong breakaway.
They enjoyed a lead of nearly six minutes at the halfway point.
However, an horrendous crash involving Kessler, Verbrugghe and Canada - the latter two required hospital treatment - resulted in the leading pack being whittled down to only three as the race entered the final climb at Col de la Sentinelle.
Canada, riding for the Saunier Duval Prodir team, suffered a suspected broken collarbone and Verbrugghe was rushed to hospital with a serious knee problem. Remarkably, Kessler continued.
Commesso, Fedrigo and Aerts continued to jostle for the overall lead but the pace proved too much for Belgian Aerts as his hopes of winning the stage disappeared with only ten kilo-metres remaining.
The duo continued to keep the peloton at bay and led by barely 20 seconds with two kilometres remaining as Vandevelde emerged from the chasing pack to set up a tense finale. It was Fedrigo, though, who mustered a last-gasp sprint to pip Commesso.
Fedrigo's Bouygues Telecom team-mate Laurent Lefevre said: "The win is immense satisfaction for the team. We have waited for this for ages and today's stage was perhaps the last chance of victory for us on the Tour."
Yellow jersey holder Periero said: "I want to keep the yellow as long as possible, nobody expected us to have it but, now we have, we'll have to see day by day."
Four retirements during the gruelling stage - the first in the Alps in this year's competition - mean 156 riders will compete in tomorrow's 187km stage to L'Alpe d'Huez.
