Luis Leon Sanchez, riding for Rabobank, won the Tour de France ninth stage, a 208 km run from Issoire to Saint-Flour on Sunday. French rider Thomas Voeckler finished in second to take possession of the overall leader's yellow jersey. His compatriot Sandy Casar crossed the line in third.
Europcar rider Voeckler took yellow for the first time since 2004 from Norwegian Thor Hushovd, who has held the lead since last Sunday but who came in over six minutes behind Voeckler in this run through the Central Massif region.
Voeckler jumped to the top of the general classification with a 1min 49sec cushion over Spain's Sanchez, with Australian Cadel Evans, who finished Sunday's stage in sixth place, in third at 2.26. The ninth stage was marred by a series of crashes with Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov among those forced to quit after a fall.
Spain's Juan Antonio Flecha and Dutchman Johnny Hoogerland were fortunate to survive without serious injury after being hit at speed by a France Television car.
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