Paulinho claims first Tour de France stage

GAP, France, July 14 (UPI) -- Sergio Paulinho pushed by Vasil Kiryienka and won Wednesday's Tour de France stage by half a wheel after racing more than 107 miles.

Paulinho and Kiryienka separated themselves from the other riders in the final 6 miles, with Kiryienka narrowly ahead. But with about 400 yards to race, Paulinho began his kick and had just enough to hold off Kiryienka for his first career Tour de France stage victory.

Paulinho and Kiryienka were both timed in 5 hours, 10 minutes, 56 seconds over the 107.4-mile run from Chambrey to Gap in eastern France. Dries Devenyns finished third and Pierre Rolland was fourth, but clocked 1:29 behind the leaders. Mario Aerts was fifth, 1:33 off the pace.

Overall leader Andy Schleck was in a group 14:19 behind Paulinho and held onto the yellow jersey. With 10 of the 20 Tour de France stages completed, he is 41 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador. Samuel Sanchez, in third, is 2:45 off Schleck's pace.

Lance Armstrong remained in 31st place overall but fell another 88 seconds further behind Schleck and trails the leader by 17:22.

The tour Thursday races Stage 11, which is a 110.7-mile course from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence in southeastern France. The course features a Category 3 climb over the Col de Cabre pass early in the route. After that ascent, the route is basically downhill, going from an altitude of 3,900 feet at the highest point of the pass to about 450 feet at the finish line.