Stage 16 - Wednesday, July 25: Orthez - Gourette - Col d’Aubisque, 218.5km

Results - Stage 16 (Orthez Gourette - Col D’aubisque)
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 6:23:21
2. Levi Leipheimer (Usa), Discovery Channel , at 00:26
3. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 00:35
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor - Lotto, at 00:43
5. Mauricio Soler Hernandez Juan (Col), Barloworld, at 01:25
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Esp), Euskaltel - Euskadi, at 01:52
7. Jose Cobo Acebo Juan (Sp), Saunier Duval - Prodir, at 01:54
8. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 02:12
9. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 02:27
10. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d’Epargne, at 02:27




Overall, After Stage 16
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 76:15:15
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 03:10
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor - Lotto, at 05:03
4. Levi Leipheimer (Usa), Discovery Channel , at 05:59
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 09:12
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Esp), Euskaltel - Euskadi, at 09:39
7. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 13:28
8. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, at 14:46
9. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, at 16:00
10. Mauricio Soler Hernandez Juan (Col), Barloworld, at 16:41

In the last mountain stage of the 2007 Tour de France maillot jaune Michael Rasmussen withstood the Discovery Channel attacks of Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer to deliver a punch of his own, surging at 900 metres remaining to take the stage and add 47 seconds to his overall lead. American Leipheimer finished second to gain time on Cadel Evans in the fight for a podium spot while 'Kid Contador' placed third.

"This is a great victory since winning in the yellow jersey is very hard," Rasmussen said with a grin. "Nevertheless, the overall victory is more important than a stage win.

"Two days ago I noticed I could not follow the accelerations of Discovery Channel's Contador, so today I used a different tactic. I maintained my own pace and apparently Contador got tired, I used this advantage in the last kilometre."

Rasmussen responded amazingly after the Tour's second rest day and a bombardment of doping allegations, proving his abilities on the Aubisque and showing he has a strong chance to win the overall in four days. Contador remains in second in the general classification, now at 3'10".