La Toussuire, France ? A day after reclaiming the yellow jersey, Floyd Landis struggled through a disastrous ride Wednesday, falling all the way to 11th place and likely losing any chance to win the Tour de France.

The American began the 16th stage with a lead of 10 seconds; by the end of the day, he was more than 8 minutes behind new leader Oscar Pereiro, who relinquished the jersey to him on Tuesday.

“I suffered from the beginning, and I tried to hide it,” Landis said. “I don’t expect to win the Tour at this point. It’s not easy to get back 8 minutes. That was the best I could do.”

With one final Alpine stage and a penultimate individual time trial ahead as the biggest tests, Pereiro is now favored to finish first when the three-week race ends Sunday on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Seven riders have worn the leader’s yellow jersey this year, just one shy of the record.

Overall leader Floyd Landis of the U.S., center, follows teammate Koos Moerenhout and leads Michael Boogerd up the Galibier pass. Landis struggled mightily during Wednesay's 16th stage between Bourg d'Oisans and La Toussuire in the French Alps and all but lost the Tour title.

“This is a totally crazy race,” Pereiro said.

Unaided by teammates Wednesday, Landis breathed heavily and was struggling as he ascended La Toussuire under a hot sun.

The Alps, where seven-time champion Lance Armstrong always separated himself from the field, turned out to be the undoing of a former teammate who was hoping to follow in Armstrong’s footsteps.

“He had a bad day – he lost lots of time,” Pereiro said of Landis. “I’m really sad for him … He’s a friend of mine.”

Mickael Rasmussen, who won the polka-dot jersey for the best climber at last year’s Tour, finished in 5 hours, 36 minutes, 4 seconds to win the 113-mile stage that had four climbs – including two so tough they defy classification in cycling’s ranking system.

Illes Baleares rider Pereiro was third in the stage and was followed by several other contenders who moved away from Landis up La Toussuire.

“It was difficult to imagine that things would turn out like this,” Pereiro said. “Floyd Landis seemed untouchable, but like everybody, he wasn’t immune to collapse.”