July 11, 2009 2006 Tour winner Pereiro quits race

SAINT-GIRONS, France (AP) - Former champion Oscar Pereiro of Spain has quit the Tour de France during the eighth stage because of fatigue.

Pereiro finished second in 2006 but inherited the title after American Floyd Landis was stripped of his victory in a doping scandal.

Pereiro withdrew near the feed zone in Saturday's stage, a 110-mile ride along three big climbs from the tiny Pyrenean principality of Andorra to Saint-Girons, France.

Pascale Schyns, a spokesman for the Caisse d'Epargne team, said Pereiro dropped out because of "accumulated fatigue."

Schyns said "there was no point in continuing, because it wasn't doing any good."

Rinaldo Nocentini took the yellow jersey from Fabian Cancellara on Friday.

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