Simon Gerrans Takes His First Stage, Frank Schleck Claims Yellow Jersey.

With the Tour de France heading into the Italian Alps on Sunday the leader board was ready for a shakeup and by the end of the day that was exactly what happened as Simon Gerrans claimed the 113.7-mile trek from Embrun, France to Prato Nevoso, Italy for his first stage victory and Frank Schleck grabbed the Yellow Jersey, unseating Australia’s Cadel Evans.

For Gerrans it was his first ever stage victory in his four appearances at the Tour de France. His 4 hours, 50 minutes, 44 seconds topped Egoi Martinez by 3 seconds.

Schleck managed to overcome his one second deficit heading into the Stage 15 ride to grab the Yellow Jersey for the first time. Evans now finds himself 8 seconds back, third on the leader board while Austria’s Bernhard Kohl moved into second, 7 seconds back.

The 2008 Tour de France lost two of its biggest names on Sunday as well as Oscar Pereiro broke his shoulder in a crash while Mark Cavendish, winner of four stages in this year’s event, dropped out due to fatigue.