SOUTH African Robbie Hunter won stage 11 of the Tour de France between Marseille and Montpelier, on a day when the main field was unexpectedly torn apart.

The afternoon's big loser was the French champion Christophe Moreau, who lost over three minutes on all his rivals for the yellow jersey and with it any realistic hope of winning the race overall.

Moreau was in the wrong part of the bunch when it split midway through an innocuous-looking flat stage, under pressure from the Astana team of Alexandre Vinokourov.

Britain's David Millar had been part of a five-man break that built a lead of seven minutes on the main field at one point.

Millar had shot out of the main field and bridged the gap to four lead riders.

The break stood a reasonable chance of success until the Astana team started to ride at a murderous pace over over 50 kph.

The bunch split into three echelons and though most of the favourites had been paying attention, Moreau found himself in the second group. Despite a concerted chase by his AG2R team, he finished 3:22 behind.

Vinokourov, having emerged from a tortuous three days in the Alps in which he lost several minutes on his rivals due to injury, tried to prove a point by launching an attack with three kilometres to go, but he was quickly reeled in, allowing Hunter to outsprint prologue-winner Fabain Cancellara by less than half a wheel.

Michael Rasmussen retains the leader's yellow jersey.