Hushovd and Steegmans dropped on the Col d'Osquich, then the rest of the group got split into lots of different smaller groups during the climb of the Col de Soudet with Cyril Dessel and Juan Miguel Mercado passing the top of the climb first. During the descent Landaluze, Rinero, Isasi, Vasseur and Moreni managed to return. The peloton was about 10 minutes behind at that time, as had decided they were not going to defend their yellow jersey and leave the work for the next stages for some other team.