Team CSC's Fränk Schleck won the most prestigious stage in this year's Tour de France, as the Luxembourg rider took a big victory on the infamous Alpe d'Huez climb after Tuesday's 187 kilometers in stage 15.

After 30 kilometers Schleck and team mates Jens Voigt and David Zabriskie made the decisive break of 25 riders. At the foot of Alpe d'Huez, the break had come down to 15 riders, and both Voigt and Zabriskie did a fantastic job for Schleck, so he could keep a big gap on the favorites in the peloton.

A few kilometers up the Alpe d'Huez, Schleck, Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Eddy Mazzoleni (T-Mobile) were alone in front, and with about two kilometers to go, Schleck dropped Cunego and won the stage by 11 seconds.

"I believed Fränk would do well today, but I didn't expect him to win, that's just amazing. After a bad start to the Tour, everything is now going our way. We didn't plan for Fränk to be in a break away, but all of a sudden he was out there together with Jens and David, and then we knew he would be one of the strongest today," said sports director Kim Andersen.

"Not many years ago I was here with my family to watch the Tour, and now I'm here as the winner at the top of the Alpe d'Huez. I don't think I've realized what I've accomplished, but I probably will during the evening," said Schleck.

Behind Schleck, Carlos Sastre lost only 25 seconds to new overall leader Floyd Landis (Phonak) and Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile), but he gained valuable seconds on both Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto). Sastre improved to fifth overall, just five seconds behind Menchov in fourth place. In the teams competition, Team CSC increased their lead to more than 20 minutes on second placed Caisse d'Epargne.