Voeckler and Feillu had an advantage of almost two minutes at the bottom of the Col d'Aspin, while Martin - on his own after being the last to be dropped by the French pairing out front - was joined by Hincapie and six other riders. With added pressure from Sørensen and RadioShack-Nissan rider Jens Voigt, Kessiakoff was dropped by the group, and aided the efforts for Voeckler to take the lead in the mountains classification. Back in the peloton, the tempo set by Liquigas-Cannondale and Team Sky was reducing the numbers in the group, and eventually, BMC Racing Team's Cadel Evans lost contact on the climb. However, with team-mates around him, he was able to rejoin the group before the final climb of the Col de Peyresourde. A third of the way up the climb, Voeckler left his companion Feillu behind, and set off on a solo attack. Evans again fell off the back of the group, as Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) decided to make a preliminary attack on his rivals, Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome.