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 became 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.

"Yesterday I was on the road honestly thinking that my Tour was over," said Evans after Monday's finish. "I was scared to get up and move because I thought I'd broken a bone, and to find myself in yellow now is just great."

Evans became the first Australian to earn a yellow jersey since Robbie McEwen in 2004.

"I don't quite believe that I've got the yellow jersey yet," Evans added. "It's a long way from being over, but it's a step towards where we want to be."

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.

"One second is not a lot," according to Schleck. "Maybe a turn that I could have taken differently. But I did a great stage today. It is not over yet."

American Christian Vande Velde finished with the same time as Evans in 10th place on Monday -- all 2:17 behind the stage winner -- 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 of this year's Tour on Sunday, finished sixth on Monday in the same pack with Evans and is ninth overall -- 2:29 off the leader's pace.

Tuesday is the first of two rest days for the Tour. Stage 11 on Wednesday is a 167.5-kilometer jaunt from Lannemezan to Foix in the Pyrenees that includes three climbs -- although none nearly as steep as those on Monday.