TALLARD, France — Michael Rasmussen wore the race leader's yellow jersey as he led the pack out of the mountains and back on the flat roads for today's 10th stage of the Tour de France — the midpoint of the race.

Stage 10 is a 142.6 mile flat route from Tallard to Marseille that favors speedy riders like Tom Boonen, who holds the green jersey as best sprinter.

Rasmussen leads a pair of Spaniards, with Alejandro Valverde 2 minutes, 35 seconds behind, and Iban Mayo 2:39 back.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Vinokourov's chances of winning the Tour are as thin as the stitches in his battered knees.

After repeatedly refusing to talk down his hopes since crashing last week, Vinokourov seemed to accept his fate after laboring up three massive climbs during Tuesday's ninth stage.

"It was another horrible day for me," the Kazakh rider mumbled to a French television channel. Then he wiped away tears.