Riccardo Ricco produced a stunning final 30km in the Pyrenees to claim his second Tour de France stage victory and underline his reputation as one of the best climbers in the sport.

Team Gerolsteiner's Sebastian Lang held the lead from the start of the ninth stage from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre but Ricco slowly reeled him in after stepping up the pace.

The Saunier Duval-Scott rider's well-timed attack saw him fly through the peloton and begin closing on Lang.

The 24-year-old hit the front after 186 kilometres, just a few hundred metres from the from the top of the Col d'Aspin, and maintained his position to the finish, coming home just over a minute clear of Vladimir Efimkin (AG2R La Mondiale).

Ricco, the Giro d'Italia runner-up, completed the 224-km stage in five hours 39 minutes, 28 seconds. The Italian also won both the climbs that awarded double points, although he failed to wrest the polka dot jersey from David de la Fuente.

Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen retains the yellow jersey, preserving his six-second lead over Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto in the general classification, while Ricco is still in with a chance, two minutes 35 seconds behind.

Evans survived an early scare after he was involved in a crash near the head of the peloton. However, after treatment by medical staff the Australian was helped back to the front of the pack by his team-mates.

Ricco was delighted to win his second stage in four days and expressed his gratitude to his team, who had never won a stage of the Tour de France prior to this year's race.

"It was important for me to win another stage," he told Eurosport. "I'm very happy. There are no doubts about my form, I'm happy about the victory.

"I didn't think I'd win like that in a stage of this kind. I want to thank all my team."

The Italian's stunning ride saw him reclaim the white jersey - worn by the leading young rider - from Thomas Lovkvist, who finished over six minutes off the pace.

And Sunday's win has left Ricco confident he can continue to do well in the mountains and reduce Kirchen's lead.

"My legs are good," added Ricco. "Everyone knows I'm an extremely competitive rider.

"I know there's a lot of strong competitors up against me but my particular way of attacking is the only thing I can do to win so I went on the attack today."

Monday's 10th stage is the notoriously difficult 156-km trek from Pau to Hautacam.

Stage Result: 1 Riccardo Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval - Scott 5hrs 39mins 28secs, 2 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale at 1.04, 3 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale at 1.17, 4 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole at same time, 5 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram at same time, 6 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Cofidis - Le Credit par Telephone at same time, 7 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at same time, 8 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas at same time, 9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre at same time, 10 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto at same time, 11 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner at same time, 12 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia at same time, 13 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas at same time, 14 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom at same time, 15 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Quick Step at same time, 16 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank at same time, 17 Eduardo Gonzalo Ramirez (Spa) Agritubel at same time, 18 Sandy Casar (Fra) Francaise des Jeux at same time, 19 Moises Duenas Nevado (Spa) Barloworld at same time, 20 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 at same time.

Selected Others: 51 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Barloworld 5hrs 41mins 25secs, 55 David Millar (Gbr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 05:44:02, 150 Mark Cavendish (Gbr) Team Columbia 06:07:39.

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