Cycling/Tour de France:Race favourite Alexander Vinokourov is ready to show he still has the means to win the Tour de France, Astana manager Marc Biver has said.

The Kazakh rider crashed heavily during last Thursday's fifth stage but decided to continue the race despite having 15 stitches in each knee.

Vinokourov, who is 22nd overall, five minutes 23 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Michael Rasmussen of Denmark, suffered on Sunday in the last three kilometres of the ascent to Tignes.

However, he said afterwards the Tour was not over yet.

Biver echoed Vinokourov saying: "We have limited the damage. Tomorrow you will quickly understand that Vino has fully recovered."

After yesterday's rest day, the riders will have to climb to the highest point of this year's race, the Col de l'Iseran, at 2,770 metres, before taking on the Col du Telegraphe and the Col du Galibier during stage nine.

"For the moment, we will not change anything. (Andrej) Kashechkin and (Andreas) Kloeden are protected riders, but Vino is the leader," said Biver, who also praised Vinokourov's courage.

"He is so strong, he has incredible mental strength. Kloeden too, even if he is more soft-spoken."

Kloeden sustained a fissure in his coccyx when he crashed last Thursday.

Frenchman Christophe Moreau says the Tour peloton needs a leader to control the race.

The AG2R team leader, who showed he was a potential winner when he attacked eight times in the ascent to Tignes, said the lack of a leader was a handicap to his ambitions.

"On Sunday, Michael Rogers's breakaway could have changed the face of the race if he had not crashed," Moreau said yesterday. "He could have put himself in a position to win the Tour de France and we let him go."

Australian Rogers, of the T-Mobile team, pulled out with a shoulder injury after his crash.

German team-mate Patrik Sinkewitz of the T-Mobile squad has also pulled out of the Tour with a broken nose and a shoulder injury after his collision with a spectator. Following Sunday's withdrawals of Briton Mark Cavendish and Rogers, T-Mobile are now down to six men.

Moreau said the Astana team were the only ones capable of controlling the peloton and said their problems were unfortunate.

"I think the Astana leaders' crashes are not good news for me," said Moreau, who is seventh in the overall standings. "I hope they will improve and soon get control of the race. Otherwise, the top contenders will have to reach an agreement because the Tour might slip through their fingers."

Race leader Rasmussen is hoping his time-trial failings will not prevent him from winning at the fourth time of asking.

The Dane has yet to make it on to the final podium on the Tour.

But with this year's event seemingly wide open, Rasmussen - an out-and-out climber - could emerge from an ever-expanding pack of possible contenders.

The 33-year-old admits he is at the peak of his powers at the moment and intends to carry on attacking in the mountains to make up for his usual foibles when he races against the clock.

"To have the yellow jersey is unbelievable," said the Rabobank rider, whose best Tour placing of seventh came in 2005. "It's amazing. It's the best moment of my career.

"But there are still two weeks left and more importantly 110kms of time-trial tests to dispute. Everyone knows that is not my speciality. I am going to have to climb as quickly as possible from now on."