 A group of twenty @-@ two riders ( from seventeen teams ) formed the day 's breakaway , and were around three minutes clear by the time they reached the foot of the climb to Alpe d 'Huez . The gap rose to around four minutes by the summit of the climb – led over the top by Vacansoleil – DCM 's Thomas De Gendt – which allowed Kevin Seeldraeyers ( Astana ) to become the virtual leader of the general classification . The breakaway began to splinter on the Col d 'Ornon , as the advantage over the main field continued to rise , to over five minutes . Alexey Lutsenko led over the climb for Astana , ahead of the mountains classification leader Thomas Damuseau of Argos – Shimano and Seeldraeyers . Omega Pharma – Quick @-@ Step 's Sylvain Chavanel and Cannondale rider Alessandro De Marchi moved clear ahead of the Col du Noyer , and managed to pull around a minute @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half clear of the rest of the breakaway by the foot of the climb . 
