Russian Serguei Ivanov won the 14th stage of the Tour de France with a superb individual attack following a 12-man break, but the day was marred by the death of a spectator.
A woman was hit by a motorcycle involved with the race when she crossed the road near the town of Wittelsheim, 38.5km into the stage, and died almost instantly, according to a gendarmerie officer. Two other people were injured when they were hit by the motorcycle but their lives were not in danger, officials said. It was the first fatal accident on the Tour since a child died in 2002 after being hit by a car from the publicity caravan.
The accident happened shortly after a 12-man breakaway, featuring American George Hincapie, went past the crowd.
The group built up an advantage of eight minutes 40 seconds as the Astana team set a leisurely pace at the front of the peloton.
The AG2r-La Mondiale team, defending Italy's Rinaldo Nocentini's yellow jersey, started to work around 50 km from the finish and were able to keep him in the overall lead.
Nocentini now leads Hincapie by five seconds with Spain's Alberto Contador in third place, also six seconds off the pace. Seven-times champion Lance Armstrong slipped to fourth, eight seconds adrift of Nocentini, but the positions are expected to be upset by Sunday's first Alpine stage to the Swiss ski resort of Verbier.
Ivanov attacked the breakaway group with just over 10 km remaining and never looked back, beating Ireland's Nicolas Roche and New Zealand's Hayden Roulston, second and third respectively, by 16 seconds. Spain's Oscar Freire and Julian Dean of New Zealand started the stage after they were shot and slightly injured during Friday's ride. Police investigating the incident said they were hunting two teenagers.
Provisional result and standings after Stage 14, 199km, Colmar to Besancon:
1. Sergei Ivanov (Russia / Katusha) 4hrs 37mins 46secs
2. Nicolas Roche (Ireland / AG2R ) +16"
3. Hayden Roulston (New Zealand / Cervelo ) + 22"
4. Martijn Maaskant (Netherlands / Garmin ) same time
5. Sebastien Minard (France / Cofidis )
6. Daniele Righi (Italy / Lampre )
7. Christophe Le Mevel (France / Francaise des Jeux )
8. George Hincapie (U.S. / Columbia )
9. Daniele Bennati (Italy / Liquigas )
10. Gerald Ciolek (Germany / Milram )
General classification:
1. Rinaldo Nocentini (Italy / AG2R ) 58hrs 13mins 52secs
2. George Hincapie (U.S. / Columbia ) +5"
3. Alberto Contador (Spain / Astana ) +6"
4. Lance Armstrong (U.S. / Astana ) +8"
5. Christophe Le Mevel (France / Francaise des Jeux ) +43"
6. Bradley Wiggins (Britain / Garmin ) +46"
7. Andreas Kloeden (Germany / Astana ) +54"
8. Tony Martin (Germany / Columbia ) +1:00"
9. Christian Vande Velde (U.S. / Garmin ) +1:24"
10. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg / Saxo Bank ) +1:49"