Today’s stage of the Tour de France started in Barcelona on a beautiful route that finished with one of the first real climbs, and this is where the eventual leaders started to take charge. Fabian Cancellara couldn’t hang with the climbers, and lost the yellow jersey: Feillu wins stage 7, Nocentini grabs yellow and Contador asserts supremacy.

We may be in for an epic battle between Astana team members Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong. Contador attacked in the final climb today, gaining 20 seconds on Armstrong; after the race, Armstrong said that wasn’t the plan, but he wasn’t surprised.

UPDATE at 7/10/09 1:42:57 pm:

Here’s today’s official TdF video of the stage:

FLV Video