SPANISH rider Luis Leon Sanchez won the eighth stage of the Tour de France from Andorra to Saint-Girons after a hard-fought finish with three other riders in the Pyrenees.

Sanchez, a 25-year-old riding for the Caisse d’Epargne team, won a stage at Aurillac last year, breaking away to win alone. This time he had to use all his wits to outfox three riders in the final kilometre.

Rinaldo Nocentini, the Italian riding for AG2R who took the yellow jersey at Arcalís in Andorra on Friday, defended his six-second lead over Alberto Contador. Britain’s Mark Cavendish relinquished his grip on the green jersey he has held since Sunday when his biggest rival in the points competition, Thor Hushovd of Norway, joined the early break and won two intermediate sprints while the Manxman toiled.

Sanchez, Mikel Astarloza, another Spaniard riding for the Euskaltel team, Russia’s Vladimir Efimkin of AG2R, and Frenchman Sandy Casar of Française des Jeux were the last remaining men from a big break that went clear on the day’s first climb, the Port d’Envalira. They built a steady advantage as they crossed the Col de Port and Col d’Agnes. With a downhill and flat 44-kilometre run-in from the top of the Col d’Agnel to the finish, the riders concentrating on the overall classification had little incentive to attack so far out, enabling the breakaway to stay clear.

On the Col d’Agnes, the break had numbered nine. By the top, Sanchez, Astarloza, and Efimkin had stretched clear of Casar, although he rejoined them on the descent. From then on, the quartet worked well together before fighting out the finish.

Efimkin was first to attack, jumping hard down the left-hand side of the road a little more than two kilometres from the line. The two Spaniards hesitated, forcing Casar to chase, saving them valuable energy in the process. Efimkin rode strongly and still had a good gap as he entered the final kilometre.

Not until the last run to the line did the Russian realise he was going to be overhauled. Casar opened up his sprint, but went from too far out and no doubt paid the price for having chased down Efimkin. When Sanchez pulled out from Casar’s slipstream and headed for the line there was little doubt about the result.

There were no significant changes overall, although that is not to say it was a quiet day.

On the descent of the Port d’Envalira, Cadel Evans, the Australian who was runner-up to Carlos Sastre in last year’s Tour, got himself into the break, the same one that eventually produced the stage winner. Although Evans is more than three minutes down overall, the other riders in the breakaway were not happy with his presence, because it would guarantee a reaction from the bunch and put an end to the escape. Reluctantly Evans, who must find some way to recoup his losses if he is to contend for a place on the podium in Paris, sat up and drifted back to the bunch.

Later, on the Col d’Agnes, the young rider from Luxembourg, Andy Schleck, accelerated hard, but was marked very closely by Contador’s Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer. Although Schleck’s surge thinned out the main field, it did not shed any of the big names.

Cavendish, riding for Columbia, had won two stages in the opening week before he lost the lead in the points competition to Hushovd, of Cervelo, who won in Barcelona on Thursday. The points competition is won by the rider who accumulates the most points at the stage finishes and intermediate sprints dotted along the route. Points are loaded so more are on offer for the flat stages, so the competition is usually won by a sprinter. But Cavendish is finding out that it is not just stage victories that count.

Hushovd rode cleverly yesterday, joining the attack on the Port d’Envalira in the knowledge there were two intermediate sprints before the second climb. He duly won both to net 12 points and turn a one-point deficit into an 11-point advantage overall.

Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, of Garmin-Slipstream, rode strongly, protecting his fifth place overall.

Leading places
1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R, 30hr 18min 16sec
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana, 6sec behind
3 Lance Armstrong (US) Astana, 8sec
4 Levi Leipheimer (US) Astana, 39sec
5 Bradley Wiggins (GB) Garmin, 46sec
6 Andreas Kloden (Ger) Astana, 54sec
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia, 1min
8 Christian Vande Velde (US) Garmin, 1min 24sec
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Saxo Bank, 1min 49sec
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas, 1min 54sec