LE GRAND BORNAND, France (AFP) -- Linus Gerdemann injected new life into cycling's battle against doping with a superb performance on the first alpine stage of the Tour de France Saturday.

The 25-year-old German went on the attack on the race's first category one climb, La Colombiere, and survived a near-disastrous descent to end the 197.5km seventh stage with a first win on the race, and the fabled yellow jersey. Gerdemann may not be among the main contenders to win the world's toughest race, but he will start today's even tougher eighth stage with a 1min 24sec lead on Spaniard Inigo Landaluze. "It's a dream come true," said Gerdemann, who has been heralded as one of T-Mobile's new generation since a total shakeup of the team's management in the wake of doping revelations by former riders. Poignantly, his win comes nearly 10 years to the day that another young German made his first big impression on the race. The T-Mobile team's thoughts on Saturday, however, were all about Gerdemann, and not their former star rider Jan Ullrich, the 1997 champion who has been the subject of doping controversy this past year. In the wake of Ullrich's recent retirement, T-Mobile (formerly Telekom) has made huge efforts to weed out anyone with a doping record, including sacking doctors and ex-riders who had worked with the team. Now -- along with Danish outfit CSC -- they claim to be one of the most proactive teams in battling doping, carrying out numerous internal, often random, tests on their riders. Gerdemann admitted that the night before Saturday's stage, his team asked him to undergo a second blood volume test to check for the high red blood cell count which could indicate the use of banned substances. But he said: "I think it's not just T-Mobile who is trying hard to make sure there is no doping in the sport. Many teams realize the 'old school' way is not the way forward, but I know we have work to do. "For sure cycling still has a problem, but things are getting better. I think it's really hard for us young riders to take responsibility now, but the sport has given me a lot and I believe it’s up to us to give something back." Gerdemann added: "Yesterday (Friday) we had a blood volume test – which is the second I've had on the race. I also had one in London. "We have to do it, and if it helps to prove to people that we can ride clean, then I'm for it." In the wake of threats from sponsors, and German television companies, T-Mobile manager Bob Stapleton has played a pivotal role in trying to return some credibility to the team. "We just want to give our young guys a chance to show what they can do, and Linus took the opportunity with both hands," said Stapleton, who admitted he had been on the edge of the seat as the main peloton, and Landaluze, chased his young rider in the stage finale. "We were very nervous, I kept looking out the back window of the team car hoping not to see the peloton approaching. I'm thrilled to see how he managed to hold on." T-Mobile's past -- when they were called Telekom – recently caught up with them, with former riders admitting to doping practices. German Erik Zabel admitted two months ago he had used the banned blood booster briefly during his time with the German outfit, and Denmark's Bjarne Riis also admitted he had used EPO throughout his career. Riis won the Tour in 1996, thanks mainly to the support of an emerging teammate named Ullrich