LUCHON, France: A week after a stage 10 victory secured thanks to a combination of strong legs and tactical nous, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler was at it again on the Tour de France Wednesday.

Only this time, the Europcar rider’s second stage win of this year’s edition came topped with a sprinkling of daring and plenty of panache.

“It’s difficult to say, but it’s certainly one of my best ever victories,” said Voeckler after finishing the 197 km 16th stage nearly two minutes ahead of closest challenger Chris Anker Sorensen of Denmark.

With four major Cols and a total of 47.3 km of climbing on the way to a downhill finish in Luchon, the stage was set to host one of the final battles for control of the race.

And despite it proving fatal to Australian Cadel Evans’ title defense, Voeckler stole the show.

The Frenchman was one of 38 determined riders who broke free of the peloton early and after a 16.4 km ascension led them in commanding fashion over the Col d’Aubisque.

A number of attacks on the 19 km climb to the summit of the Tourmalet then split a reduced lead group further, with Garmin’s Dan Martin taking Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) and Dutchman Laurens Ten Dam of Rabobank with him when he attacked.

With Kessiakoff in possession of the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey, alarm bells began ringing for Voeckler.

“This morning the aim was to get points for the polka dot jersey. I had four mountain passes to climb, and for me it was like four races,” he said.

“I didn’t bother previewing this stage, but I’ve been doing these climbs since I was 19 years old.”

At the summit, Voeckler took another 25 points for the day’s second ‘hors categorie’ (unclassified) climb, cresting with Brice Feillu and leaving Martin, Kessiakoff and Sorensen just over a minute behind.

As Bradley Wiggins’ Sky team began to turn the screw behind them in a bid to drop their own rivals, Voeckler was getting ideas of his own.

After discussions with Feillu, the pair worked together on the 12.4 km ascension of the Col d’Aspin to keep their chasers at bay, Voeckler taking 10 points at the summit.

But only two kilometers into the 9.5 km climb to the summit of the Peyresourde Voeckler danced on the pedals to leave Feillu on his own.

Feillu was then overtaken by Sorensen, but the grimacing Dane would never close the gap, coming over the finish 1:40 in arrears.

As well as his second victory in this year’s race, his fourth overall, Voeckler has given himself a chance of a podium appearance in Paris on Sunday after taking over the polka dot jersey by four points from Kessiakoff.

Having placed an impressive fourth overall in 2011, Voeckler knows his lowly placing this year has given him some freedom.

“I lost a lot of time in the first week, and that has given me the opportunity to attack unhindered,” added Voeckler, who is 37 minutes behind Wiggins.

“I’m very proud of what I did today. It’s the kind of cycling I like, and the kind of attack I grew up watching on the television when I was young.

“Now I have to try and recover as much as possible, with a really long massage, and then try and do it all again tomorrow.”

Thursday’s 17th stage is the last in the mountains.