Landis Cracks During La Toussuire Ascent

Spaniard Oscar Pereiro resumed control of the yellow jersey after former leader Floyd Landis dropped out of contention in dramatic fashion on the 16th stage of the Tour de France.

Michael Rasmussen of Denmark easily won the stage after breaking away early in the toughest Alpine test of the three-week race.

But American rider Landis struggled horribly with the last ascent up La Toussuire, falling way off the pace to effectively end his hopes of challenging for this year's title.

Illes Baleares rider Pereiro regained the overall lead after finishing third - behind fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre - and was followed by several other contenders who moved away from the struggling American.

Pereiro has a provisional overall lead of 1min 50secs over fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre, whose late attack unsettled Landis and finally eliminated the American fro, realistic contention for overall honours.

German rider Andreas Kloden is third overall, 2mins 29secs behind Pereiro, who is now closing in on overall victory in the first Tour of the post-Lance Armstrong era.

Honours on the day belonged to Michael Rasmussen who took the polka-dot jersey for the King of the Mountains title he won last year. The Dane claimed a stage victory from the front after a marathon breakaway that proved his nickname of "chicken" is not apt in terms of character - he was given the moniker because of his spindly legs.

However, it was the near-collapse of Landis that was the main talking point. He had withstood several attacks from his rivals but when Sastre produced a turn of speed, he could not live with the Spaniard. Sastre finished second behind Rasmussen on the day with his excellent finish to the day but it was not enough to win him the yellow jersey with Pereiro finishing only 13 seconds behind his compatriot.