stay with him to help him get back into the peloton. However, this time Merckx was considered more important, and Zilioli was given no help. Zilioli finished the stage one minute behind. Merckx was now in the Maillot Jaune with Godefroot in 2nd by a few seconds and De Vlaeminck, Janssen and Van Springel less than a minute behind. Stage 7 was another split stage and in the first segment Merckx went on the offensive and claimed the win. He finished ten seconds ahead of Lucien Van Impe, but won considerable time on those closest to him in the GC. Stage 7B was a short ITT, just over seven kilometers long that was run in the rain. José Antonio González Linares put in the fastest time with Merckx three seconds slower. Notably, Roger De Vlaeminck crashed out during the time trial and had to be taken away in an ambulance. Merckx rode by this scene and this contributed to him taking less risk. At the end of the day Merckx had opened up a legitimate lead on the rest of the field and now only Godefroot and Janssen were within about two minutes as Van Springel, Joop Zoetemelk and Raymond Poulidor were about three minutes behind. As a result of De Vlaeminck crashing out Tour debutant Zoetemelk became the new leader for the Mars–Flandria team. In stage 8 Alain Vasseur made an escape and survived to the finish, winning the stage by over a minute ahead of the peloton as the overall situation remained the same. In stage 9, Mogens Frey and Joaquim Agostinho, teammates, broke away together. They worked together to stay away, but near the end of the stage Frey stopped working and had Agostinho do all the work, even after his team manager told him to help. In the sprint, Agostinho expected his teammate to give him the victory because he had done all the work, but to his surprise Frey started to come around him. Agostinho then grabbed Frey's handlebars, and crossed the finish line first. The race jury did not allow this, and gave the victory to Frey, putting Agostinho in second place. Stage 10 included a climb to Les Rousses and on this stage Merckx attacked in an attempt to drop all of his competitors yet again. Only Guerrino Tosello, who was not a threat in the GC, and Georges Pintens as well as