"But my job is still to help Jan win the Tour. I will be by his side in the mountains and on the flat," he said.

Van Bon, the Dutch national champion, led home his Rabobank team-mate Markus Zberg and Emmanuel Magnien of Francaise de Jeux.

"This was my second Tour de France (stage) win and it was very beautiful," the 28-year-old Van Bon said.

"My team worked very well for me."

Another Dutchman, Servais Knaven, was fourth and Lithuania's Arvis Piziks also squeezed in ahead of Elli.

The breakaway pack's lead was 12 minutes at the 47km mark but by the close the peloton had closed it to 7m 49s.

As the riders headed into Tours, France's Jacky Durand launched two attacks but it was Mark Wauters who led out down the 1500m finishing straight.

He paved the way for his Rabobank team-mates to grab a one-two finish.

Rabobank, with three riders in the breakaway group, were perfectly placed to dominate the stage.

Earlier in the stage Australian Stuart O'Grady and Estonia's Jann Kirsipuu were involved in a heavy crash.

O'Grady, who was lying fourth in the race for the green jersey, was left clutching his collarbone and finished the stage well behind the peloton.

Sacked

Meanwhile Dutch cycling team Farm Frites have sacked Russian champion Sergei Ivanov.

Ivanov was not allowed to start the Tour de France after failing a blood test on the first day of the race last week.

Ivanov was one of three riders, with Slovenian Andrej Hauptman and Italian Rossano Brasi, found with a level of hematocrite in the blood above the legal limit of 50 per cent.

Farm Frites had wanted to hear Ivanov's explanations before making a decision on his case.

Ivanov was a member of the TVM team which fled the Tour in controversy two years ago in the middle of a doping scandal.