Hautacam, France (My Sportsbook) - One day after a crash that could have ended his run at a Tour de France title, Australia's Cadel Evans has become the overall leader of cycling's most prestigious event.

Evans fell midway through Sunday's ninth stage and had to be treated for cuts before finishing in the main pack to remain second overall behind Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen. After receiving the go-ahead to start Monday, Evans finished eighth in the 10th stage to vault past Kirchen and claim the coveted leader's yellow jersey by just one second over Luxembourg's Frank Schleck.

Leonardo Piepoli of Italy won Monday's stage, a difficult journey in the Pyrenees that featured two extremely steep climbs. He covered the 156- kilometer trek in a time of four hours, 19 minutes and 27 seconds for his first Tour stage win, finishing just in front of teammate Juan Jose Cobo of Spain.

Schleck, who failed to keep up with the leaders only a few kilometers from the finish line, wound up third -- 28 seconds behind Piepoli. The result was enough to vault him from 11th overall to second -- just behind Evans.

American Christian Vande Velde finished with the same time as Evans in 10th place on Monday and remained third in the overall standings. He is 38 seconds behind the leader.

Austria's Bernhard Kohl is fourth overall, another 12 seconds off the lead, after a fourth-place finish in Monday's stage. Denis Menchov of Russia was ninth Monday and sits fifth overall, trailing Evans by 57 seconds.

Kirchen, not known for his climbing abilities, finished 15th Monday -- 4:19 behind Piepoli. He dropped into seventh place overall and is 1:56 behind Evans.

Italy's Riccardo Ricco, who earned his second stage win on Sunday, finished sixth on Monday in the same pack with Evans and is ninth overall -- 2:29 off the leader's pace.