Tour de France stage eight photos

Riders begin stage eight, which has two of the hardest climbs in this year's Tour - the Col du Galibier and the Alpe d'Huez

Defending champion Lance Armstrong rides through the village of Megeve in pursuit of the four riders in the early breakaway

Quick Step's Hungarian rider Laszlo Bodrogi leads the peloton in the early part of the stage as they pass Mont Blanc

Yellow jersey holder Richard Virenque tucks himself into the peloton as he tries to protect his overall lead

France's Nicolas Portal breaks away early in the stage but he and the three riders who join him are eventually caught

Fans pack the slopes of the l'Alp d'Huez to watch the race, with one celebrating the Tour de France's centenary in 2003

Euskaltel's Iban Mayo makes a break 12km from the finish at the summit of the Alpe d'Huez and holds on to win stage eight

Team Telekom's Alexandre Vinkourov of Kazakhstan stays ahead of the chasing group to claim second place in the stage

Tyler Hamilton, who broke his collar bone on stage one, courageously stays with Armstrong's group to finish seventh

An exhausted Jan Ullrich crosses the line over three minutes after the winner with a gruelling stage having taken its toll

Lance Armstrong's third place in the stage gives him the yellow jersey for the first time in this year's race

Despite losing the overall lead, Virenque wins two of the day's climbs to retain the king of the mountains jersey

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