Colombia’s Soler wins ninth stage

BRIANCON, France – A favorite to win the Tour de France, Alexandre Vinokourov’s title hopes are fading fast.

The injured cyclist fell more than eight minutes behind leader Michael Rasmussen in Tuesday’s ninth stage, the last of three stages in the Alps.

Juan Mauricio Soler became the latest Colombian to show climbing prowess at the Tour, attacking in the last of three major ascents and holding off a pack of chasers to win the stage.

Soler, a 24-year-old Colombian competing in his first Tour for the newcomer Barloworld team, finished the 99.1-mile ride from Val d’Isere to Briancon in 4 hours, 14 minutes, 24 seconds.

“I’m really happy … Winning a stage is a dream,” Soler said.

Rasmussen, a Dane who took home the polka-dot jersey of the Tour’s best climber the last two years, leads a thinning pack of hopefuls after the Alps proved too much for some.

His ambitions are growing to hold on to the leader’s yellow jersey, which he took in the second Alpine stage Sunday. His main rivals did little during Tuesday’s climbs.

Only a few managed to make up some ground. Alejandro Valverde of Spain, who placed second after Soler, gained 16 seconds against Rasmussen and is second overall – 2 minutes, 35 seconds back.

Valverde, who crashed out of last year’s Tour with a broken collarbone, leads a strong Caisse d’Epargne team and has shaped up as perhaps the biggest threat to the 33-year-old Dane’s ambitions.

Vinokourov was aching in both knees after a crash Thursday. The Astana team leader briefly dropped back to get an anti-inflammatory pill from the race doctor during Tuesday’s stage.

“I did what I could. The team worked well again … and tried to reduce the gap,” Vinokourov said on France-2 television.

“It was another horrible day for me,” he said before breaking into tears.

Vinokourov, who was third in the 2003 Tour and won last year’s Tour of Spain, lost another 2:42 to Rasmussen and now trails by 8:05 overall in 21st place.