Even though he had been in the break all day Sörensen managed to match the pace of the favorite's group, where there were plenty of attacks going on, so it was no wonder that Sørensen was extremely happy after the stage.

"This is a big day for me. I'm so happy about taking my first victory and even the queen stage is a race as big as Dauphiné Libéré. I had a good Giro until I was taken ill for one night because of the cold weather, so I'm proud to come back like this," said Sörensen after the stage.

Sörensen added: "Moreover, the col de la Croix-de-Fer was one of the climbs I was fascinated by when I was a child. This is a dream that comes true." Sörensen attacked at the foot of the final ascent just before the bunch got back to him. "I had very good legs and after I climbed 2 kilomtres, I found the right tempo. It was hurting because of the wind but I made it. With 500 metres to go, I understood I would win for sure." Questionned about the likeness with Rasmussen, yesterday's stage winner answered: "I do hope I'm not gonna become the next Rasmussen. It's time to forget him. I just want to become 'the' Danish climber in the future."

Alejandro Valverde was attacked by Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer yesterday but the Spaniard impressed with the way he defended his leading position in the general clasification. Valverde said: "The last stage is difficult too but shorter than the previous one. I feel in good shape, my team works hard everyday. One more day and we will win the (yellow and blue) jersey."

Evans, 2nd overall, is 39 seconds behind, and Leipheimer is 3rd at 1:24. "I had planned this attack. I had to move but it failled", said Evans. "I've got no regret." Leipheimer was more frustrated because he was still thinking about his bad performance on the Joux-Plane. "If only I have had the same power in my legs, he said. Today, the final climb was not hard enough despite the wind." Who knows if the Chartreuse trilogy will give another chance to Valverde's challengers tomorrow...

The hoped-for day success did not materialize in the third subsequent Alps stage in the Dauphiné Libéré, but all in all, the Rabobank team in general and Robert Gesink in specific had a good day. The team gave a strong performance in its supporting role for the young Dutch captain. Gesink himself took responsibility on the final climb and aimed for a better overall ranking when the stage victory remained out of reach, due to a successful early escape. He ran into 'himself' during that, but the loss remained limited and the reward was a fourth place in the classification.

"Robert was of course a little disappointed immediately after finishing," admitted Rabobank's sports director Adri van Houwelingen. "We had selected this stage. It looked good for a long time, but others were just a little better in the final kilometers. A pity, but I still think Robert really lived up to his reputation. He fought for what he was worth and took his responsibility."

Gesink took aim at the latter during the final climb. After all, the podium had come within reach. Van Houwelingen noticed during the course already that his talented pupil would move up. "Robert's ambitions for the classification have grown higher and higher during this week."

In the end Gesink even had to let go in the final kilometer. Somewhat disappointing for the rider himself, understandable in the opinion of the team manager. "Robert gave everything to get closer to the podium. If he had acted a little more careful he might have been able to keep up with the others, but I thought it is fine when a young rider like Robert wants to explore his boundaries and tries to get as much out of it as possible. The manner in which he raced also earns admiration from other riders, and also some of the good ones. His courage gets him more and more respect."

Pierre Rolland, who was the first rider who passed the top of the the col de la Croix-de-Fer and was rewarded with the polka dot jersey said: "I've never been faced with such a terrific stage. (about the mountains, editor). I'ts a child dream, a great satisfaction. To catch it, I had to take risks, whenever it ended badly."

Cyril Dessel hurted his foot against his bed on Friday night and suffered a painful knee. "But during the stage, the pace was so high that I didn't feel my injury,“ the AG2R-La Mondiale rider joked. Dessel is now sixth overall.

The race will end tomorrow after the 127 kilometres long seventh and final stage. After 60.5 kilometres the riders will climb the Col du Granier (1st category), after 95 kilometres they will pass the top of the Col de Porte (2nd category), before they will be decsending to the finish in Grenoble. As Cadel Evans is only 39 seconds behind overall leader Valverde,Leipheimer is also in reach (1:24) of the yellow jersey.  Click here to view the map and profile of stage 7.