Pereiro back in the lead as Landis challenge unravels in mountain stage

OSCAR Pereiro reclaimed the race leader’s yellow jersey on stage 16 of the Tour de France after American rider Floyd Landis fell apart under a succession of attacks from his rivals for overall victory.

Pereiro has a provisional overall lead of one minute, 50 seconds over fellow Spaniard Carlos Sastre, whose late attack unsettled Landis and finally eliminated the American from realistic contention for overall honours.

German rider Andreas Kloden is third overall, 2mins 29secs behind Pereiro, who is now closing in on overall victory in the first Tour of the post-Lance Armstrong era.