American Floyd Landis, who suffered such a spectacular implosion on Wednesday, is once again the yellow-jersey favorite after claiming a first-ever stage victory in the race following a third straight day of drama in the Alps.

And Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, whose son Axel rides in Landis's Phonak team, played a part in his resurrection.

Landis started the day with a deficit of eight minutes and eight seconds to Caisse d’Epargne’s Oscar Pereiro, having lost the yellow jersey to the Spaniard during his stunning collapse on stage 16.

But thanks to some personal faith, and a telephone call from Merckx to Landis’s team manager, John Lelangue – whose father, Robert, was a domestique for the five-time Tour champ –the American revived his hopes in spectacular style, charging off to a solo win in Morzine that saw him vault from 11th overall to third, just 30 seconds away from regaining the yellow jersey.

"My father called me after Wednesday's stage and told me, 'The race is not over,’" said Lelangue. "Eddy Merckx was also on the phone trying to give us some advice. He said that the race is not over, and that we had to attack."

With the jersey so close, and a 57km individual time trial coming up Saturday, Landis now just has to stay true to his potential.

However, a cautious Lelangue added: "We'll only believe in victory on the Champs-Elysées. It's still close at the top . . . it's still very tight."