Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong rode together in the chase pack during Stage 8 of the Tour de France on Saturday, the fierce tension between the team mates tucked into their back pockets. For a day.

Twenty-four hours after Contador’s unscripted mountain attack in the Pyrenees left Armstrong, the rest of the Astana team and the entire Tour raising their eyebrows at Contador’s alpha-male move past Armstrong, the seven-time Tour winner, the 110-mile stage from Andorra to St-Girons featured comfortable teamwork from Astana and few fireworks until the end.

Sanchez’s perfect timing

Four riders — likely non-contenders for the yellow jersey — broke away to reach the 5,150-foot summit of Col d’Agnes first, breezed downhill and set themselves for the finish when Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain timed his final sprint perfectly.

Sitting on Sandy Casar’s wheel until the final 30 metres, Sanchez stormed past him to raise his arms in victory. His countryman Mikel Astarloza, who was the first to reach the Col d’Agnes summit, finished third, and Vladimir Efimkin of Russia, who sprinted in front of the foursome with 3.5 kilometre s to go, fell to fourth.

Amid the flurry of excitement from Sanchez (who rides for Caisse D’Epargne), the overall standings remained the same. Rinaldo Nocentini of Italy kept the yellow jersey. Armstrong remained in third place, eight seconds behind Nocentini and two seconds behind Contador, who surged past Armstrong in Stage 7.

Nocentini, Contador and Armstrong were part of the large pack that finished 1 minute 54 seconds behind Sanchez, who won the 176.5-kilometre stage with three distinct climbs in 4 hours 31 minutes 50 seconds.

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